What is the difference between crushed stone and Natural Pea Gravel?

Crushed stone has angular faces from mechanical crushing, so 3/4 crushed rock and the numbered sizes bite and hold where they are placed. Natural Pea Gravel is rounded and smooth, which makes it comfortable underfoot and good for drainage beds and ground cover. Crushed stone suits drive surfacing and drainage trenches; Natural Pea Gravel suits walkways, dog runs and xeriscape planting.

Should I order material by the ton or by the yard?

Both are accepted, and the choice depends on how you measured the job. Tons are a weight and yards are a volume, so the two do not convert at a fixed rate across materials. Each product page has a calculator that helps you size the load before you order. Pick the unit that matches your figures and order online.

Which stone is best for drainage in Otero County?

Drain rock is the clean open stone for French drains, dry wells and foundation drains. For fine drainage and pipe bedding, 3/8 inch crushed stone works, and #57 stone suits drainage trenches. Rip rap armors arroyo banks and culvert outlets where monsoon flash flow hits hardest. Caliche and crusted desert soil shed almost all rainfall, so where that water goes matters.

Otero County Base Course and Gravel Delivery, NM

New Mexico Rock Supply brings gravel, stone and aggregate delivery in Otero County, NM to jobs of every size. Base course is the material this state builds drives and pads on, and it is the one to start with here.

Ground across the county runs from desert basin fill to stony mountain soil. That range decides which stone and which sand fit the work you have in front of you.

Ground Conditions Across Otero County

Otero County spans two ground regions, and the working calendar differs between them. In the basin and range around Alamogordo, Chaparral, Tularosa and La Luz, work runs year round.

Summer heat and the July to September monsoon set the schedule there, not winter. In the mountain and closed basin country around Mescalero, Cloudcroft, Weed and Mayhill, spring through late fall is the working season.

Snow and frozen ground shut down the high villages in winter, and basin ground stays soft well after a thaw. Time a delivery to ground that is ready for it.

Basin fill is sand, gravel and silt washed off the ranges, with gypsum ground near the Tularosa playas. A hard caliche layer often sits within a foot or two of the surface, and the bajada slopes below the mountains are coarse and gravelly.

Caliche and crusted desert soil take almost no water. A monsoon cell can drop an inch in an hour and nearly all of it moves across the surface, down the bajada and into the arroyos.

That runoff is why drainage stone and slope protection belong in the plan from the start. Arroyo and bajada flash flooding, sheet flow across bare desert pavement, and wind driven sand all move ground here.

Up in the mountains, storm runoff cuts drainages and forest roads, and post fire runoff off burn scars adds to it. A closed basin has nowhere to send water, so playa ground can stay wet for weeks.

Frost heave matters far less here than heat, sun and salt. Where a footing depth is needed, the county building official sets the figure.

Materials Delivered in Otero County

Base course is what New Mexico calls road base. Section 303 allows crushed stone, crushed or screened gravel, caliche, and recycled asphalt or concrete pavement.

It sets two gradation bands, Type I and Type II, both passing a 1 inch sieve. City specifications follow the same definition.

Base course goes under driveways, parking pads, and slab and shed bases. It is also called Type I base course, Type II base course, or 3/4 minus.

Above that, 3/4 Crushed Rock handles drainage beds, drive surfacing, construction entrances and drip strips against a foundation.

RipRap armors arroyo banks, culvert outlets and dry creek headers against monsoon flash flow.

Drain Rock serves French drains, dry wells, foundation drains and canale and downspout splash runs. Rio Grande River Rock and Large River Rock cover decorative beds, borders and dry creek beds.

Crusher Fines is screened crushed rock fines that pack to a firm walkable crust, sold by color. It suits paths, patios, courtyards, dog runs and xeriscape walkways.

Mason Sand covers block, brick and adobe work, stucco and plaster coats, and paver joints. New Mexico yards usually list it as plaster sand.

Top Soil and Garden Soil build lawns, tree wells and raised beds over thin alkaline ground and caliche.

Choosing the Right Material

Dona Ana County shares Otero County's ground region, so the basin fill, the caliche layer and the coarse bajada slopes are the same material to work with. The base and drainage choices carry over unchanged.

Chaves County sits on Pecos Valley and Permian Basin ground. Its soils are alluvial along the Pecos with sandy and gravelly terraces, and gypsum runs through the subsoil.

Karst ground there dissolves where Permian gypsum and limestone meet water. That changes drainage work, because water can leave through the subsoil instead of running off the surface the way it does across caliche.

Match the material to the job. Base course for drives, pads and slab bases.

Rip rap for bank and outlet armoring. Drain rock for French drains and dry wells.

Crusher fines for paths and patios. Mason sand and washed sand for bedding and flatwork.

Top soil and garden soil for planting.

Delivery Across Otero County

New Mexico Rock Supply delivers bulk aggregate across Otero County, including Alamogordo, Chaparral, Tularosa, La Luz, Mescalero, Cloudcroft, Bent, Weed, Mayhill, Pinon and Sacramento.

You order online. Quantities are ordered by the ton or by the yard, and each product page has a calculator to help size the load.

Pick a delivery date at checkout. A dump truck tips the load on site in one pile.

Order Base Course and Aggregate for Your Otero County Job

New Mexico Rock Supply delivers base course, crushed stone, sand, soil and decorative rock across Otero County, from the basin floor up to the mountain villages. Order online by the ton or the yard, size the load with the calculator, and pick your delivery date at checkout.

A dump truck tips the material on site, ready for the work ahead.

Base Course, Sand and Gravel Delivery in Otero County, NM