March is the time of year when spring starts to show itself. It is a time when everyone begins to think about getting outside and gardening, fishing, or just spending time enjoying nature. EarthLok’s Rip Rap and Landscape Material is digging in and starting the new growing season. This year, it has brought in almost 2 million pounds of rip rap rock. Rip rap rock is a type of rock used for erosion control.
EarthLok’s Rip Rap service allows homeowners to create garden beds, install drains, install retaining walls, and more. The Rip Rap crew uses loader excavators to dig a trench for our customers, then fills it with “rip rap” material (large river rocks) and covers the rip rap with topsoil. Rip Rap is perfect for projects that require more earth-moving than you have time for, such as installing new garden beds, installing a new water feature, installing retaining walls, or installing a new driveway, Rip Rap at EARTHLOK.
Often, you will find rip rap at construction sites. It is created by dumping rocks (or other material) into a water-filled trough, then letting the water flow away. It is a cost-effective method of erosion control for critical areas, and it is often combined with other erosion control techniques.
Rip rap is rock, gravel, or boulders placed along river banks to protect stream banks from erosion. The riprap is stacked, or “chopped,” into a slope and can also include wood, metal, or fiber to suppress friction and retain moisture. Rip rap rocks are most commonly constructed from granite, but limestone can also be used. Rip rap is often used in river or stream bank stabilization.
Rip Rap is an erosion control best practice that requires the use of rip rap stones, commonly known as rip rap, to line stream banks or to control erosion around structures, like culverts or bridge abutments. Rip Rap is the common name for stones of various sizes, primarily used as riprap, which is part of a stream bank or dike. Rip Rap is typically defined as stones or boulders ranging in size, from 2″ to 8″ in diameter and 12″ to 60″ in length, with top surfaces smoothed or rounded.
It’s used to soften the impact of water and soil (known as the soil-soldier interaction) and is even sometimes used to protect lakes, rivers, and streams from erosion. That’s why it’s such a good idea to rip rap before building near a natural water body. Unfortunately, this often isn’t the case, and rip rap is often installed without any additional protection.