How much small rip rap do you need?
Enter the size of your ditch, culvert outlet or bank. You get tons, cubic yards and truck loads of small rip rap.
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How this was worked out
Assumes small rip rap at 1.4 tons per cubic yard. Other gravel weighs a little more or less, so ask your supplier for their number.
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About small rip rap
Small rip rap is angular rock, roughly 4 to 12 inches across, laid to stop water from carrying soil away. It lines ditches, culvert outlets, pond spillways and small creek banks. Lay it over filter fabric, about one and a half times as thick as the middle-sized rock, and never thinner than the biggest one.
More about small rip rap
Rip rap is sold by class, and the smallest classes are the ones most small jobs use. Each state road department sets its own sizes and names, such as Class A, Class 1 or Type I, so check what your supplier means by small before the truck shows up.
Shape the bank to a slope no steeper than about 2 to 1, lay woven filter fabric with its edges buried, and place the rock from the bottom up so the pieces lock. Dumping it from the top lets the biggest pieces roll to the toe. Fill the obvious holes with smaller pieces by hand; no machine will pack it.
At a culvert outlet, carry the rock out past the end of the pipe for a few pipe widths so the water slows down on stone instead of soil. Rock this size holds almost no water, so rain changes its weight very little. The 1.4 figure here is loose rock with big gaps between pieces; solid rock weighs far more per cubic yard, so ask your supplier if they quote a different number.