River sand vs pit sand for bedding pipe, I was wrong for 6 years

Ngl, I always used pit sand because that's what my old boss used, but last week on a job in Tacoma the spec called for washed river sand and the pipe settled way easier, no voids. Has anyone else noticed a difference in compaction time or am I just lucky with that one pull?

2 comments

2 Comments

paige_craig20d ago

Switched to river sand years ago and never looked back.

lucashenderson20d ago

That Tacoma pull sounds like it went textbook, but I've been on jobs where river sand saved us damn near half a day on compaction. The rounder grains just lock in differently, you know? Pit sand has all those jagged edges that catch and bridge, so you end up tamping forever and still see shadow voids on the test. I had a foreman back in 2019 who swore by pit sand for the price, but we did a side by side on a 300 foot run and the river sand test came back clean on the first pass, pit took three. My guess is the washed part matters more than the source, because fines are what kill you. Once I started checking the gradation on the ticket, I never went back to the sharp stuff unless the engineer specifically called for it.