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

Crushed stone has angular faces because it is run through a crusher. CA-6, CA-7 and CA-11 are all crushed, and the angular shape lets the stone interlock under a compacted base. Natural Pea Gravel is rounded 3/8 inch washed gravel, sold as 3/8" Natural Pea Gravel. It works for walkways, play areas and fence post mix, but rounded stone does not lock together the way crushed stone does.

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

Both work, and each product page has a calculator to help you size the load. Order by the ton when you know the weight you need, and by the yard when you are working from volume. Either way the truck tips the load on site, so pick the quantity that fits the job before you choose a delivery date at checkout.

Which stone is best for drainage in Lee County?

Clean washed stone, which means CA-7, CA-11 or CA-16 chips. These carry no fines, so water passes through instead of sitting. CA-7 and CA-11 handle bedding under pipe, French drains and foundation drains, and the smaller CA-16 chips work for tight bedding and drainage around tanks. On the tight till ground common here, that clean layer is what keeps water moving.

Crushed Stone and Sand, Lee County, IL

Illinois Rock Supply handles gravel, stone and aggregate delivery in Lee County, IL. Sizing a load starts with the calculator on each product page.

From there, the choice comes down to material, and in this part of the state that usually means CA-6, the dense graded crushed limestone with the fines left in. It is the base material for driveways, parking pads and shed floors.

Lee County sits on the Northern Illinois till plains and Rock River country. Loamy prairie soils over dolomite, with the sand and gravel of the Green River Lowland running through the county.

That mix of ground is why the base under a drive matters as much as the stone on top of it.

Delivery across Lee County

You order online, choose a quantity by the ton or by the yard, and pick a delivery date at checkout. A dump truck then tips the load on site.

Coverage runs across the county, including Dixon, Amboy, Franklin Grove, Paw Paw, Ashton, Sublette, Steward, Compton, Lee, West Brooklyn and Harmon.

Every product page carries a calculator to help size the load before you order. Bulk stone, sand and soil arrive as one tipped pile, so it helps to know where you want that pile set down.

Materials delivered in Lee County

Article 1004.01 sets the coarse aggregate gradations CA 1 through CA 20.

Dense graded base is CA-6, clean bedding stone is CA-7 or CA-11, and 3/8 inch chips are CA-16. Those numbers are how material is specified and ordered here.

CA-6 does the heaviest lifting of the group. It is a compacted base for driveways, parking pads and building pads, and it takes trench backfill well because the fines bind the stone together.

If a yard in the Chicago area calls the same material grade 8 or grade 9, it is still CA-6 here. Crusher run is the secondary name for the same fines-in stone.

Clean stone is a different animal. CA-7, CA-11 and CA-16 chips are washed, so water moves through them instead of pooling.

That makes them the right choice for a drainage layer, a French drain, or bedding under pipe. RipRap handles the heavier end, armoring a bank or a culvert outlet where moving water is the problem.

Sand, soil and mulch round out a delivery. Top Soil is screened prairie topsoil for lawns and bed prep, and Garden Soil covers raised beds and planting areas.

Fill Dirt raises grade before a CA-6 course goes down, and Shredded Mulch holds moisture in beds through a summer. For decorative work, River Gravel and Large River Rock cover beds, borders and dry creek beds.

Ground conditions across Lee County

The working season runs from the spring thaw into late fall, and it is a little shorter than downstate. Frozen ground stops compaction in the winter, so timing a delivery around the thaw matters here.

Ground across the Northern Illinois till plains and Rock River country splits two ways. Tight till and a high water table sit on the flat ground, while the sand plains drain almost too fast.

Snowmelt and spring rain on frozen ground push water across the surface instead of into it.

That means drainage stone earns its place. A clean CA-7 or CA-11 layer gives water somewhere to go on tight ground, and lime screenings bed pavers and flagstone without trapping water underneath.

Erosion is the other side of it. Gully and sheet erosion show up on steeper till slopes and on bluffs, and wind moves bare sand on the lowland flats.

RipRap armors a bank or a slope where water is cutting in.

Choosing the right material

Lee County shares its ground region with Bureau County and DeKalb County. Same Wisconsin Episode till and loamy prairie soils over dolomite, same Green River Lowland sand and gravel.

The base and drainage choices carry over county to county with no real difference.

LaSalle County is the one that differs. It spans more than one zone, taking in the Illinois River valley and the sand areas as well as till plains.

More sand means faster drainage in places, so a clean stone layer still does the work, but the ground under it sheds water more quickly than tight till does.

Start with what the surface has to carry. A driveway or pad wants CA-6 or Driveway Gravel as a compacted base.

A path that needs a finer, walkable surface is better served by Walkway Gravel or screenings. Anything that has to move water wants clean stone: Drain Rock, CA-7, CA-11 or CA-16 chips.

Order aggregate delivery in Lee County

Illinois Rock Supply delivers bulk gravel, stone, sand and soil across Lee County, from Dixon and Amboy to Ashton, Sublette and the surrounding towns. Choose your material, size the load with the calculator, and pick a delivery date at checkout.

Your order arrives as a tipped pile, ready for the work ahead.

Bulk Aggregate Delivery Across Lee County, IL