How to Pick Rip Rap Stone for a Ditch or a Shoreline

Rip rap stone keeps a ditch bank or a shoreline in place when water pushes hard against the soil. To order the right load, you need two answers: which stone fits your job, and how many cubic yards the job takes. We stock three rip rap stones at our yard in Hot Springs Village, and you can see every pile before you buy.

We sell stone from a 7-acre yard with Bennett Brothers of Hot Springs heritage since 1972. Call us with your measurements, and we help you answer both questions for free.

What rip rap is and where it goes

Rip rap is a layer of large stones that protects soil from erosion where water flows hard or gathers. You may also see it spelled riprap, and some people call it rip rap rock.

You find rip rap on ditch and channel banks and at both ends of a culvert. It also protects streambanks and slopes cut into a hill or built up with fill. Our rip rap aisle stocks stone for each of these jobs.

Match the rip rap stone to your job

Each stone in our rip rap aisle comes in a range of sizes, and each product page shows the unit and today's price. Use this rip rap size chart to match a stone to your job, along with a gravel for the layer underneath.

• Class A Rip-Rap Stone, 6 to 18 inches, by the ton, for drainage ditches and the mouth of a culvert.
• Brown Rip-Rap Stone, 6 to 24 inches, by the ton, for larger jobs on riverbanks and hillsides.
• Quartz Rip-Rap Stone, 6 to 18 inches, by the cubic yard, for drainage areas in plain view.
• Gravel from our gravel aisle, and we help you pick one for the layer under your rip rap stone.

Class A for ditches and culverts that take fast water

Class A Rip-Rap Stone is large, angular stone. It takes heavy water flow because its edges lock the pieces together into one layer. Class A works well on an embankment and at the mouth of a culvert, where the water leaves the pipe. If your ditch fills with fast water after a storm, Class A is the stone to look at first.

Brown for big banks that blend into the land

Brown Rip-Rap Stone has an earthy brown color that blends into riverbanks and hillsides. The finished bank looks like part of the land around it. Brown goes on larger stabilization jobs, and its largest pieces are 6 inches bigger than the largest Class A pieces.

Quartz for drainage in plain view

Quartz Rip-Rap Stone goes in drainage areas that people see, such as a dry creek bed or a water feature. Quartz sells by the cubic yard, and the cubic yards you work out below go straight onto your order. If you plan a creek bed in smaller stone, our post on creek rock and river rock beds covers that job.

Four choices to make before you order

Settle these four choices before you call, because we use each answer to work out your order with you. Write each answer down.

1. Check the slope. Rip rap can slide on a slope steeper than 2 to 1, which is a slope that rises more than 1 foot for every 2 feet across. Rounded rock slides more, and angular stone such as Class A locks together. Measure the rise and the run of your slope, and we check those numbers with you on the call before we work out your quantity.
2. Plan a mix of sizes. A good layer mixes small and large stones together. The stone should be angular field stone or quarry stone that stands up to freeze and thaw. You can check the mix of sizes in each rip rap pile when you visit the yard.
3. Put a filter layer down first. Filter fabric or a layer of gravel goes under the stone, and it keeps the soil from washing out through the gaps. Spread the filter layer over the whole area before the first stone goes down. Our gravel aisle stocks gravel, and we help you pick one for the layer under the stone. You can pick up the gravel on the same trip as your rip rap, and we work out that quantity with you too.
4. Set the height and the depth. The stone goes up to the highest water line, or up to the point where the ground is stable. The depth of the layer follows your local design standard. A shoreline or a culvert job may need a design from your engineer, and that design sets the depth you order.

Once the stone is down, check it once a year and after every big storm. If a storm moves the stone or tears the fabric, repair the damage early.

How much rip rap stone your job takes

Start with cubic yards. Measure the length of the area in feet. Then measure the width in feet, and take the depth from your local standard. Multiply the three numbers together and divide by 27, because one cubic yard equals 27 cubic feet.

On a shoreline, the length is the stretch of bank you plan to cover. On a ditch, measure the width across the bottom and up both banks to the height the stone will reach. If the width changes along the ditch, measure it at a few points and use the average. Lay a tape up the face of a sloped bank, from the bottom edge of the stone to the top edge, and use that length as the width. The face of a slope is longer than the flat ground under it, and the stone has to cover that extra length too.

Say you line a ditch that is 40 feet long and 4 feet wide, 1 foot deep. Multiply 40 by 4 by 1, and you get 160 cubic feet. Divide 160 by 27, and the ditch takes 5.9 cubic yards of rip rap stone. The arithmetic works the same way at any depth your standard sets.

For the two rip rap stones we sell by the ton, we convert your cubic yards to tons with you for free. For quartz, we check your cubic yards with you on the same call.

Come see the stone on our yard

A load of rip rap is heavy, and you want to see the size and color of the stone before it reaches your job. On our yard, you can look over every rip rap pile and see the actual pieces, from the smallest to the largest. Compare the Class A and Brown piles in person, and choose the color that fits the land around your bank. The stone you look at on the yard is the stone that comes to your job.

Contractors can have the stone delivered straight to the jobsite, and that saves the quarry run and the truck wear. Give us the jobsite address when you call, and we set up the delivery from there. If your job is outside our local area, we coordinate the freight. Homeowners can pick out the stone in person and go over the numbers with us at the yard.

Call 501-532-1905 with these four things ready

• The length and the width of the area, in feet.
• The depth your local standard calls for.
• The kind of job, such as a ditch bank or a shoreline.
• Whether you will pick up at the yard or need delivery to the jobsite.

Call us at 501-532-1905, or come to 5643 N Hwy 7 in Hot Springs Village between 7:30 AM and 4:30 PM on a weekday. Bring your measurements, and we will work out the order with you. Come on down, and we will show you the rip rap stone that fits your job.