Dirt delivery across Dallas-Fort Worth
DFW is built on Blackland Prairie clay, among the most expansive soil in North America. Most select fill that moves in this metro is moving because of it. Pads get built out of imported material in 6 to 8 inch compacted lifts rather than reworking the native black clay.
Which material do I need in Dallas-Fort Worth?
In Dallas-Fort Worth, select fill is the material that matters. The eastern half of the metroplex sits on Blackland Prairie clay. Standard practice is not to rework the native black clay but to build a pad out of imported select fill placed in 6 to 8 inch compacted lifts on top of it. Clay fill dirt is still right for bulk volume, levelling old farmland, filling low areas, shaping fields, but not under a slab.
What is the ground under Dallas-Fort Worth made of?
The Blackland Prairie runs as a belt down the eastern side of the metroplex. The soil is dark, deep and among the most expansive in North America. In a dry August it opens surface cracks wide enough to lose a tape measure down. After a wet spring it closes them and lifts whatever is sitting on it. Shrink and swell of that magnitude is why pads here get built out of imported material rather than by reworking what is already on the lot.
West of I-35 the geology changes. Toward Fort Worth and out past Weatherford you get into limestone and shale country, thinner soils and rock closer to the surface. Excavation is harder and the ground is less prone to heaving. It is a genuinely different construction problem on either side of the same metro, which is worth knowing when a contractor quotes you a method that worked on their last job across town.
What do people buy dirt for here?
The northern growth corridor around Frisco and the towns beyond it is farmland being turned into subdivisions, and every slab needs a pad. Select fill placed in 6 to 8 inch compacted lifts over the native black clay is the standard approach, and it is the single biggest use of bulk dirt in this market.
Concrete poured straight onto Blackland clay cracks. A compacted select fill base under a driveway, a slab extension or a patio is what stops the concrete following the clay up and down through the seasons. A 20 foot by 40 foot driveway subgrade is usually a 20 to 30 cubic yard order.
Plenty of lots out toward Cedar Hill, DeSoto and Duncanville, and west of Fort Worth, are old agricultural ground with plough furrows, stock tanks and erosion gullies in them. Bringing those up to a buildable or mowable grade takes clay fill by the hundred cubic yards.
Common fill shaped and allowed to dry holds its form, which is why it is the material under soccer, football and lacrosse fields, and why motocross and BMX track builders shape jumps out of it. Jerry built track before he sold dirt, so this is a conversation we can actually have.
What do the local material names mean?
The DFW material vocabulary overlaps with Houston's and diverges in places, mostly because the ground changes as you move west across the metro.
The defining product of this market. A graded blend chosen so it compacts to a predictable density, used to build residential and commercial pads over Blackland clay. If a set of plans is attached to your job, this is the material it almost certainly names, along with a compaction specification.
Bulk volume material. In DFW it goes into levelling acreage and former agricultural ground, filling stock tanks and erosion gullies, bringing lots up to a mowable or buildable grade, and shaping sports fields and tracks.
The soil series names you will see on a geotechnical report for the eastern side of the metro. Houston Black is the classic deep, dark, highly expansive Blackland Prairie clay, and despite the name it is mapped extensively around Dallas. Seeing it on a report is the signal that the pad will be built out of imported material.
Granular base materials placed and compacted under driveways, parking and flatwork. They sit above select fill in the build-up rather than instead of it. Different gradation, different specification, different price. Order by name and ask us whether we can source it for your area.
Recycled concrete used as a base and laydown material across the metroplex. Like road base it is a base product rather than a fill. If your plans call for it, name it when you call rather than asking for fill and hoping.
Why do pads get built rather than cut on Blackland clay?
The shrink and swell behaviour of Blackland clay is not a minor soil quirk, it is the central engineering fact of building in the eastern half of this metro. In a dry August the ground opens cracks wide enough to lose a tape measure down. After a wet spring it closes them and lifts whatever is sitting on it. Slabs built directly on that ground move with it.
The standard answer is to isolate the structure from the native clay by building a pad of imported select fill, placed in lifts of roughly 6 to 8 inches loose and compacted lift by lift to a percentage of a Proctor maximum dry density specified by the engineer. That is why select fill moves in the volumes it does here, and why the compaction specification rather than the material price is usually what decides whether a pad passes.
West of I-35 the problem changes. Toward Fort Worth and out past Weatherford you are into limestone and shale country with thinner soils and rock closer to the surface. Excavation is harder and heave is less of a concern. A method that worked on a job across town may not be the right method for yours, which is worth remembering when you compare what 2 contractors have told you.
How does scheduling and access work here?
DFW is a wide metro and haul distance is a real component of what you pay. A load going to Grapevine and a load going to DeSoto are not coming from the same place. When you give us the delivery address up front, the quote reflects the actual haul rather than an average that will move later.
Summer is the good season for placing fill here and also the season where dry time works against you, because material that gets too dry will not compact without water added back into it. Winter is wetter and slower. Neither stops work, both move dates, which is why on a large job it pays to get in the queue ahead rather than commit to a fixed date.
How many yards will my Dallas-Fort Worth job take?
A residential pad is the volume job here. A 40 foot by 50 foot pad raised 12 inches is about 74 cubic yards in place, and select fill compacted in lifts wants a 20 to 25 percent allowance on top, so order 89 to 93 cubic yards. Ordering the in-place figure is the usual reason a pad runs short on the last lift.
A driveway or flatwork subgrade is smaller. 20 feet by 40 feet at 6 inches is about 15 cubic yards in place, or 18 to 19 ordered, which is under our 20 cubic yard minimum on its own. Levelling acreage runs the other way entirely: filling an old stock tank or a set of erosion gullies routinely takes 200 cubic yards or more.
Which cities do we deliver to?
- Dallas
- Fort Worth
- Arlington
- Cedar Hill
- DeSoto
- Duncanville
- Euless
- Frisco
- Grapevine
Those are the DFW cities we currently list. The mid-cities and the northern suburbs around them are generally reachable too. Give us the address and we will tell you straight whether we can get a truck there economically.
Dallas-Fort Worth dirt delivery questions
What dirt do I need for a building pad in DFW?
Select fill, placed in 6 to 8 inch lifts and compacted lift by lift to the percentage your engineer specifies against a Proctor maximum dry density. Building the pad out of imported material rather than reworking the native Blackland clay is standard practice here, because that clay changes volume with its moisture content.
How much select fill do I need for a 40 by 50 pad?
About 74 cubic yards in place at 12 inches deep, which is 40 times 50 times 1 divided by 27. Add 20 to 25 percent for compaction and order 89 to 93 cubic yards. You buy loose volume and you place compacted volume, and that gap is where pads run short.
Why is the soil in Dallas so bad for foundations?
The Blackland Prairie belt down the eastern side of the metroplex is among the most expansive soil in North America. It takes on water and swells, dries out and shrinks, and it does that seasonally for the life of the building. Slabs sitting directly on it move with it, which is why pads get imported.
Do you deliver dirt to Frisco, Plano and the northern suburbs?
We list Dallas, Fort Worth, Arlington, Cedar Hill, DeSoto, Duncanville, Euless, Frisco and Grapevine. The mid-cities and the northern suburbs around them are generally reachable. Coverage is a haul distance question rather than a city limits one, so give us the address and we will answer it straight.
Is select fill the same as road base?
No. Select fill is a compactable fill used to build the pad. Road base and flex base are graded granular base courses that sit above the fill, under driveways and flatwork. Different gradation, different specification, different price. If your plans name one, order it by name.
Need dirt in Dallas-Fort Worth?
Tell us the address, the cubic yards and the date you need it by. If your address is not on the list above, ask anyway. Coverage is about haul distance.