A Newmerical Perspective on Sand Fills

Several authors have questioned this, such as:

A second common use of fill dirt is to fill in a low-lying construction site to raise the level of the
building foundation in order to reduce the chances of flooding. Several massive uses of fill dirt are
with improvements to the Port of Seattle Sea-Tac Airport, the addition of a new runway to the
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Atlanta, Georgia, and the Kansai International
Airport off the coast of Osaka, Japan, a project involving the creation of a new man-made island of
some five square kilometers.

Fill dirt is most often mined from commercial sand and gravel mines then imported to the project
site, and must meet specifications for gradation outlined by the Project's Geotechnical Engineer. The
logistics and availability of fill dirt material has become a growing concern for the commercial sand
and gravel industry in recent years as the need for fill material has surged and the available
resources in mines are depleted. This directly impacts the public and end-user as the cost of
construction increases due to the logistical challenges of importing material from greater distances
as materials grow more scarce.

In an effort to combat the costs and increasing logistical challenges related to dwindling sand and
gravel stockpiles, some services are offering contractors and the public a way to exchange fill dirt
materials in addition to locating operating sand and gravel mines. Internet based services allow
consumers and contractors a way to locate free fill dirt by connecting them with another contractor
or consumer in need of a dump site on a nearby project.

Fill dirt is also used for landscaping projects which involve the creation of ridges and earth structures
for pools, waterfalls, and other water features as well as to break up a level area in order to provide
more interesting textures to the landscape.