State road,Top soil

[robgwv]

The state just put a 4 lane thru here, They filled in small valleys instead of building bridges....Must have brought in thousands of tons top soil...Where do they get it...Would it be worth detecting??

 

[vpnavy]

I don't know about West Virginia but a friend of mine owns a farm and the state would buy dirt from him to use on highway projects in his state. They didn't clean it, etc...

 

[robgwv]

Hmmmm,That sounds promising

 

[Sandman]

Remember all dirt has to come from somewhere. Any land was here before settlers farmed it and there is no telling what happened there years ago or who lost what.

 

[TerryC]

I wouldn't bet too much on getting permission. Like most state owned or contracted sites, it's a safety/liability issue. TTC

 

[uglymailman]

I don't know how they do it in West By God Virginia, but here in Missouri top soil is not used to build roads. You can't get desired compaction on topsoil. Subsoil w/clay etc. is what is wanted. Engineers try very hard to get a balance of cuts and fills to build roads. If they can't get enough material, a "borrow" pit near project is usually used. Soil is measured in cubic yards not tons. Top soil would be put back on top to grow vegetation.
That doesn't mean anything in the top soil wouldn't have been placed back on top along the side of the the road. Just means anything in it is not likely to be more than a foot or so deep. Good luck.

 

[robgwv]

Welll, I play the lotto also