The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) published new data early this year detailing the range of construction sand and gravel operation sizes across the nation.
Although the largest sand and gravel operations in the U.S. are significantly smaller than the largest crushed stone operations, sand and gravel operations producing 1 million tpy or more accounted for 26.2 percent of the nation’s total output in USGS’s most recent recorded year (2023).
Astoundingly, only 180 of 5,497 sand and gravel operations nationwide reached the 1 million tpy threshold – just 3.3 percent of all operations.
Perhaps even more remarkable is that only 542, or 9.8 percent, produced 500,000 tpy or more. Yet, this small group generated a combined 473,600 metric tons, which is roughly half (49 percent) of the nation’s supply originating from 10 percent of operations.
One in four sand and gravel operations across the U.S., meanwhile, produced 25,000 or fewer tpy in 2023. The 1,453 operations of this size contributed just 1.3 percent to the nation’s total of 967,400 metric tons.
Nearly three in four sand and gravel operations (73 percent) produced 199,999 or fewer tpy in 2023. Those 4,013 operations collectively made up 22.6 percent of the nation’s total output that year.
