On Fri, 22 Oct 2004 14:53:12 GMT, Dewitt
wrote:

This reminded me that several years back a friend did some research on
what material to put around a children's swing set / play area. He
ended up putting in a pea gravel as that was supposed to absorb falls
better than sand which tends to pack down.

You need to also be concerned with the age of the children using the
play area as pea gravel could offer a choking hazard. Isn't there
information of this from the toy safety industry? Also, pea gravel
can get stuck in their ears and noses.

Little kids do not have that far to fall usually and packed sand might
not be much of a hazard to them. Capital Aggregates (good advice on
them by the way, Robbin) and companies like them sell "washed sand"
for use in concrete that is similar to the coarse beach sand like the
beach volleyball courts at Zilker Park. Since the public parks use
stuff like that it has to be a little safer.

Rusty Mase