Going with the Flow
Churchman Sand & Gravel
runs a sand, gravel, and rock
recycling operation in the
foothills of northern Tucson.
G
When access to its
river aggregate
supply was cut
off, Churchman
Sand & Gravel
turned to recycling
material brought
in by construction
and landscaping
companies.
by Kerry Clines,
Senior Editor
26
oing
with
t he
Flow
F
red Churchman opened Churchman Sand
& Gravel in Tucson in 1946. Dick Smith
became a partner in 1952 and, eventually,
bought the business from Churchman. “It
has been a sole proprietorship since 1972,” says
Smith, “but we kept the name Churchman Sand
& Gravel because that’s how customers know the
company. We’re the oldest individually owned
sand and gravel company in Tucson.”
The company initially began as a sand and
gravel operation on the Rillito River in northern
Tucson near the foothills. Raw material — sand,
gravel, and rock — were taken from the river and
processed. The supply of raw material was plentiful
and business was booming until...
Changing direction
In 1983, there was a 100-year flood. “It washed out
two of our neighbors’ houses,” Smith says, “and
they sued me, Pima County, and one other builder
AGGREGATES MANAGER April 2012
across the river for $12 million. They said we diverted the water, causing it to erode their bank.”
The company settled the lawsuit in court two
years later. The courts looked back at 30 to 40
years of river records. “Overlays showed how the
river meanders and changes from year to year,
proving our excavating in the river wasn’t necessarily the reason it cut into their bank,” Smith says.
“We won the case.”
Unfortunately, winning the case didn’t mean it
was back to business as usual for the company. Pima County decided to buy all property adjacent to
the river, which meant Churchman Sand & Gravel
could no longer excavate raw material. This was a
big setback for the company, but it wasn’t the end.
The company simply changed direction.
“At that point, we started importing material
from exporting jobs,” Smith says. “Customers
bring material in and dump it, and, in some cases,
we bring it here ourselves. We don’t pay for the
imported material, or charge for dumping, but we