Obligations Under Guarantees (Detail) - Travelers Casualty and Surety Company $ in Millions	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($)
Surety Bonds
Loss Contingencies
Surety bonds outstanding	$ 10.2
Reclamation Bonds
Loss Contingencies
Bonds related to reclamation requirements	$ 9.9

Long-Term transition bonds are bonds under the Competition Act in which the proceeds of Transition Bonds are required to be used principally to reduce qualified stranded costs and the related capitalization of the utility. This represents the current portion.

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02.20)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_LongtermTransitionBondCurrent
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_LossContingenciesLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of letters of credit and other surety bonds that are available for the future payment of malpractice claims.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 954
-SubTopic 450
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6491354&loc=d3e6049-115624

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_MalpracticeLossContingencyLettersOfCreditAndSuretyBonds
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_LossContingenciesByNatureOfContingencyAxis=us-gaap_SuretyBondMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	dei_LegalEntityAxis=slca_TravelersCasualtyandSuretyCompanyMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_LossContingenciesByNatureOfContingencyAxis=slca_ReclamationBondsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: