A quarry is a place where rock and earth materials—like limestone, granite, marble, sand, and gravel—are excavated. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to manage their safety risks and reduce their environmental impact.[1][2]

History

Stone industry is one of the oldest in the world. Creation of stone tools (microliths industry) in the region of South Africa has been dated to about 60,000–70,000 years ago.[3] Granite and marble mining has existed as far back as ancient Egypt.[4] Crushed stone was used extensively by the first great road building civilizations, such as ancient Greece and ancient Rome.[5]

In the eighteenth century, the use of drilling and blasting operations was mastered.[6]

Stone industry

Stone industry refers to the part of the primary sector of the economy, similar to the mining industry, but concerned with excavations of stones, in particular granite, marble, slate and sandstone. Other products of the industry include crushed stone and dimension stone.

Types of rock

Types of rock extracted from quarries include:

Methods of quarrying

The method of removal of stones from their natural bed by using different operations is called quarrying. Methods of quarrying include:

The following steps are used in the blasting process:

Slabs

Many quarry stones such as marble, granite, limestone, and sandstone are cut into larger slabs and removed from the quarry. The surfaces are polished and finished with varying degrees of sheen or luster. Polished slabs are often cut into tiles or countertops and installed in many kinds of residential and commercial properties. Natural stone quarried from the earth is often considered a luxury and tends to be a highly durable surface, thus highly desirable.

Problems

Quarries in level areas that are located in flat terrain or in places where groundwater sits close to the surface often face significant drainage challenges groundwater or which are located close to surface water often have engineering problems with drainage. Generally the water is removed by pumping while the quarry is operational, but for high inflows more complex approaches may be required. For example, the Coquina quarry is excavated to more than 60 feet (18 m) below sea level.

To reduce surface leakage, a moat lined with clay was constructed around the entire quarry. Groundwater entering the pit is pumped up into the moat. As a quarry becomes deeper, water inflows generally increase and it also becomes more expensive to lift the water higher during removal; this can become the limiting factor in quarry depth. Some water-filled quarries are worked from beneath the water, by dredging.

Many people and municipalities consider quarries to be eyesores and require various abatement methods to address problems with noise, dust, and appearance. A well-known effective and famous example of successful quarry restoration is Butchart Gardens in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.[7]

A further problem is pollution of roads from trucks leaving the quarries. To control and restrain the pollution of public roads, wheel washing systems are becoming more common.

Quarry lakes

Many quarries naturally fill with water after abandonment and become lakes. Others are made into landfills.

Water-filled quarries can be very deep, often 50 ft (15 m) or more, and surprisingly cold, so swimming in quarry lakes is generally not recommended. Unexpectedly cold water can cause a swimmer's muscles to suddenly weaken; it can also cause shock and even hypothermia.[8] Though quarry water is often very clear, submerged quarry stones, abandoned equipment, dead animals and strong currents make diving into these quarries extremely dangerous. Several people drown in quarries each year.[9][10] However, many inactive quarries are converted into safe swimming sites.[11][12]

Such lakes, even lakes within active quarries, can provide important habitat for animals.[13]

See also

References

  1. "Quarrying English View". epiroc.com.
  2. US EPA, OW (2014-03-10). "Mineral Mining and Processing Effluent Guidelines". US EPA.
  3. Alfred J. Andrea; Kevin McGeough; William E. Mierse; Mark Aldenderfer; Carolyn Neel (28 February 2011). World History Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. p. 145. ISBN 978-1-85109-929-0.
  4. Nelson L. Nemerow (27 January 2009). Environmental Engineering: Environmental Health and Safety for Municipal Infrastructure, Land Use and Planning, and Industry. John Wiley & Sons. p. 40. ISBN 978-0-470-08305-5.
  5. John J. McKetta Jr (14 November 1995). Encyclopedia of Chemical Processing and Design: Volume 54 – Steam Reforming: Operating Experience to Storage Tank Explosion Safeguards. CRC Press. p. 281. ISBN 978-0-8247-2605-8.
  6. Raymond Perrier: Les roches ornementales. Ternay (Edition Pro Roc) 2004, ISBN 2-9508992-6-9, p. 443–447.
  7. "BCMEMPR, BCMTH, and NRC. (1995). Reclamation and Environmental Protection Handbook for Sand, Gravel and Quarry Operations in British Columbia. British Columbia Ministry of Energy Mines and Petroleum Resources Ministry of Transportation and Highways Natural Resources Canada" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2022-01-21.
  8. "American Canoe Association explanation of cold shock". Enter.net. Archived from the original on 2012-06-16.
  9. "US Dept. of Labor list of mine related fatalities". Msha.gov. Archived from the original on 2012-03-09.
  10. "on quarry drownings". Geology.com. 2007-11-03.
  11. "Centennial Beach - History". www.centennialbeach.org. Archived from the original on 9 April 2022.
  12. "City of Coral Gables - Venetian Pool". www.coralgables.com. Archived from the original on 28 June 2022.
  13. Sievers, Michael (19 May 2017). "Sand quarry wetlands provide high-quality habitat for native amphibians". Web Ecology. 17 (1): 19–27. Bibcode:2017WEco...17...19S. doi:10.5194/we-17-19-2017. hdl:10072/411143.

S.K Duggal "Building Materials" (2003) 3rd revised edition Quarries

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