Quarries

A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their environmental impact.[1][2]

Quarries

Stone quarry is an outdated term for mining construction rocks (limestone, marble, granite, sandstone, etc.). There are open types (called quarries, or open-pit mines) and closed types (mines and caves).

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. One of the more effective and famous examples of successful quarry restoration is Butchart Gardens in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.[4]

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.[5] 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.[6][7] However, many inactive quarries are converted into safe swimming sites.[8][9]

The most common purpose of quarries is to extract stone for building materials. Quarries have been used for thousands of years. Ancient Egyptians built the Great Pyramids with massive limestone and granite blocks cut by hand from nearby quarries. Each of these blocks weighs many tons. In ancient Rome, slaves and criminals were often forced to do the extremely difficult work of cutting stones in marble, granite, and limestone quarries.

Methods of extracting stone and other materials from quarries have changed since the first quarries were mined in the Aswan area of Egypt. The earliest quarries were mined with hammers, picks, and chisels made of stone or metals such as bronze and iron.Even communities that did not have stone buildings created quarries. The Lakota culture of the Midwest region of the U.S. and Canada did not quarry stone to build monuments or houses. At a site in Pipestone National Monument, in the U.S. state of Minnesota, they quarried for stones to make calumets, or ceremonial smoking pipes. Calumets, made of a type of metamorphic rock called catlinite or pipestone, were important for creating lasting treaties, or agreements between groups of people.Quarrying material for use in building materials was much more work. Stones had to be carried or dragged out of quarries manually. Stones could also be hauled with pulley systems involving ropes and moveable wooden tracks or sleds. This process often involved thousands of slaves and other workers.On Easter Island, for example, almost the entire community had to be involved in the quarrying, carving, and transportation of statues. The rock for these statues, called moai, was hauled all over the island from one quarry. The heaviest moai weighs 86 tons. Scientists are still studying how these ancient Polynesian people transported their quarried rock.Today, people use mechanical tools to mine quarries, including drilling equipment, blasting equipment, and hauling equipment. Industrial drills with diamond tips are used to cut into hard rock. Some miners use explosives to blast away unwanted material to access the desired rock. Finally, materials are hauled away by enormous mining trucks. Some mining trucks can carry more than 350 tons of material.Dimension Stones and AggregateDifferent types of stones are mined for different purposes. The two most common types of quarry material are dimension stones and aggregate.

Large, precisely cut stones excavated from a quarry are called dimension stones. Dimension stones are used for constructing buildings and monuments, or for decorating the outside of buildings. They are also used for kitchen counters and roofing shingles. Headstones, polished dimension stones usually made of granite, are used to mark graves in many countries.Sand, gravel or crushed rock excavated from a quarry is called aggregate. Aggregate is used in construction to create stable foundations for things like roads and railroad tracks.Aggregate is also used to make concrete and asphalt. For this reason, asphalt and concrete plants are often built next to quarries. Asphalt is an oily substance that is mixed with aggregate for road construction. Concrete, invented by the ancient Romans, is a mixture of sticky stone cement and aggregate. The Romans depended on concrete and aggregate to build their vast system of roads and aqueducts, many of which are still standing today.Quarries and the EnvironmentQuarries change their environment. They displace huge amounts of soil and plants, and force animals out of the area. Abandoned quarries rarely leave enough soil to allow life to return to the area.Some abandoned quarries can fill with water, creating artificial lakes. Many of these lakes are clear and deep, creating a safe swimming environment for people and some aquatic animals, such as frogs and birds. Sometimes, however, lakes created by abandoned quarries have mining equipment left on the bottom, making them unsafe for swimming. Toxic materials exposed by mining activities can also leak into water at abandoned quarries.Quarries are prone to flooding because they are sometimes dug below the water table. Environmentalists fear the toxic materials could seep into groundwater if an abandoned quarrys water reaches an areas water table. This is the concern surrounding the Berkeley Pit, a former copper quarry near Butte, Montana. The Berkeley Pit is one of the largest toxic waste sites in the U.S., and its water is within 61 meters (200 feet) of the areas water table.To avoid contamination, miners must sometimes pump water out of quarries. Quarries are sealed from the surrounding water table. Abandoned quarries can also be turned into landfills.

Welcome to delawarequarries.com, the internet home of Delaware Quarries, Inc. We hope to provide you with the best possible service through information and photographs to make your stone selection process a pleasant experience. Please be sure to visit our F.A.Q. section for answers to many popular questions.

The concept of the landscape as architecture has become, for me, an act of imagination. I remember looking at buildings made of stone, and thinking, there has to be an interesting landscape somewhere out there because these stones had to have been taken out of the quarry one block at a time. I had never seen a dimensional quarry, but I envisioned an inverted cubed architecture on the side of a hill. I went in search of it, and when I had it on my ground glass, I knew that I had arrived. I had found an organic architecture created by our pursuit of raw materials. Open-pit mines, funneling down, were to me like inverted pyramids. Photographing quarries was a deliberate act of going out to try to find something in the world that would match the kinds of forms in my imagination.

I was excited by the striking patinas on the walls of the abandoned quarries. The surface of the rock-face would simultaneously reveal the process of its own creation, as well as display the techniques of the quarrymen. I likened the tenacious trees and pools of water to nature's sentinels awaiting the eventual retreat of man and machine - to begin the slow process of reclamation.

For the artist, it suggested inverted architecture: an idea about quarries that he had long dreamed of, but in the eyes of the quarryman it was an evolutionary history of extraction technology. In all, Edward Burtynsky made a half dozen Vermont trips to photograph what are thought to be the deepest quarries in the world.

We have the aggregates you need from Marble to Quartz to Granite in sizes ranging from sand to pebbles to rock. If you don't see what you want, just ask. We source from quarries throughout North and Central America.

Fister Quarries Group, Inc. is known throughout North America as a leading supplier of aggregates, pigments and sandblasting nozzles. We have established long-term partnerships with quarries in the US, Canada and Mexico to ensure our supply of high quality aggregates with color consistency and color matching should a particular deposit run out. For nearly 50 years, architects, builders, and casters have trusted us to deliver for their project, from a single pallet to an entire railcar.

Lemont owes its existence to the Illinois and Michigan Canal (I&M). Digging began in 1836 and finished in 1848, representing a revolution in the transportation of goods and people and set Chicago on its path to become a great American city. Today, visitors can enjoy a day at the Heritage Quarries Recreation Area (HQRA). Whether you're walking, running, biking, boating, or fishing, the paths along the I&M Canal and quarries is your location for recreation.

Located just half a mile east of downtown Lemont, the entrance is accessed from Talcott Avenue just east of Main Street and the adjacent railroad tracks. Following the road, you will cross another set of tracks, and just past the tracks, the first entrance is to the east. Take the second entrance drive, north alongside the I&M Canal, to get to parking areas for boating, fishing, picnic groves and The Forge: Lemont Quarries. There are many spots along the way where you will see fisherman, kayakers and boaters enjoying the quarries. 041b061a72