The politics of gravel and aggregate production

Background
Stone quarrying has gone on since prehistoric times, since stone is a hard, largely weatherproof and strong; but still carvable substance. It has ranged in use from flint axe heads to medieval stone cathedrals to modern pebble-dashing on houses.

A quarry or excavation or pit is usually made open to the air, from which building stone, gravel, slate, or the like, is obtained by cutting, blasting, excavating etc.

Whinstone
Whinstone is a term used in the quarrying industry to describe any hard dark-coloured rock. Examples include the igneous rocks, basalt and dolerite, as well as the sedimentary rock, chert.

Massive outcrops of whinstone occur include the Pentland Hills, Scotland and the Whin Sills, England.

The name "whin" derives from the sound it makes when struck with a hammer. It is used for road chippings and dry stone walls, but its natural angular shapes do not fit together well and are not easy to build with, and its hardness makes it a difficult material to work. A common use is in the laying of patios and driveways in its ground/by product state called Whindust.

Whindust is a local name used in Scotland and the North of England referring to fine-grained grit or dust resulting as a by product from the grinding and breaking of Whinstone. Whindust is available in several forms, Washed Whindust, Damp Whindust and Whindust. The principal uses of the aggregate are for creating a low-cost firm base under landscaping features. Typically the dust would be applied over a foundation layer of heavier rubble. The dust is of a very hard igneous rock so does not break down into sand, yet it does pack into a very solid form. This makes the product ideal for slabbing and driveways.

Gravel



 *  For other uses, see: Gravel (disambiguation). 

Overview
Gravel /ˈɡrævəl/ is a loose aggregation of rock fragments. Gravel is classified by particle size range and includes size classes from granule- to boulder-sized fragments. In the Udden-Wentworth scale gravel is categorized into granular gravel (2 to 4 mm or 0.079 to 0.157 in) and pebble gravel (4 to 64 mm or 0.2 to 2.5 in). ISO 14688 grades gravels as fine, medium, and coarse with ranges 2 mm to 6.3 mm to 20 mm to 63 mm. One cubic metre of gravel typically weighs about 1,800 kg (or a cubic yard weighs about 3,000 pounds).

Gravel is an important commercial product, with a number of applications. Many roadways are surfaced with gravel, especially in rural areas where there is little traffic. Globally, far more roads are surfaced with gravel than with concrete or tarmac; Russia alone has over 400,000 km (250,000 mi) of gravel roads. Both sand and small gravel are also important for the manufacture of concrete.

Large gravel deposits are a common geological feature, being formed as a result of the weathering and erosion of rocks. The action of rivers and waves tends to pile up gravel in large accumulations. This can sometimes result in gravel becoming compacted and lithified into the sedimentary rock called conglomerate. Where natural gravel deposits are insufficient for human purposes, gravel is often produced by quarrying and crushing hard-wearing rocks, such as sandstone, limestone, or basalt. Quarries where gravel is extracted are known as gravel pits. Southern England possesses particularly large concentrations of them due to the widespread deposition of gravel in the region during the Ice Ages.

Modern production
As of 2006, the United States is the world's leading producer and consumer of gravel, but it is used and made in lesser amounts worldwide.

Etymology
The word gravel comes from the Breton language. In Breton, "grav" means coast. Adding the "-el" suffix in Breton denotes the component parts of something larger. Thus "gravel" means the small stones which make up such a beach on the coast. Many dictionaries ignore the Breton language, citing Old French gravele or gravelle.

Gravel often has the meaning a mixture of different size pieces of stone mixed with sand and possibly some clay. In American English, small stones without sand mixed in are known as crushed stone.

Types
Types of gravel include:
 * Bank gravel: naturally deposited gravel intermixed with sand or clay found in and next to rivers and streams. Also known as "bank run" or "river run".
 * Bench gravel: a bed of gravel located on the side of a valley above the present stream bottom, indicating the former location of the stream bed when it was at a higher level.
 * Creek rock or river rock: this is generally rounded, semi-polished stones, potentially of a wide range of types, that are dredged or scooped from stream beds. It is also often used as concrete aggregate and less often as a paving surface.
 * Crushed stone: rock crushed and graded by screens and then mixed to a blend of stones and fines. It is widely used as a surfacing for roads and driveways, sometimes with tar applied over it. Crushed stone may be made from granite, limestone, dolostone, and other rocks. Also known as "crusher run", DGA (dense grade aggregate) QP (quarry process), and shoulder stone.
 * Fine gravel: gravel consisting of particles with a diameter of 2 to 8 mm.
 * Lag gravel: a surface accumulation of coarse gravel produced by the removal of finer particles.
 * Pay gravel: also known as "pay dirt"; a nickname for gravel with a high concentration of gold and other precious metals. The metals are recovered through gold panning.
 * Pea gravel: gravel that consists of small, rounded stones used in concrete surfaces. Also used for walkways, driveways and as a substrate in home aquariums.
 * Piedmont gravel: a coarse gravel carried down from high places by mountain streams and deposited on relatively flat ground, where the water runs more slowly.
 * Plateau gravel: a layer of gravel on a plateau or other region above the height at which stream-terrace gravel is usually found.

Relationship to plant life
In locales where gravelly soil is predominant, plant life is generally more sparse. This outcome derives from the inferior ability of gravels to retain moisture, as well as the corresponding paucity of mineral nutrients, since finer soils that contain such minerals are present in smaller amounts.

Crushed rock
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Uses


Greater London needed, in 2017, 10,000,000 tonnes of primary aggregates, this is equal to 30,000 tonnes every single day. Aggregates are made up of crushed rock, sand, gravel and recycled stone and concrete related materials), along with much asphalt, lime, cement and concrete, dimension\cut stone and mortar (Dimension stone is natural stone or rock that has been selected and finished (i.e., trimmed, cut, drilled, ground, or other wise altered by humans) to specific sizes or shapes. Color, texture and pattern, and surface finish of the stone are also normal requirements.). 97% of this material is from the UK, especially rock by rail from Somerset and the Midlands, and marine sand and gravel dredged from the UK's sea bed.


 * Gravel can be used for:
 * 1) Railway ballast.
 * 2) As part of concrete.
 * 3) As part of road tarmac surfaces.
 * 4) Pebbel-dashing on exterior walls.
 * 5) Gravel paths, roads and driveways.
 * 6) Builder's structural hardcore.
 * 7) Dranage in fields with a high clay level.
 * 8) As a binder for riprap.
 * 9) As part of  Hoggin paths.

A gravel road is a type of unpaved road surfaced with gravel that has been brought to the site from a quarry or stream bed. They are common in less-developed nations, and also in the rural areas of developed nations such as Canada and the United States. In New Zealand, and other Commonwealth countries, they may be known as 'metal roads'. They may be referred to as 'dirt roads' in common speech, but that term is used more for unimproved roads with no surface material added. If well constructed and maintained, a gravel road is an all-weather road.

Economic value
Aggregates account for approximately 85% of the non–energy minerals extracted in the UK. The construction sector, which is an important part of the UK economy, relies on the supply of construction aggregates, obtained from either 1,300 quarries in Britain, dredged from the sea bed by a fleet of 28 marine aggregate dredgers and through recycling processes.

2017 production from all sources was roughly 300,000,000 tonnes each year and The Quarry Products Association estimated that the industry provided employment for an estimated 88,000 people – 38 000 directly and 50 000 indirectly, in the UK that year.

50,000,000 tonnes of ‘quarry fines’ and over 20,000,000 tonnes of ‘quarry waste’ were made in the UK during 2017.

Wide spread and in depth data has been kept on the industry and related natural reserves by outside bonnies since 1973.

Extraction (digging it up)



 * Note: For the song by the Wu Tang Clan, see: Gravel Pit.

A gravel pit is an open-pit mine (a form of Quarry) for the extraction of gravel. Gravel pits often lie in river valleys where the water table is high, so they may naturally fill with water to form ponds or lakes. Old, abandoned gravel pits are normally used either as nature reserves, or as amenity areas for water sports, landfills and walking. In addition, many gravel pits in the United Kingdom have been stocked with freshwater fish such as the common carp to create coarse fishing locations. Gravel and sand are mined for concrete, construction aggregate and other industrial mineral uses.

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It can be sucked up by specialist ships of of the seabed in coastal waters. It has been blamed in some cases for damaging marine wildlife and natural costal sea defences.

Noise
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Ugly site
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Road haulage
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Water table pollution and level changes
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Damage to wildlife and habitats
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Problems with additional risk of flooding
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Dust clouds
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Foul odours
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Loss of farmland
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Once the land is excavated what will be replaced into the land?
The type of ground restoration used will depend on both the desired land use (AKA: 'after use') and the type of mineral that has been quarried from it.

Waste products
Quarry and rock crushing waste is the material discarded after rock crushing or gravel extraction, as being: too fine, irregular, or flaky for constructional work. It may contain low levels of toxic minerals like led or high levels of toxins like workplace solvents.

50,000,000 tonnes of ‘quarry fines’ and over 20,000,000 tonnes of ‘quarry waste’ was made in the UK during 2017.

Wide spread and in depth data has been kept on the industry and related natural reserves by outside bonnies since 1973.

Land restoration
The type of ground restoration used will depend on both the desired land use (AKA: 'after use') and the type of mineral that has been quarried from it.


 *  Land restoration method examples include: 
 * 1) Landfill, which itself will be later restored.
 * 2) Agriculture.
 * 3) Habitat creation.
 * 4) Social amenities.
 * 5) Combined wildlife and social amenities.
 * 6) Housing.
 * 7) Forstry.
 * 8) Containing a lake.
 * 9) Flood storage.
 * 10) Business or commercial properties.
 * 11) Playgrounds.

5 Large firms dig most of it in the UK
In 2007, about 80% of the UK's market in sales terms, producing from quarries and extraction pits across the country were by only a handful of firms.


 *  They are: 
 * 1) Cemex (Mexican) bought out RMC.
 * 2) Lafarge (French) bought out Redland.
 * 3) Tarmac (UK\USA) is a long term corporate conglomerate.
 * 4) Holcim (Swiss) bought out Aggregate Industries and Foster Yeoman.
 * 5) Heidelberg Cement (German) bought out Hanson.

On 10 July 2015 Lafarge merger with Holcim, a Swiss cement company. On 15 July the new company was officially launched around the globe under the name of LafargeHolcim, creating a new leader in the Building Materials sector.

Other cases
About $500,000 in damage to equipment and property in the mine and additional $30,000 in damage was done at the company facilaty, just north of Highland Quarry in Missoion, Sumas Mountain, B.C. during 2001.

Laws
There are many like the Directive 2006/21/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 March 2006 on the management of waste from extractive industries.

India

 * 1) Classic RMC & Aggregates India Pvt. Ltd.

UK

 * 1) Hanson.
 * 2) RMC Group plc (formerly "Ready Mixed Concrete Limited").
 * 3) Redland.
 * 4) Aggregate Industries.
 * 5) Foster Yeoman.
 * 6) Breedon Group.
 * 7) RMC-The Raw Material Company (Cannock) Ltd.
 * 8) DecorativeAggregates.com
 * 9) Bulk Bag Aggregates
 * 10) Ideal for Gardens.
 * 11) UK Decorative Gravel & Aggregates For Gardens And Driveways
 * 12) UK Gravel & Aggregates – the best way to transform any garden.
 * MPQ

Sweden

 * 1) Sandvik Mining and Rock Technology.

Canada

 * 1) Mainland Sand and Gravel.

Finland

 * 1) Metso Corporation.

France

 * 1) Lafarge

Brazil

 * 1) Brazil Gravel Hauling.

USA

 * 1) Samscreen International.
 * 2) Nugent Sand.
 * 3) Vulcan Materials Co.
 * 4) Martin Marietta Aggregates.
 * 5) Oldcastle Materials, Inc.
 * 6) Terex.

Mexico

 * 1) Cemex

Turkey

 * 1) Polimeks Insaat Taahhut ve San. Tic. A.S

Anglo-American joint venture

 * 1) Tarmac

Switzerland
 * 1) Holcim

Germany

 * 1) Heidelberg Cement

Norway

 * 1) Lemminkäinen Norge AS

UK

 * 1) British Marine Aggregate Producers Association (BMAPA)
 * 2) BRITISH AGGREGATES ASSOCIATION
 * 3) The Association for Independent Quarry Operators
 * 4) Quarry Products Association, Northern Ireland
 * 5) Quarries Joint National Advisory Committee on Health and Safety
 * 6) The Minerals Products Qualifications Council
 * 7) Confederation of British Industry
 * 8) Heath and Safety Executive
 * 9) UK Minerals Forum.
 * 10) Quarry Products Association

Sweden

 * 1) Swedish Mining Association

USA

 * 1) National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association
 * 2) American Road and Transportation Builders Association
 * 3) Historical Construction Equipment Association
 * 4) Industrial Minerals Association – North America
 * 5) National Asphalt Pavement Association
 * 6) National Lime Association
 * 7) National Mining Association
 * 8) National Ready Mixed Concrete Association
 * 9) National Slag Association
 * 10) Portland Cement Association
 * 11) The National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association
 * 12) The American Society for Testing Materials
 * 13) Oregon Concrete & Aggregate Producers Association
 * 14) Pavement Interactive article on Aggregates
 * 15) https://www.aggregateresearch.com/

Qatar

 * 1) Qatar Online Business Directory

EU

 * 1) UEPG – The European Aggregates Association

Global

 * 1) International Society of Explosives Engineers

UK

 * 1) Shelford Against Gravel Extraction (SAGE)
 * 2) stopbengeoquarry.org.uk/
 * 3) Salford Priors Against Gravel Extraction
 * 4) Coddington Against Sand and Gravel Extraction
 * 5) coddingtonactiongroup.org
 * 6) https://www.facebook.com/killthequarry
 * 7) http://www.killthequarry.com/

Canada

 * 1) Gravel Watch Ontario

Also see

 * 1) The politics in industry
 * 2) Directive 2006/21/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 March 2006 on the management of waste from extractive industries