Abandoned Quarries and Sustainable Redevelopment

Abandoned quarries and sustainable redevelopment is the focus of the present passage. A quarry is an area from which rocks such as marble, limestone, and granite are extracted for industrial use. 

 

Abandoned Quarries

Once depleted of their desired resources, quarries are frequently abandoned. The resulting gaping holes can fill with water and form dangerous quarry lakes while others are turned into unsightly landfills. When quarries are in close proximity to urban environments, inhabitants are subjected to pollution and noise, and the undeniable eyesore of an abandoned quarry remains long after excavation is completed. 

 

Sustainable Redevelopment

Sustainable redevelopment has become a shining solution for these abandoned, resource-depleted quarries. Dozens of cities in America and abroad have undertaken adaptive re-use projects to transform quarries into a variety of public and private spaces. The potential new uses for these expanses of land include sites for research and education, aquaculture, recreational activities, storage, industry and housing. 

 

 

How Long Does a Quarry Last

Pits and quarries are, by nature, self-consuming. Once a quarry’s stone, sand and gravel have been fully extracted it’s no longer necessary to keep it open. Sites can stay open for 35 years or more but many are depleted within 5 years.

 

How Long Does The Average Pit or Quarry Stay Open?

Pits and quarries are, by nature, self-consuming. Once a quarry’s stone, sand and gravel have been fully extracted it’s no longer necessary to keep it open. Sites can stay open for 35 years or more but many are depleted within 5 years. It all depends on how abundant the resource is and the rate at which the aggregate is extracted.

 

New Residential Subdivisions

Unlike most other industrial uses, the sand and gravel operation is a temporary use that is not only making an important contribution to the economy but is simultaneously in the process of developing lands and waters for other uses. These uses can be anything from parks with fish and wildlife habitat to new residential subdivisions.

 

Aggregate Resources Act (1990)

All licences granted since the Aggregate Resources Act (1990) require progressive and final rehabilitation plans be in place.  That means that at the end of each phase of extraction, the worked-on area must be rehabilitated. This results in only a small fraction of a pit being disturbed at any one time.

 

Aggregate

Aggregate is a unique industry that allows land to be re-developed into a new use after extraction.  Many former above-water sites return to agricultural land, natural land use or recreational areas.

 

A Common Myth

A common myth is that once a below-water site has been extracted, all that remains is a stagnant pit of water.  The reality is that pits and quarries are being rehabilitated as new wetlands and water features that encourage and enhance biodiversity.

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