Sand & Gravel Quarry
Tour Introduction
Sand and gravel is rock which nature has already broken into fragments (smaller bits and pieces), mostly by weathering and by erosion during the ice age. If you draw a line across Britain between Humberside and Dorset you will find plentiful sand and gravel deposits to the south of that line and hard rocks to the north
Quarryville’s sand and gravel quarry was first opened six years ago. Excavation is now taking part at Sandy Farm in the far corner of the site, where there’s a reserve of over 3 million tonnes of material.
The average digging depth is five metres. The first metre is topsoil that covers the sand and gravel beneath it. Excavated material from this site is normally 90% sand and gravel, and 10% clay and silt.
Quarryville’s processing plant washes the clay and silt from the excavated material and then separates the sand and gravel into different grades/sizes. The Sandy Farm site produces around 800 tonnes of sand and gravel a day, 85% of which is used for ready mixed concrete.
That’s enough concrete to build a lot of roads and houses! And at 800 tonnes a day, it’ll take ten years to dig it all up. But you’d be surprised how few people produce so many tonnes of material.
Eight of the eleven workers spend most of their time outdoors; the other three do most of their work in the office.
Indoor staff:
- Quarry manager
- Weighbridge operator/works clerk
- Laboratory technician
Outdoor staff:
- Foreman
- Maintenance worker
- Two yard shovel operators
- Excavator operator
- Dumper driver
- Labourer/reserve driver
- Conveyor technician
The first thing all the outdoor workers do when they start work at 7.15 in the morning is to put on their uniform and safety gear. All outdoor workers wear hard hats and heavy boots at all times.