Exploring the life cycles of quarries

There are stringent environmental criteria for the establishment of a new quarry. But when an old quarry has completed its service to a region, what happens to the site?

Unlike the industry of the past, brand-new quarry and pit sites are established in a manner which minimises, as far as possible, the visual impact of the operation. Quarry operators take pride in the fact that new sites are established with a strong emphasis on how the site appears to onlookers, and extensive landscaping is carried out to reduce the impact of quarries and extraction pits. Wherever possible, existing sites are being landscaped and screen planting introduced to reduce their visual presence.

The Aggregate and Quarry Association (AQA) takes its environmental responsibilities very seriously, and quarries today aim to be as unobtrusive as possible to their surrounding habitats. The AQA has an environmental policy and encourages its members to minimise their impact on the environment while encouraging continual improvement in environmental performance.

But once a quarry has completed its service to a region, what happens to the site? Rehabilitation of quarries and other extraction sites continues to be a key issue within the aggregates industry.

Volunteers have proven what can be achieved on the site of a former quarry. The two featured in this article pre-dated today’s stringent requirements for rehabilitation by quarry owners, and demonstrate how inspiring nature’s natural resources of rock and planting can be.

Te Puna Quarry – history

The Te Puna Quarry in Tauranga started its service to the region in 1911 when 32 ha were reserved for quarry purposes. The rock was used for road works, reclamation and breakwaters. For a long period the county council operated a small crushing plant at the site to provide for local needs, which included the old Tauranga–Waihi Highway.

While at first the quarry was worked by the county council, this was later phased out in favour of private contractors who paid royalties on quantities produced for sale, with the council having prior right of being supplied.

After World War Two, from 1945 onwards, output from the quarry increased, and the quarry supplied crushed metal for county roads and for the reconstruction of State Highway Two. Large quantities of stone were also used for bridge approach embankments in the general area of Tauranga, for the Strand reclamation, for breakwaters built on the foreshore and for farm tracks.

Quarry operations ceased in 1979; in its 50-year service, some 575,000 tons of rock were removed from Te Puna.

Te Puna Quarry – today

Now the site that served the region has a new role as the Te Puna Quarry Park. It is being developed by a dedicated band of volunteers into a world-class park that has already become a place of special beauty.

From the upper levels there is a spectacular panoramic view out over the Bay of Plenty. There are ponds, tree ferns, cymbidium orchids by the thousands, native tree plantings and exotics such as vireya rhododendrons. The quarry is a wild garden of infinite variety. It also has a butterfly garden where monarchs and admirals happily fly free.

Featured throughout the park are sculptures by local artists. The former quarry is now becoming popular as an exhibition area for outdoor art and also for weddings. The walking tracks are easy for the moderately fit. This is a place to enjoy, a place of nature and tranquillity, of stunning views and great art.

Eden Garden

Eden Garden in Epsom, Auckland, started life as a quarry which opened in 1909 and closed in 1916. In 1964, horticulturalist Jack Clark, with 15 fellow enthusiasts, took on the daunting challenge of converting the old quarry into the world-class garden it is today.

The quarry, on the side of Mt Eden, one of Auckland’s volcanic cones, had supplied stone for the early development of the city. It had been purchased by a city businessman, Sir Frank Mappin, as an addition to his neighbouring estate, which he eventually donated to the Crown as the site for Government House. The quarry site was not required and it passed to the Eden Garden Society for development.

Many years of backbreaking work followed, including emptying the quarry of old abandoned trucks and cars and decades of rubbish, and bringing in tons of soil – all done by the core of volunteers. Today, Eden Garden covers 5.5 acres and has won multiple awards. It includes many spectacular plant collections, including perennials, vireyas, camellias, bromeliads and native New Zealand plants. Visitors enjoy the waterfalls, rock formations, resident native birds and fabulous city and harbour views.

Awards for environmental excellence

An industry sponsored environmental award is available annually that recognises excellence within the industry for exhibiting outstanding examples of pollution management, rehabilitation, beautification, or other environmental work.

The MIMICO Environmental Award, to be presented at the QuarryNZ Conference in Rotorua in July, reflects the AQA’s aim to celebrate and publicise innovation and contributions that positively effect the environment. For further information about the award, visit www.aqa.org.nz