The Grantville Quarry is one of 11 new quarries approved in Victoria in the past year. It will be owned and operated by Hanson Construction Materials, will create 20 new jobs and will produce around 300,000 tonnes of sand per annum – enough to fill 80 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
The operation will be on Hanson-owned land bordered by McGrady and Stanley roads in Grantville, 100km southeast of Melbourne. Final approval was received on 5 August from the Earth Resources Regulator, which is the state government’s authority on earth resources activities.
{{quote-A:R-W:175-I:2-Q:“The projected extraction rate is 300,000 tonnes per annum with the material sent to our Yannathan or Lang Lang sand quarries for processing and blending” -who:Daniel Fyfe, Divisional Manager, Hanson Construction Materials}}Coarse sand from the operation will be transported to other nearby Hanson plants to produce concrete for the booming Melbourne and Gippsland construction markets.
This will likely include the foundations of houses in the expanding south-eastern suburbs, new schools, road projects and the $530 million Gippsland Rail Upgrade.
“It is expected that the quarry will not be producing and exporting coarse sand until mid-2021,” Hanson divisional landfill and development manager Daniel Fyfe told Quarry. “We are required to meet several preconditions, including designing and constructing a section of Stanley Road to accommodate quarry truck traffic.
“The projected extraction rate is 300,000 tonnes per annum, with the material sent to our Yannathan or Lang Lang sand quarries for processing and blending. No washing will be undertaken at Grantville.”
Meeting infrastructure demand
The quarry, according to the Victorian Government, forms part of the solution to ensure there is enough material to meet demand from housing and infrastructure projects across the state.
The state government estimates the average rock, gravel and sand required per person in Victoria is eight tonnes. With demand predicted to double by 2050, the state acknowledges it needs new and expanded quarries, and has approved 11 new local quarries in the past year.
“Raw building materials make up 35 per cent of construction costs and up to 40 per cent of major road expenditure,” a Victorian Government spokesperson said. “Transporting heavy materials is expensive and if the distance between quarries and build sites increases, infrastructure will be less affordable.”
In 2018, Victoria launched its first Extractive Resources Strategy, which focuses on ensuring the state has new and expanding quarries in proximity to where material is needed.
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