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Access
for restoration
Access to the quarry floor, benches, quarry
faces, tips and screening
banks is required for the purposes of restoration, but
may also be needed for remedial and maintenance work during
the quarry’s after use. Restoration works undertaken
while the quarry is operational are governed by the Quarries
Regulations 1999, but it is a good idea for similar standards
to be maintained once quarrying at the site has finished.
Safety is the key issue and safe access has several key components:
- Proper 'edge protection' to prevent people or equipment
from falling down the steep slopes.
- Safe gradients on access roads.
- Secure slopes above and below roads and working levels,
with appropriate rockfall protection.
- Safe turning facilities on benches.
In many places, slopes in fill materials and soils placed on
benches may be too steep for vehicles, but it is always necessary
to ensure that people working on such slopes (for the purposes
of planting or maintaining vegetation) are quite secure. Commonly
this involves 'edge protection' consisting of a bank of tipped
material along the edge of the bench.
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 Quarry
benching with access to the restoration tree planting.
Also important is the control of drainage. Water can damage
roads and cause erosion of restored surfaces and rock faces,
and may cause problems with safety
and stability or the visual appearance of the site. Various
methods are available for supporting faces where access is
required for these or other purposes, such as sites of nature
conservation or geological interest (see
rockfall protection). |
