Local Skid Resistant Aggregates to be Used in Road Construction

In an age when ‘foreign’ products are often considered superior to local products, the government is now looking to use locally produced skid resistant aggregates to construct road surfaces, thereby cutting the high costs of importing the material as well as creating employment.
Director of the Mineral Policy and Development Division in the Ministry of Land and Environment, Oral Rainford, informs JIS about the use of 100 per cent local material to construct Highway 2000.
“In terms of materials for bulk and filling operations and materials to be used on the tar mart it is totally Jamaican. We are using the material because it is of exceptionally good quality and furthermore it is available and is relatively cheap,” he explains.
He adds, “If the operators were to import the materials the cost of the project would have been extremely high. We’ll be saving a lot of money”. Mr. Rainford says the materials are coming from various regions in the island, including the quarries in the Hill Run area of Clarendon as well as from Manchester. These quarries are limestone areas.
He further informs that the materials now being used are crushed limestone and marl. “The marl is a variety of limestone but it is not consolidated, it is not hard but is more powdery and is used primarily for filling purposes, to supply bulk, while the aggregate or crushed limestone is used to grade the road so that there are different size stones at different levels in the road”.
Recently a delegation of Czech geologists visited the island to assist with the Mineral Resource Development Project, which seeks to identify and document industrial minerals, mainly limestone and skid resistant aggregate, for the construction industry and for export.
The Director explains that the volcanic material, which is found in the bordering areas of St. Andrew and St. Thomas as well as in other areas, has not been used on Highway 2000 due to the lack of investment in the material to date. “We’re hoping the material will become available rather soon, as soon as people are willing to invest in this material,” he adds.
Mr. Rainford explains how the mining industry will go about getting people to invest in skid resistant aggregates. “We are going to be having a major discussion with the major players in the industry shortly and we hope to bring across to them the availability of the material and indicate the sums which may be necessary to establish the necessary crushing plant and establish a quarry which would really suffice the exploitation of the material in various areas,” he says.
The investment in skid resistant aggregate mining as well as the mining of other local materials to be used on Jamaican road surfaces is expected to impact positively on employment.
The Director tells JIS News that in addition to creating employment opportunities in the industry, it will also result in the creation of expertise in the production of these materials. “We’ll be creating employment for persons locally; we’ll be developing our own expertise in quarrying and mining the material and importantly we can be certain of the material going into the construction process,” he explains.
Mr. Rainford is also calling on investors to pump money into the sector. “We want more people to invest in the quarries and we wish to implore the public to purchase materials from licenced quarries and people can know these quarries by the licences they would have displayed at their offices or other strategic points at the quarries,” he notes.
In respect to the response of the Bouygues Construction, the French company constructing Highway 2000, Mr. Rainford informs, “they are satisfied with the quality of the material, and they just check to ensure the quality of the material meet the specifications that have been outlined”. The stage is set and Mr. Rainford notes that the skid resistant material is available and it is for persons to apply for quarry licences and begin mining.
Senior Geologist and head of the Industrial Minerals Unit in the Mines and Geology department of the Ministry, Craig Foreman says the use of local materials on Jamaica’s road surfaces and in particular, Highway 2000 is commendable. He also shares the view that the industry should seriously pursue the use of skid resistant aggregates.
“The use of crushed limestone and crushed gravel is quite commendable, due to their quality however they can be inconsistent in performance and due to this, the use of skid resistant aggregates should be pursued because they are of a higher quality,” Mr. Foreman states.
He points out that the high quality of the material is in demand by countries such as the Cayman Islands for the material to be used on their road surfaces, following Hurricane Ivan last year.
“We hope these aggregates can be used shortly as they can stand up better to protect against potholes and climatic changes. They are of better quality,” he stresses. Mr. Foreman also adds that the National Works Agency is being encouraged to use the aggregates once they become available in large quantities.
Mr. Foreman says mining works and testing are currently being carried out, which means that the skid aggregates could be ready for use on Highway 2000 in the medium to long term to compliment other local materials.
The use of local materials on the highway and other road surfaces is proving cost effective and has resulted in added employment in the mining industry.