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Seldom travelled road with a viewpoint of the Quarry.
What you see before you is a quarry. A quarry is an open air mine where rock and other materials are removed. There are many different types of quarries. This particular quarry was built and designed to mine Limestone.
Shelby County Alabama like many areas of the United States (approximately 20% of the United States is thought to be covered in Limestone), contains a large deposit of Limestone. Limestone is one of the basic building materials of the world. Limestone is a Sedimentary rock, comprised mainly of the Mineral Calcite. Calcite is a Carbonate mineral and the most stable form of that is called Calcium Carbonate (CaCO3).
Calcium Carbonate is found in all kinds of rock throughout the entire world and the main component is from the shells of marine animals. Therefore, at some time in the distant past, this portion of Alabama was underwater for a considerable period of time.
Let's recap: Shells of Marine Animals contribute to the production of Calcium Carbonate and Calcium Carbonate is the main component of Limestone.
This particular quarry that you see before you, is not just a quarry. Oh sure, they're digging out limestone as fast as they can, but Limestone is not the end product. At this quarry, and a neighbor down the road, they are manufacturing a product from the limestone and are busy extracting the Calcium Carbonate from the Limestone in order to make this product.
Limestone, in and of it's self, is a major building material. Typically, it has been used to create beautiful Facades on buildings. As a matter of fact, the great Pyramid of Giza is made entirely out of Limestone. Limestone can also be crushed (which is what they are doing in Calera) to make aggregate. Aggregate is also known as gravel, and it is used as a building block for every road in the United States. Aggregate comes in many sizes and has many different uses and Limestone is not always used to make Aggregate and not all Aggregate is made from LimeStone.
As mentioned earlier, Calcium Carbonate comes from Limestone and many different other rocks. Calcium Carbonate, however, is one of the most beneficial minerals ever manufactured. Calcium Carbonate is a building block for other material. In one of the "duh" moments of your life, you will be saying... "Why didn't I pay better attention in Chemistry Class?", the answer is the same as it was then. Cause it's BORING. However, it's molecular structure is such that it doesn't take a lot of effort (resources and people) to change it to something that is even more useful.
If you heat Calcium Carbonate to 840 degrees Centigrade (which is not something I care to do) it will release Carbon Dioxide (CO2) and form Calcium Oxide (CaO), which goes by the name of QuickLime. The nearby Manufacturing facility (On U.S. 31) does this.
If you combine Calcium Carbonate (CaCO3) with water (H2O) which has been saturated with Carbon Dioxide (CO2), you will get a compound (Ca(HCO3)2) called Calcium Bicarbonate.
Why is all of this important? One word, which is not really the correct word but suffices...LIME. Lime can be constructed into many different compounds, and those compounds can be used for a myriad of purposes. Here is just a few:
1. Your city decides to dig a well for a fresh water source. However, that water is not of a quality that it can be drank. How is it made potable? LIME. Lime can be used to clean
impurities from water. It is also used in the pumping mechanism to pull the water out of the ground.
2. You're in the finishing stages of your new house and it's time to start laying the brick work. Well, if the folks that make up the cement forgot to put the LIME in, it's not going
to stay together and will eventually fall down. Lime provides that Stickability to cement to hold materials together.
3. While we're at it, if you built your house on a nice wooded lot, you may want to check the trees. If they are all pine, then you will have a problem growing grass. Why? Because
Pine trees are highly acidic and the Ph of your soil is out of whack. You fix this by spreading LIME on your ground. Lime is an Alkaline and it works to stabilize the pH in the soil.
4. LIME is also used to manufacture (of all things) toothpaste.
5. Like these roads around here? If you do, then you can thank LIME because it is a Key ingredient in the manufacture of Asphalt. Asphalt would not Stick without LIME.
6. It is also a component of Portland Cement.
While this quarry has very few physical vantage points where one can stop and admire the expanse, it has not always been this way with other quarries. But, the modern quarry has been using earthen berms for many years now and this hides the quarry from public view.
And, why is this location so important in the manufacture of Lime? Simple. The business that owns the quarry and the business that owns the quarry less than 3 miles down US 31 and the business on Co. Rd. 26 going towards 119 are three of the top 10 producers of LIME in the United States (2004 was the most recent data gathering I could find). That makes Shelby County's Lime production worth talking about.
The quiz
At the posted coordinates, you can look in either direction. On the one side, you can see into the quarry, and on the other side you can see the back side of the plant. The bridge was built specifically to allow trucks and other equipment to move so they did not have to cross the road.
At NO TIME should you attempt to enter the quarry, or cross any fences or berms.
1. What do you suppose is being moved on the conveyor belt from the quarry to the plant?
2. Provide an estimate as to the Width of the quarry. (There is no way to estimate the length of the quarry as you are only looking at the Short Leg of the quarry. i.e.; the small section.)
3. What two different structures have been erected by this quarry to protect the privacy of the quarry? (you may find it helpful to visit N 33 12.541 W 086 46.312 to see both of these structures.)
4. Post a picture of yourself with GPS at the posted coordinates with your electronic log with the quarry for a background.
Additional waypoints: N 33 12.631 W 086 45.923 - From the posted coordinates, you can see these coordinates as they are on top of the distant mountain. During the cold winter months, it might be possible from here to see the entire quarry and there is only minimal bushwhacking required.
You will learn nothing here except the possibility of seeing the quarry (assuming that the Kudzu has not completely ate the road to these coordinates, that is).
Other Waypoints: N 33 17.813 W 086 48.993. For bonus credit, identify the business at this location by name and remember... this was a Limestone quarry before it became what it is today.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
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