Quarrying Methods

(Also see the “Quarry & Workshop Equipment” section.)

• About Stone (Recommendation of Seasoning Stone Before Use) (September 1893) The Manufacturer and Builder, Vol. 25, Issue 9, September 1893, pgs. 206-207. (Article in digital images viewed at American Memory, Library of Congress.)
  
• Cutting Blocks of Granite - NT100 cutting centre with 100 disks for granite  (YouTube video)
• Granite Extraction and Processing, by http://www.gagranite.com/ (YouTube video)
• Granite – How It’s Made, Discovery Channel, YouTube video
• Granite Manufacturing Plant – Astron Globals factories in Chennai, India, in Feb. 2008  (YouTube Video)
• Granite Processing Line, by  CANIGO  (YouTube video)
• “The Granite Quarries of the New England Coast” (pdf), by S. G. W. Benjamin, in Harper’s Weekly, January 10, 1891, Vol. XXXV, No. 1777, pp. 29-31.  (Quarrying methods used in Maine and Massachusetts coastline granite quarries circa 1891)

  “An East Shore Granite Quarry” circa Jan. 10, 1891

• How Stone is Quarried and Prepared for Building Purposes (May 1873) The Manufacturer and Builder, Vol. 5, Issue 5, May 1873, pg. 112. (Article in digital images viewed at American Memory, Library of Congress.)

• “Marble in America, Part 1:  The Industry,” by Eva Schwartz, in “Focal Points” on the Barbara Israel Garden Antiques web site.  Part 2,  “Marble in America: Part II, Marketing & Perception.  Companies mentioned in the article include:  Vermont Marble Company; Sutherland Falls Marble Company, Proctor, Vermont; and Producers Marble Company – all of Proctor, Vermont; and Colorado Yule Marble Quarry, Marble, Colorado.
  

• Marble Tile Production  (YouTube video)
• “Methods of Quarrying and Dressing” circa 1886 − Excerpts from The Collection of Building and Ornamental Stones in the U.S. National Museum: A Hand-book and Catalogue, by George P. Merrill, curator, pp. 285-331. From Annual Report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution…Year ending June 30, 1886, 1887.
• Modern Stone Quarrying - The Channeling Process (October 1884) The Manufacturer and Builder, Vol. 16, Issue 10, October 1884, pgs. 230-231. (Article in digital images viewed at American Memory, Library of Congress.)
• Old Quarrying Methods – la lizzatura Carrara  (YouTube video)  “Reenactment of ‘Lizzatura’ to Resceto (Carrara). The movie is an excerpt from a documentary made by the Group Angelovideoreporter Cineamatori Apuane in order to promote environmental and socio-cultural resources of the Apuane area….”
• Old Ways to Move Stone – Ancient systems used to transport marble
  • Old Ways to Move Stone – “Monolithic Marble Quarries of Carrara 1929 lizzatura”  (YouTube Video)
  • Old Ways to Move Stone  (You Tube video)
  • Old Ways to Move Stone – Reenactment  (YouTube Video)
• Polishing Granite  (YouTube video)
• Processing granite blocks into slabs in Brazil  (YouTube video)
• Quarrying and Dressing Marble (June 1891) The Manufacturer and Builder, Vol. 23, Issue 6, June 1891, pg. 130. (Includes a photograph of the Sutherland Falls Marble Quarry; article in digital images viewed at American Memory, Library of Congress.)
• “Quarrying Methods in Ancient Greece,” in Through the Ages, Vol. I, No. I,May 1923.
• Quarrying Methods the Stone Industries in the United States & Foreign Countries up through 1939 in The Stone Industries: Dimension Stone, Crushed Stone, Geology, Technology, Distribution, Utilization, by Oliver Bowles (Supervising Engineer, Building Materials Section, United States Bureau of Mines), New York: 2nd ed., New York: McGraw-Hill, 1939.  (You can view a copy of this book on Internet Archive web site, and you can download a copy of the book to your computer at the link above.)

  This book fully covers the United States stone quarry industry up through 1939.  There is also a chapter on “Foreign Building and Ornamental Stones.”   Below is a listing of the information covered in the chapters.  (Many photographs of quarries, etc., are included in this book.)

  Part I.  General Features of the Stone Industries

  Chapter I.  Extent and Subdivision.  Extent of the Industry – Major Divisions of the Industry – Varieties of Stone Used

  Chapter II.  Minerals and Rocks.  Distinction between Rock and Stone – Relationship of Rocks to Minerals – Rock-forming Minerals – Classification of Rocks – General Distribution of Rocks in the United States.

  Chapter III.  Factors Governing Rock Utilization.  Rock Qualities on Which Use Depends – Importance of Other factors than Quality – Available Markets;  Diversification of Products  Transportation Facilities – Production Code

  Chapter IV.  Prospecting and Developing.  Prospecting – Stripping – General Methods of Operation – Bibliography

  Part II.  Dimension Stone

  Chapter V.  General Features of Dimension-Stone Industries.  Definition of Dimension Stone –   Principal Uses  Requisite Qualities of Dimension Stone –  Adaptations of Raw Materials to Use –  Complexities in Marketing –  Royalties

  Chapter VI.  Limestone.  Definition –  Origin – Physical Properties – Varieties – Qualities on Which Use Depends – Uses – Industry by States – Occurrences of Travertine – Quarry Methods –  Milling Methods – Limestone Products – Cost of Quarrying and Manufacture – Waste in Quarrying and Manufacture – Utilization of Waste – Limestone Marketing – Bibliography

  Chapter VII.  Sandstone.  Varieties – Composition – Size and Shape of Grains – Cementation – Color – Porosity – Uses – Production – Industry by States – Quarry Methods – Quarry Processes – Yard Service – Sandstone Sawmills and Finishing Plants – The Bluestone Industry – Waste in Sandstone Quarrying and Manufacture – Bibliography

  Chapter VIII.  Granite.  General Character – Mineral Composition – Chemical Composition – Physical Properties Varieties – Related Rocks – Structural Features – Uses – Distribution of deposits – Industry by States – Quarry Methods and Equipment – Milling Methods and Equipment – Market Range – Imports, Exports, and Tariffs – Prices – Bibliography

  Chapter IX.  Marble.  History – Definition – Composition – Origin and Varieties – Physical Properties – Jointing or Unsoundness – Chief Impurities of Marble – Uses – Distribution of Deposits – Production – Industry by States – Quarry Methods and Equipment – Transportation; Equipment and Operation in Mills and Shops – Waste in Quarrying and Manufacture – Marketing Marble – Imports and Exports – Tariff – Prices – Bibliography

  Chapter X.  Slate.  Definition – Origin – Mineralogical Composition – Chemical Composition – Physical Properties – Structural Features – Imperfections – Uses – History of Industry – General Distribution – Production – Industry by States – General Plan of Quarrying – Quarry Operations – Quarry Methods – Yard Transportation – Manufacture of Roofing Slate – Storage of Roofing Slate – The Art of Roofing with Slate – Manufacture of School slates – Manufacture of Mill Stock – Slate Floors – Walks, and Walls – Crushed and Pulverized Slate Products – Waste in Quarrying and Manufacturing – Tests and Specifications – Marketing – Imports and Exports – Tariff – Prices – Bibliography

  Chapter XI.  Soapstone.  Composition and Properties – History – Uses – Origin and Occurrence – Quarry Methods – Milling Processes – Marketing – Rocks Related to Soapstone – Bibliography

  Chapter XII.  Boulders as Building Materials.  Origin and Nature of Boulders – Stone Fences – The Use of Boulders in Buildings

  Chapter XIII.  Foreign Building and Ornamental Stones.  Scope of Discussion – Imports of Stone – Foreign Limestones – Foreign Sandstones – Foreign Granites – Foreign Marbles – Foreign Slates – Bibliography

  Chapter XIV.  Miscellaneous Rocks and Minerals Used for Building and Ornamental Purposes.  Agalmatolite – Alabaster – Amazonite – Catlinite – Clay – Diatomite – Tripoli and Pumice – Fluorite – Jade – Labradorite – Lapis-lazuli – Malachite and Azurite – Meerschaum – Mica Schist – Porphyry – Quartz; Snow and Ice – Sodalite – Bibliography

  Chapter XV.  Deterioration, Preservation, and Cleaning of Stonework.  Deterioration of Stone – Preservation of Stone – Cleaning Stone – Bibliography

  Part III.  Crushed and Broken Stone

  Chapter XVI.  General Features of the Crushed-Stone Industries.  History – Types and Values of Stone Used – Crushed Stone and Dimension Stone Contrasted – Uses of Crushed Stone – Competition – Markets – Transportation – Prices – Royalties – Capital Required

  Chapter XVII.  Crushed and Broken Limestone.  Types of Stone Included – Extent of Industry – Uses of Crushed and Broken Limestone – Uses for Which Physical Properties are Most Important – Uses for Which Chemical Properties are Most Important – Uses of Dolomite and High-magnesian Limestone – Industry by States – Quarry Methods and Equipment; Bibliography

  Chapter XVIII.  Crushed and Broken Stone Other Than Limestone.  General Features – Uses – General Distribution and Value – Industries by States – Quarry Method and Equipment – Marketing – Bibliography

• Sawing Marble - Ten-Ton Block Direct from Quarry, Proctor, Vermont (Keystone View Co. photograph and text, 1913)
  
  
  
• Slates and Slating (November 1892) The Manufacturer and Builder, Vol. 24, Issue 11, November 1892, pg. 255. (Article in digital images viewed at American Memory, Library of Congress.)
• Stone Ball Project – “Shaping Australian granite with hand and power tools to make a ball.”  (YouTube video)
• Stone Manufacturing Plant in China  (YouTube Video)
• Tools Used in Stone-Cutting (February 1885) The Manufacturer and Builder, Vol. 17, Issue 2, February 1885, pg. 38. (Article in digital images viewed at American Memory, Library of Congress.)

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