Laserfiche WebLink
indicated a prefere~ for the quarry to all the roa~uts that have been left <br />in the construction of Cedar Heights, a nearby, exclusive •~nd v=ry ?:!I~?~L,ivP <br />housing development that is currently in receivership. <br />i <br />DESCRIPTION QF VISUAL E~ REVEGETATION: A visual berm to screen the <br />operation was a part of the initial quarry plan designed by Dames ~ Moore. The <br />berm was constructed of limestone waste and was completed several years ago. <br />It was graded, benched, and seeded. Although growth and chemical tests showed <br />the material to be highly capable of supporting vegetation, even without <br />fertilizer, in nature it did not work that way. The berm eroded severely and, <br />for all practical purposes, nothing grew. The surface became like concrete <br />when it dried and was extremely slick when wet. <br />The next year, to our luck, Cedar Heights had a great deal of excess soil <br />they needed to dispose of and Castle provided a site for them. The site was <br />the visual berm. The soil was placed on the repaired berm and promptly seeded. <br />Although some erosion still occurred, it was much reduced and the vegetation <br />grew at an incredible rate. Weeds presented some problems at first, but the <br />strength of the grasses was so great the weeds succumbed to the grasses. Over <br />950 trees and shrubs were hand planted on the berm benches. After four years <br />there are still about 250 alive. Some of the trees have reached heights of 6 <br />to 7 feet and everything is growing well. <br />The vegetation on the bench faces has declined somewhat, but St appears <br />that most of this problem was a result of early erosion effects which have now <br />been controlled. These faces will be reseeded during this next year to boost <br />the growth. <br />The lesson to be learned from the berm is that limestone waste, without <br />first covering with soil, will not support revegetation except under ideal <br />conditions. If the waste is covered with a few inches of soil, it supports <br />outstanding growths of grasses, forbs, trees and shrubs. This appears to be a <br />result of the soil essentially providing an initial growth medium as well a~ a <br />mulch over the limestone waste. The soil keeps the waste from drying out and <br />developing a concrete like surface which appears to be the major cause of the <br />death of the plants. To some extent, the visual berm at this quarry and the <br />solution to its revegetation relates to the problems at the Queen's Canyon <br />Quarry and is applicable for future revegetation at the Pikeview Quarry. <br />16 <br />