Each year, USGS identifies the highest production single-site quarries in the United States. Here is this year’s list.

By Josephine Smith

1. Beckmann Quarry, Bexar County, Texas
Address: 4243 North FM 1604 West, San Antonio, TX 78257
Parent Company: Martin Marietta Aggregates
Product: Limestone
Facts:

• Located on northwest edge of San Antonio.
• Site opened prior to the 1930s and has been continuously operated and expanded to meet the region's growing demand for high-quality building materials.
• The San Antonio District of Martin Marietta performed their test run of the FX Reactor, an on-board fuel-treatment system created by Emission & Power Solutions Inc., at the quarry on a pair of wheel loaders (in 2009). The result was an approximate 10 percent reduction in fuel consumption in a month's time. In one piece of equipment, the reactor saved about 25 gal., or more than $50 per day.

2. Balcones Quarry, Comal County, Texas
Address: 2682 Wald Rd., New Braunfels, TX 78132
Parent Company: Cemex SAB de C.V.
Product: Limestone
Facts:

• Located next to Balcones Plant (cement).
• The plant was expanded in 2008 to double cement production. The estimated cost was $250 million.

3. Ste. Genevieve Quarry, Ste. Genevieve County, Mo.
Address: UMR Mile 127, Ste. Genevieve, MO 63670
Parent Company: Tower Rock Stone Co.
Product: Limestone
Facts:

• Tower Rock is an affiliate of Luhr Bros. Inc.
• Located north of Ste. Genevieve.
• Won the 2009 Sentinels of Safety Award for Large Company – Quarry. Had 201,391 injury- free hours. The 2009 awards were presented at the 2010 Sentinels of
• Safety Awards Luncheon in Washington, D.C..

4. White Rock Quarry, Dade County, Fla.
Address: 18300 NW 122nd Ave., Miami, FL 33016
Parent Company: Vecellio & Grogan Inc.
Product: DOT-certified limestone
Facts:

• Started operating in 1986.
• White Rock's main location has two processing plants and six outbound scales. It is situated along US-27 / Okeechobee Rd. in Miami-Dade County.
• White Rock's entire operation was designed from the ground up for high-volume production. In a continuous cycle, rock is carefully drilled and blasted, then excavated by a Marion 8200 walking dragline hoisting a 105-cy bucket.

5. Georgetown Quarry, Williamson County, Texas
Address: 5300 South IH-35, Georgetown,Texas 78627
Parent Company: Texas Crushed Stone Co. Inc.
Product: Limestone
Facts:

• History: Edwin Brazelton Snead founded E.B. Snead Construction Co. in 1932. Ten years later, he opened his first quarry in Austin. In 1947, he incorporated Texas
• Crushed Stone and then opened a second quarry. In 1958, with the lime stone almost depleted in the second quarry, Snead began looking for a new quarry site, which he found near Georgetown. At the same time, the Missouri Pacific Railroad was trying to abandon a branch line railroad running between Round Rock and Georgetown. Some Georgetown businessmen, however, wanted to ensure that their city would continue to be served by two railroads. In those days, before IH-35 was built, having a quarry that far from Austin typically made shipping difficult; but Snead chose to locate his new quarry along the rail line for easy access in hauling to Austin. He and the businessmen worked together and incorporated the Georgetown Railroad. Historically, about half of what comes out of the quarry goes by rail.
• Today, Edwin's son Bill serves as president of Texas Crushed Stone and holds the majority interest in the Georgetown Railroad.
• Has served Texas and Louisiana for more than 50 years.
• Quarry spans about 7,500 acres.
• Every day, an average of 40,000 tons of rock is quarried at Texas Crushed Stone. Fifteen hundred trucks and 100 rail cars then ship the rock to construction jobs in Central and East Texas.

6. Cape Sandy #1, Crawford County, IN
Address: 19925 S Alton-Fredonia Rd., Leavenworth, IN 47137
Parent Company: Mulzer Crushed Stone Inc.
Product: Limestone
Facts:

• In operation since 1963.
• 130 employees.
• Barge delivery on the Ohio River.
• In 2010, the Quarry hosted a PTO fundraiser and all-school visit for Leavenworth Elementary, located 10 miles from the operation.
• Awarded the Gold "Excellence in Mining" (E.I.M.) Award at the Annual IMAA Winter Workshop in Carmel, Ind. on Feb. 2, 2011.
• South Perry Head Start children, staff and parents have an annual visit to the quarry.

7. Macon Quarry, Jones County, GA
Address: 1263 Lite-N-Tie Rd. Macon, GA 31211
Parent Company: Ready Mix USA Holding Co. (Aggregates USA)
Product: Crushed Stone (general character of material: Mylonitic Gneiss/Amphibolite)
Facts:

• Also known as Hitchcock Quarry.
• Opened in 1958.
• Formerly operated by Rinker Materials.

8. Three Rivers Quarry, Livingston County, KY
Address: 830 Three Rivers Rd., Smithland, KY 42081
Parent Company: Martin Marietta Aggregates
Product: Limestone
Facts:

• Won first place in large quarry group for its outstanding 2008 safety records in the annual Sentinels of Safety awards program sponsored by MSHA and the National
• Mining Association. The quarry had 197,795 hours.
• In late 1994, Martin Marietta announced plans to purchase Dravo Basic Materials Co., including the Three Rivers Quarry. Acquisition was finalized in January 1995.

9. Richards Spur Rock Quarry, Comanche County, OK
Address: 375 Dolese Rd., Elgin, OK 73538
Parent Company: Dolese Bros. Co.
Product: Crushed Stone (limestone)
Facts:

• Oklahoma Department of Mines 2009 Inspectors Safety Award Winner.
• Unique in the abundance and accessibility of the Permian terrestrial fossils found there.
• University groups regularly go to quarry to obtain buckets of material.

9. Bridgeport Stone Plant, Wise County, TX
Address: Bridgeport, Texas
Parent Company: Texas Industries Inc. (TXI)
Product: Limestone
Facts:

• Flagship aggregate plant of TXI.
• Acquired by TXI in 1953 from Fort Worth Sand and Gravel.
• Early 2008 the plant was upgraded and automated. Now entire plant controlled in central control room by two operators.
• About two years ago started using protective tire chains on its wheel loaders – saving time and money.
• The plant can produce in excess of 8 million tons per year.

10. McCook 378, Cook County, IL
Address: 5500 Joliet Rd., McCook, IL 60525
Parent Company: Vulcan Materials Co.
Product: Limestone
Facts:

• As part of McCook Quarry's recycling efforts, conveyor belts and used engine oil are recycled. In 2008, McCook Quarry recycled more than 50,000 pounds of conveyor belts. In 2009, the team recycled 1,108 light bulbs, 175 pounds of computer monitors, 87 pounds of batteries and 1,563 pounds of plastic bottles, cans and paper. Depending on the pace of business, Vulcan's McCook Quarry recycles as many as 20 wheel- loader and off-highway truck tires per month.
  The Quarry utilizes recycled water throughout the facility.
• McCook materials have been used to build, re construct and maintain hundreds of area projects including: I-55, I-294, Soldier Field, O'Hare International Airport, Millennium Park and the Deep Tunnel Project.
• McCook Quarry has been honored by the National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association (NSSGA), the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR), the Illinois Association of Aggregate Produces (IAAP) and the West Suburban Chamber of Commerce & Industry.
• McCook annually provides more than $100,000 in grants, material and product donations to help support community needs.
• Developed Earth Science Day with LaGrange School District. All sixth graders in district visit the Quarry in the fall to augment textbook and class lessons on geology. Students also learn about engineering, environmental services, quality control and land reclamation.
• Each year more than 100 Webelos from the Des Plaines Valley Council of Boy Scouts of America come to McCook Quarry to work their way through a series of lessons and stations - Geology 101, Fossil Hunt, Quarry Tour and Uses of Limestone. The activities help the scouts earn a Geologist Activity Pin.
• Each year, McCook Quarry provides educational tours to hundreds of local neighbors, business associations, vocational groups, schoolchildren and scouts. The tours include a detailed history of the quarry, Geology 101 and the production process. Each tour is tailored by the McCook team based on the age level of the participants and the size of the group. McCook has hosted open house events for the community, drawing upwards of 7,000 visitors.
• McCook Quarry, in partnership with the Township of Lyons and a neighboring quarry, formed the award-winning Lyons Township Quarry Advisory Council to facilitate open communications and to develop partnership opportunities with the surrounding communities.