Modern Quarrying January-February 2016

HISTORICAL FEATURE

it, not much construction, the infrastruc- ture of development, can take place. As has been indicated, considerable prog- ress has been made over the past 15 years in the modernisation of the industry. Contact is maintained with quarrymen in other countries and no doubt the next 15 years will see a great deal of further development. ‘South Africa is likely to go the way of other countries in creating larger units, making use of economies of scale to con- trol unit costs. The greatest hindrance to this is the distances which the finished product must be transported. But there is scope for the development of the rail system as has taken place elsewhere, with special trucks and depots where stone can be stockpiled. ‘This is a young industry with an inter- esting niche in the overall economy, and plenty of scope for future development’ – Sir Rupert Bromley, January 16, 1986. About Face RSA Looking back on the establishment of the About Face RSA beautification pro- gramme, Sir Rupert reminds MQ that this was a programme initiated by the National Stone Association (NSA) of USA “and we sought their permission to use the name, logo and programme, suitably amended to take account of our local operations. “Now there were many things to be done to set up this programme,” he says.

not only small volume offtake, but which necessitates the slowing down of major sections of its production plant; at least without some recompense for so doing. On the other hand, there is a tendency to design roads with sophisticated aggre- gate materials without any consideration of the cost and difficulty of making them, and to expect them to be sold to the road- makers at standard prices. ‘At the same time, many different specifications are in use. Every province has its own specification and consulting engineers also often design their own specifications. This is most inconvenient for the aggregate industry and efforts are being made – under the auspices of the SA Bureau of Standards and the National Institute of Transport and Road Research – to bring together the various parties to produce agreed and universal specifica- tions for the various products required. ‘The aggregate industry wants to produce what its customers require. But the customers need to have some understanding of what is involved in pro- ducing aggregate to non-standard speci- fications. In other words, some education of customers by the quarry industry is required. The Agfed sub-committee con- cerned with the SABS 1083 is tackling this problem’. Ending his report 30 years ago, Sir Rupert writes: ‘The quarry industry, as in all countries, is still a small part of the country’s industrial complex. But without

specifically agreed by the industry with the Government Mining Engineer for good reason in the early stages of arrang- ing the course. ‘The next course to be designed, that of open pit mining manager, which will be taken at Technikon level, is, however, intended to lead to a Government certifi- cate at the end of it. The setting up of this course is being actively pursued’. Quality and specifications ‘In line with the educational facilities, the industry has been concerned with the quality of its products. Agfed and its regional associations spend considerable time looking at the standard of products of the industry, and at present, are work- ing on the updating of the SABS 1083 which is the basic SA Bureau of Standards quality specification for concrete and roadstone. ‘There has been little problem with this specification for concrete stone and only a few minor changes are being con- templated. But the aggregate industry and the users of roadstone, the National Transport Commission, Provincial Roads Department and the consulting engi- neers designing roads, have been unable to come to any agreement on the spec- ifications for roadstone and base course. ‘On the one hand, the aggregate industry has been unwilling to expend the capital and redesign its working schedules to produce materials which are

The then Alpha-owned Peninsula Quarry, photographed in 1997 (courtesy Sir Rupert Bromley).

Ridgeview photographed in 1997 (courtesy Sir Rupert Bromley).

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MODERN QUARRYING January - February 2016