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April - May 2017
MODERN QUARRYING
17
N ew c a p a c i t y wa s r a p -
idly designed and installed at
Moregrove, the hub of the com-
bined operation. A joint enterprise
was agreed with Ready Mixed
Concrete of SA and the Moregrove
operation began to emerge.
A ready mix concrete plant was
built alongside the S&W quarry at
Moregrove and a modern quarry-
ing plant was commissioned 15
months later in March 1964. In the
1960s, the washing, mixing and
batching equipment at Moregrove
was among the most sophisticated
in the world. In the 1970s and 1980s
the quarry maintained its reputa-
tion for successful innovation with
new product development while
achieving leadership status in prod-
uct quality and control.
The next major change was
in January 1989 when Murray &
Roberts and Blue Circle consoli-
dated their quarrying and ready
mixed concrete interests into one
company, Ready Mix Materials.
Operator safety, social and
community responsibility became
areas of increasing interest with
Moregrove becoming a South
African pioneer in the field of social
and environmental responsibility.
The operation has played a crucial
role in the modern development
of PE and the Eastern Cape. Its
contribution is well documented
but there is little public awareness
of just how substantially it helped
change the face of the region; every
major construction or civil engi-
neering project in the area used
materials from Moregrove.
Aggregate from the old work-
ings at Fraser’s quarry and S&W,
was used in the residential build-
ing boom of the post-war period.
During the construction boom of
the 1960s, the merged operations
at Moregrove provided the build-
ing construction material that
helped transform PE into a modern
Port City. Every bridge and inter-
change in the area was built with
Moregrove materials. All national
roads and municipal projects in the
area used these materials.
The contribution ex tends
far from the city to the Mossgas
pipeline, the dolosse that protect
the coastline from erosion, the
Blaukrans Pass project, Sterkspruit
Dam and Middleton Road. The list
goes on and on and is continuing
well into the 20
th
century.
The 1990s gave Moregrove a
new lease of life, and at that time,
the rezoning of the eastern por-
tions of Section D for open mining,
extended the life of the quarry by
some 48 years.
At Moregrove, the long-term
environmental impact has always
been of major importance. Much
of the workings are below the
water table – creating opportuni-
ties for a wetland breeding habitat
for aquatic birds. The opening of
Quarryman Park was the start of
an extensive greenbelt, with tree
and protea planting and general
rehabilitation having started in the
1980s. The greening of Moregrove
began long before environmental
concerns became a major issue.
Innovations
Moregrove and innovations are
synonymous. The ready mixed con-
crete concept was introduced to the
Eastern Cape from Moregrove, and
there has been a succession of firsts
and notable achievements over the
decades.
New produc ts developed
at Moregrove in the early years
included topping, retarded mor-
tar, plaster, ready flow concrete,
underwater concrete, lean-mix,
trench fill and no-fines concrete.
Cemented-treated sub-base and
emulsion-treated sub-base were
also pioneered by the Moregrove
team as was foamed concrete.
Its laboratory was the first in
the country to be awarded a SABS
commercial laboratory listing.
Moregrove was the country’s first
RMC plant to be awarded SABS
0157recognition for quality man-
agement systems production, and
it was the first quarry in the country
to receive this coveted certification.
That long-term commitment
AT THE QUARRY FACE
WITH MOREGROVE
A well-oiled machine: Photograph shows the plant which consists of the
primary, and the secondary and tertiary.
The Dakota air separator and washing plant.