The impact of urbanization on construction minerals
Construction minerals (sand, gravel and crushed stone used in the production of concrete) are among our most plentiful mineral resources by volume. Increasing quantities of these materials are required for construction within urban areas. However, continuing and accelerating suburbanization is rapidly making unusable deposits of these minerals due to zoning and other restrictions. In addition, the low intrinsic value of mineral aggregates and their bulkiness make the economics of the industry extremely sensitive to location. Mathematical programming is used to investigate the economic impact of urbanization on the production and distribution of construction minerals.
ECONOMIC IMPACT OF URBANIZATION OF THE MINERAL AGGREGATE INDUSTRY
Due to the low intrinsic value of these construction minerals, sand, gravel, and crushed stone, the economics of the industry are extremely sensitive to location, e.g., a distance of 20 miles generally doubles the delivered costs of mineral aggregates. Although these materials are among the most plentiful, they are being structurally and legally sterilized due to the process of urbanization and are becoming less accessible. The dynamics of this situation present a classical case in urban-suburban land use conflict. To obtain a measure of the impact of urbanization, the mineral aggregates industry in the Greater New York Metropolitan Area (G.N.Y.M.A.) has been studied. The impact of urbanization is most noticeable in the increased delivered prices within the G.N.Y.M.A. Plotting the rise in prices as the effects of urbanization become more pronounced shows 1975 as a date for exhaustion of deposits in Zones 2 and 3. Prices for fine aggregates will rise above the prices for coarse aggregates. /DCPL/
The Present Status of Reclamation in the Sand and Gravel Industry
Closer inspection, however, showed that re-examination may be timely. It is su rprising how rapidly time passes and how key personnel change. It is also surprising how rapidly our industry has changed. Thus, when my predecessor, F. D. Coppock, addressed th is group on the subject of reclamation in 1955, our industry was producing at a rate of approx­ imately 500 m illion tons per year. Today, i t is producing at nearly double that rate, which means that we are using land twice as fa st and our reclamation requirement is twice as big.