In the quarry they use special chemicals to blow up the quarry walls instead of dynamite. They use chemicals because they are safer and less expensive.

Once the drill holes are lined with plastic tubing, the chemicals are put in the holes along with an electronic detonator. The blast removes rock from an area about 25 feet long, 25 feet wide, and 50 feet deep. To be good neighbors the quarry does not set off a blast until 9:00 A.M or after 4:00 P.M. If they blast too far into the ground they may hit water so a geologist constantly checks the progress of the quarry.

There are only four people involved in the blast! Some jobs associated with implementing the blast are the driller, the person who puts the chemicals down the pipe, the person who does the wiring, and the operator.

QUARRY HISTORY

In the past dynamite was used to create the explosions. The photos below showing quarry workers in Montgomery County were taken in 1937. The workers are cutting packages of dynamite and packing it in the ground for the explosion.

Workers loaded dynamite in one of four 6 " holes that were dug 20 or more feet deep.	A wooden tamper was used to pack the dynamite.
Dynamite packages were cut open to make the dynamite easier to pack. After a dynamite cap was inserted down the hole with wires attached. . .	grit was packed on top of the dynamite. This helped the charge to disperse to the side instead of straight up the hole.

THE BLAST	BLAST BACKGROUND INFORMATION	PREPARATION FOR BLAST	CHEMICALS
VIDEO OF EXPLOSION	AFTERMATH	CLEAN UP	PICTURES