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The surface-mining worker fatalities are unacceptably high as compared to other private industries in United States such as construction, manufacturing, agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting. Although many studies about generating a safe work environment and developing safety training through intervention modules have tried to reduce the number of worker fatalities by utilizing an administrative approach to the development of safety controls, a rigorous study about understanding craftworkers' perceptions of a safe work environment is lacking. This study particularly investigated quarry workers' safety behaviors regarding work hazards by adapting findings from construction safety research because construction and mining industries have similarities in work hazards and environment. Despite their similarities, the work fatality rate in the mining industry is greater than in the construction industry (BLS, 2018). To gain a greater understanding of how quarry workers identify and interpret work hazards and employ strategies to prevent accidents, this study explored quarry workers' perceptions of work hazards (i.e., hazard identification, severity interpretation) and their preventive strategies to develop a safer working environment at the workplace. To accomplish this, a single descriptive case study was conducted with multiple sources of data such as interviews with photo elicitation, field notes, site photographs, and precursory meeting with safety managers. These sources of data were used to investigate quarry workers' identification and interpretation skills and utilization of preventive strategies. This study will contribute to improve safety of workers by incorporating workers' perceptions of work hazards and by exploring their experience to the development of safety training. / Master of Science / The surface-mining industry is one of the private industries with a high fatality rate in the United States. To reduce the number of accidents and help workers to perform safely in the workplace, previous studies have investigated different strategies to promote workers’ safety performance. These strategies include safety interventions such as safety training and safety inspections. However, a lack of study exists to understand workers’ behaviors and perceptions regarding safety and work hazards. To better explore workers’ behaviors and perceptions, this study adapted findings from construction safety research. Because the number of surface-mining safety research is relatively small and the work environment and types of work hazards in both the surface-mining and construction industries share similarities, the findings in construction safety research can be used to promote a safer workplace for surface-mine workers. By adapting findings in construction safety research, this study further investigated workers’ perceptions of work hazards, which is operationalized in two approaches: hazard identification and severity interpretation. This study also examines workers’ execution of strategies to prevent accidents. These observations were gathered through the utilization of a case study of quarry, which gave a guideline to the researcher to collect data from multiple sources (e.g., precursory meeting with safety managers, field notes, photographs, interviews) and analyze the findings by primarily using participants’ responses in the interviews with photo elicitation. This study will contribute to improve a safer workplace in the surface mining industry by incorporating workers’ perceptions and experience and by emphasizing workers’ involvement in tandem with company commitment to develop safety training.

This thesis project came out of an idea that architecture can serve to understand the transformation and history of place. In other words, can architecture be interpreted to give opportunities for displaying glimpses of the past, almost like occasional flashbacks? Based on this idea, I designed a building to make this idea tangible and to test the veridicality of my intention. In looking for a site, I sought out interesting places and moments in nature that would convey this idea I was studying. A quarry in Blacksburg, Virginia, an open-pit mine where dimension stone, sand, gravel and slate were excavated, provided me with an opportunity to explore this idea. The building I designed would help to display the original state of this old quarry, now half-filled with water. I started researching the history and development of stone quarries in order to understand essential and accidental connections associated with the present. The overall organization of the building forged a relationship with the surrounding nature and the contour of the mountains. The whole building was sunken into the edge of the cliff to reduce the appearance of the building's volume from the entrance. The slope was utilized to coordinate with the building. The water became a thread that articulates a person's progression throughout the building. The main entrance was at the top of the slope, with a path that leads down the slope along the building to a platform with a view of the site and temporary outdoor exhibits, which allows also for a more immediate interaction with the water. The building responded to the depth of the quarry, bringing it below the surface of the water. The shadow pool of water, trickling down below, draws attention to the curved staircase. Once reaching the bottom level, you can see the water running slowly along the vertical concrete wall. At this point, you enter the exhibits on the general history of stone quarries and the specific history of this stone quarry. Stone samples and tools used in the old times are also displayed on this floor. The second and third floors are collections of modern conditions of stone quarries as well as possible future technologies. The building was conceived as a composition of basic elements, with visual reference to rectangular and circular shapes, and interstitial space enclosures cast in concrete. The choice to use concrete was based on its ability to take flexible shapes and to be enhanced by repeated elements representing natural state of the quarry, as well as an approach to emphasizing light and volume. / Master of Architecture

Every place on earth has a voice. This voice resonates from the shaping events that have long passed and the current conditions that continue to give each place its individual character. The voice continually evolves as the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth leaves its trace. This voice in its endless variety of forms expresses the beauty that is inherent within each and every location on earth. The potential of architecture is the translation of this voice into human terms and the formal declaration that we as humans play a meaningful part in the cycle. The guiding forms, surfaces, substances of architecture allow the human body to move in grace, unhindered, and inspires the mind to sense the essential connection between matter spirit; between the individual and the whole. The role of the architect is to become sensitive to this voice; to silence the mind enough to hear, and to respond to it in material form. The resulting dialogue between the edifice and the encompassing site reaches a certain completeness that enriches the living experience of the end user, bringing the wandering mind to the present long enough to inspire the thought that "I belong here, among all of this." The technical training required in order to gain an inherent understanding of structure and materials takes years of experience in the field of architecture. However, it has been the focus of my graduate career to further develop this sensitivity to the site and make my first attempts at formulating an architectural response, suggesting structures that could achieve this engagement with the end user and the site itself. / Master of Architecture

This thesis explores relationships between the National Mall and the quarries that supported its construction. It focuses on the Washington Monument and its source of material, the Cockeysville Quarry, Maryland. By studying the movement of stone, the thesis begins to understand both sites as landscapes in process. It then examines the sites histories including land forms, immigrated laborers and railways changes associated with quarrying and construction. It happens that Ian McHarg also studied both sites fifty years ago in Design with Nature. Mcharg's analysis overlooks the potential of the industrial quarry to recharge the Marble Valley aquifer and does not account for the projected sea level rise on the National Mall. It is necessary to examine the two sites again. McHarg's ecological principles and methods are still the basic evaluation criteria for the examination (especially his understanding of landscapes as process.) The design project of this thesis uses shifting hydrologies at both sites to drive new uses,earthwork, urban forest (tree canopies), and axial relationships, inspired by the materials, forms, and historical links between the two landscapes. By looking at the landscapes as a pair, the design recalls the past connections between the sites and constructs new relationships ideologically and physically. / MLA / It is common for there to be a separation between quarries and the buildings and landscape we create from their materials. People rarely realize the materials are the records and links of the history, culture, society and ecology of the paired landscape between construction and material producer. This thesis starts from investigating the origin of building stones used for the memorials on the National Mall. Tracing stone sources links the National Mall landscape and the quarries that supported its construction. It focuses on the Washington Monument and its source of material, the Cockeysville Quarry, Maryland. The thesis examines the geographic, hydrological and physiographic information of the landscape between the National Mall and the Cockeysville Quarry based on ecological methods, especially the understanding of both sites as landscapes in process. It also studies the sites’ histories including landforms, immigrated laborers, and railways changes associated with quarrying and construction. The thesis design project explores the question of how the relationships can be reflected and applied in the intervention of the two landscapes. Within the framework generated by the relationship study, water issues have been identified as the main common problem. Protecting the Marble Valley aquifer and dealing with the thread of the sea level rise on the National Mall is the major consideration. The main strategy of design is to use the anticipated hydrologies to drive the new uses, earthwork, urban forest (tree canopies) at both sites. The second strategy of design is to use history, form and material relationships to inspire new connections between the sites ideologically and physically.

Täktverksamheter innebär stora ingrepp i miljön. När verksamheten avslutas ska täktområdet efterbehandlas och det finns flera sätt en efterbehandling kan utformas på och vad som måste tas hänsyn till. Gråsjöns skiffertäkt i Jämtland har inte efterbehandlats. Då den är en del av en kulturhistorisk miljö, att området kan vara geologiskt intressant samt att täkten är belägen i fjällmiljö gör det svårt att avgöra hur efterbehandlingen ska ske. Syftet med studien är därför att ta reda på hur skiffertäkten på bäst lämpade sätt ska efterbehandlas med avseende på aspekterna geologiska värden, naturvärden, kulturmiljövärden, estetiska värden samt risk och säkerhet. Detta har gjorts genom kvalitativa semistrukturerade intervjuer samt litteraturgranskning av rapporter om efterbehandling av täkter. Vid efterbehandling kan det vara värdefullt att bevara eventuella intressanta lagerföljder i täkten för forsknings- och utbildningssyften. Den biologiska mångfalden bör gynnas och bergsbranter, blockstensupplag och vattensamlingar kan skapa gynnsamma miljöer. Äldre brottstensytor från historisk brytning ska bevaras och säkerhetsåtgärder bör vidtas så att inte människor som rör sig i området skadar sig i täkten: Detta kan göras genom snedsprängning och släntning eller att en skyddshylla sprängs in i bergväggen. En färdig efterbehandlingsplan som är anpassad och tar hänsyn till alla aspekter går inte att ta fram i dagsläget då det måste göras en inventering av arterna i och runt täkten. Först när det underlaget finns går det att avgöra hur täkten ska efterbehandlas och hur de andra aspekterna kan vävas in i efterbehandlingen. / Quarries result in great environmental interference. When quarrying is completed the area must undergo restoration. There are different ways to design the restoration plan and what must be taken into account. The shale quarry in Gråsjön, Jämtland County hasn’t been restored. Due to cultural heritage in the quarry, the possible geological value and the fact that the shale-quarry is located in an alpine environment makes it difficult to determine the course of action. The aim of this paper is to determine what best way is to restore the shale-quarry due to geological values, nature values, cultural heritage, esthetical values and risk and safety. This was done by qualitative semi-structured interviews and a literature study of reports on restoration of quarries. Upon restoration, it can be valuable to preserve interesting strata in the quarry for research and educational purposes. The biodiversity should be favored and slopes, heaps of stone blocks and pools of water can create favorable environments. Older parts of the quarry that represent a cultural heritage should be preserved and precautions should be taken to prevent people from getting injured in the quarry. This could be done by line out the steep walls in the quarry or blast out a protective step in the stone wall that prevent people from falling down. A restoration plan that is taking into account all the aspects is not possible because a species inventory must be initiated. When the inventory is complete the course of action can be decided and how the other aspects can be part of the restoration plan.

<p>There are many dolomitic outcrops at Rondean sector (into the biogeographical Betic Province). Most of them, involve floral richness and vegetal endemic species due to its calcareous origin. These diverse organisms build peculiar plant communities. They can survive in extreme conditions as drought and high levels of Mg2+ cation. Many studies pronounce that these communities are unique, so they have to be conserved, and some of these plant communities are in the Habitats Directive 92/43 EC. </p><p>38% of the dolomitic outcrops can be affected by mining processes. Those particularly affected are dolomitic outcrops located in the mountains range of “Sierra Blanca” and “Sierra de Mijas”. Nowadays, there are 21 quarries in these mountains and they occupy more than 409 Ha. We have studied 11 dolomite quarries and surroundings on “Sierra de Mijas”. There is one vegetation serie on these areas (Rhamno oleoidis-Querco rotundifoliae sigmetum. Dolomitic section), knowing the plant communities we could draw with a Geographical Information System (GIS) the polygons where they are. And using the modified Botanic Value Index equation (Nieto et al., 1999) we could calculate the botanical value of these polygons. After that, we could establish a classification of the study area from the point of view of conservation interest, and we could set up new restoration criteria on these lands. </p><p>We have found that approximately the 53 % of the studied area has a high botanic value. There are many endemic taxa in the studied area and 4 species exclusive of the “Sierra de Mijas” mountain range. 90 % of the present communities are included in the Habitats Directive 92/43 CE, and three of the communities are exclusive of the studied area. This is the reason why these quarries have to be restored with a sustainable criteria.</p><p>Current restoration plans try to reforest with the climax vegetation (Quercus rotundifolia) or different species of pines (used in several previous reforestations). However, to restore a quarry these plans should include, in addition, other factors such as soil depth, structure of vegetal communities, botanic value, etc. And the Reforest Models of Valle (2004) propose sustainable restoration that could be usefull in the dolomite quarries of “Sierra de Mijas” mountain range.</p>

There are many dolomitic outcrops at Rondean sector (into the biogeographical Betic Province). Most of them, involve floral richness and vegetal endemic species due to its calcareous origin. These diverse organisms build peculiar plant communities. They can survive in extreme conditions as drought and high levels of Mg2+ cation. Many studies pronounce that these communities are unique, so they have to be conserved, and some of these plant communities are in the Habitats Directive 92/43 EC. 38% of the dolomitic outcrops can be affected by mining processes. Those particularly affected are dolomitic outcrops located in the mountains range of “Sierra Blanca” and “Sierra de Mijas”. Nowadays, there are 21 quarries in these mountains and they occupy more than 409 Ha. We have studied 11 dolomite quarries and surroundings on “Sierra de Mijas”. There is one vegetation serie on these areas (Rhamno oleoidis-Querco rotundifoliae sigmetum. Dolomitic section), knowing the plant communities we could draw with a Geographical Information System (GIS) the polygons where they are. And using the modified Botanic Value Index equation (Nieto et al., 1999) we could calculate the botanical value of these polygons. After that, we could establish a classification of the study area from the point of view of conservation interest, and we could set up new restoration criteria on these lands. We have found that approximately the 53 % of the studied area has a high botanic value. There are many endemic taxa in the studied area and 4 species exclusive of the “Sierra de Mijas” mountain range. 90 % of the present communities are included in the Habitats Directive 92/43 CE, and three of the communities are exclusive of the studied area. This is the reason why these quarries have to be restored with a sustainable criteria. Current restoration plans try to reforest with the climax vegetation (Quercus rotundifolia) or different species of pines (used in several previous reforestations). However, to restore a quarry these plans should include, in addition, other factors such as soil depth, structure of vegetal communities, botanic value, etc. And the Reforest Models of Valle (2004) propose sustainable restoration that could be usefull in the dolomite quarries of “Sierra de Mijas” mountain range.

No description available.

Quarries are fixed locationally, whereas most seasonally abundant food resources in northern latitudes are not. Toolstone procurement must therefore be ‘factored in’ to other resource procurement strategies. As sources of useable toolstone, quarries are the logical starting point for the study of how stone tool-using societies organized their technologies in accordance with their subsistence and social needs. Yet they have often been ignored by archaeologists because of the logistical problems presented by their typically enormous and variable assemblages. Quartz differs from more common, crypto-crystalline raw materials such as chert, flint or chalcedony. It is harder, more brittle, and has different fracture properties. It is less common archaeologically than crypto-crystalline toolstone, and archaeologists tend to either avoid quartz assemblages altogether, or to automatically and uncritically analyze them in the same manner as crypto-crystalline toolstones without considering their different properties. The Grandfather Quarry (HbMd-4) offers an opportunity to address these problems at once. Using Lithic Technological Organization theory, a mass analysis (after Ahler 1989), modified and combined with an attribute analysis, demonstrates that this method is a useful tool for examining large, complex assemblages such as those found in quarry sites. While more time-consuming and labour-intensive than a standard mass analysis, the modified version allows for the collection of a large number of attribute data that lend robusticity to the results and provide academic rigour. This research also demonstrates that quartz assemblages can indeed be examined using the same methods as for other raw materials, provided the unique properties of quartz as a toolstone are considered. It is shown that although the overall quality of toolstone from this source is quite poor, the Grandfather Quarry was likely the only reliable source, or at least one of a very few reliable sources, of quartz toolstone in the Churchill River Basin. All useable toolstone was intensively exploited, but rare nodules of higher quality quartz were set aside for in situ reduction into cores, tools and bifaces. Lastly, the unexpected discovery of microblade technology at the quarry opens new avenues for future research in the northern Manitoba Boreal Forest.