Construction Week goes off with a bang!

AS part of last month’s National Construction Week (6–13 October), during which young people were given the chance to experience the wide range of employment opportunities available to them in the modern construction industry, the quarrying sector played a key role by inviting a number of schools to find out how materials are sourced and used in the built environment.

In a joint initiative between Bardon Aggregates, CEMEX, Tarmac, the Quarry Products Association and the Derbyshire Education Business Partnership, students from five schools across Derbyshire visited five quarries in the county.

The visits marked the history and importance of quarrying to the county of Derbyshire as well as the importance of the industry to society as a whole. As an exciting addition, but also serving to highlight an key part of the quarrying process, the children witnessed a blast at three of the sites, ensuring that the experience will live in their memories for a long time to come.

Another important element of the school visits was to inform the students about the many possible career paths available to them after their studies and to dispel the myth that the industry is simply about hacking and hewing! The students discovered that, in reality, quarrying offers a myriad of roles within an innovative modern industry.

Aside from the more obvious planning, geotechnical and operational management roles, leading employers in the sector are currently looking for young people to take up other posts within the business that may not instantly spring to mind, such as jobs in sales and marketing, human resources and administration.

Above all, however, the students gained an understanding of where the materials for their home, their school and even their own road originated. They also found out about a few less-obvious links between their local quarry and everyday life. Indeed, it came as quite a surprise to many that quarried limestone is used as an abrasive in their toothpaste!