Parks and recreation

When visiting an aggregates operation, I’m always fascinated to hear what plans the owners and managers have for reclamation. Often, it’s nothing more than backfilling, sloping the surface to an acceptable grade and returning the land to a natural state. Many producers take matters a step further by reintroducing vegetation native to the area, stocking ponds with fish and creating an environment to encourage the re-population of native insect and animal life.

And some reclamation projects are even more ambitious. Crushed-stone quarries and sand-and-gravel pits have been reclaimed into everything from parks and golf courses to shopping malls and housing developments.

One of my favorite end-use stories comes from Kentucky, where a former underground aggregates operation opened this month as a playground for cyclists. The new underground bicycle park with miles of dirt trails and jumps has been built inside an abandoned limestone mine in Louisville.

The original underground operation, Louisville Crushed Stone, was operated from the early 1930s to the early 1970s. It was developed by Ralph Rogers, founder of Rogers Group Inc., and a Pit & Quarry Hall of Fame member.

The bike park is just the latest addition to the site, which is called Mega Cavern. This enormous, 100-acre, underground reclamation project has been operating for some time as a Louisville attraction that includes zip-line courses, tram tours, underground light shows and other events.

Since the early 1990s, a massive amount of concrete, aggregate and soil were brought to the site to create floors and internal roads in the 4-million-sq.-ft. of space.

The site owners say the 320,000-sq.-ft. bike park, which stays at a constant 58ºF, is the largest of its kind in the country. The park occupies the space of five football fields under a 35-ft.-high ceiling, and includes 45 trails, which feature a variety of track types, as well as jumps and more.

It’s a fun end-use that benefits the community, and makes the public aware that, whether it’s through a simple return-to-nature approach or a more ambitious effort such as an underground bicycle park, aggregate sites have a usable life after mining is complete.