Environmental Protection | Crushed Slate

THE USE OF CRUSHED SLATE FOR HIGHWAY PAVING

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A PIONEERING, HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL ENTERPRISE WITH A PROMISING FUTURE

The use of slate in the form of crushed stone and powder for civil construction and road paving has been, at least in Brazil, thoroughly debated for many years. So far, several studies have been carried out, yet no strong evidence of practical use in large-scale projects has been found.

Now, Micapel Slate in partnership with EGESA – Engenharia S. A. has implemented a project in which the use of slate as crushed stone for road paving was successfully accomplished.

EGESA has been operating major projects throughout Brazil with varying degrees of technical scope, including road paving. The company has a highly developed infrastructure and highly specialized technical teams.

Starting in 2004, EGESA undertook the renovation of National Highway BR-040, Belo Horizonte – Brasilia, from the Exit BR040 / MG420 (Pompeu Exit) to BR040 / BR135 (Curvelo Exit), a 10-kilometer (6.2-mile) stretch, and from 2004 through mid-2007, from the Felixlandia Exit to the Joao Pinheiro Exit, a 230-kilometer (142-mile) stretch. The total road length of the project was 240 kilometers (150 miles). The project was altogether finished in 20 months.

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Concerned with environmental protection and aware of the natural damages that may result from resorting to other traditional rocks, such as limestone, to obtain the crushed stone, Micapel Slate and EGESA became partners in this avant-garde initiative. Micapel Slate would supply slate rejects from quarry openings and activities at no cost to this project, while EGESA would set up a stone crushing plant, transport the rejects and carry out the crushing.

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This enterprise, given its extent and importance, is a historical milestone in the use of crushed slate for road paving in Brazil. The results achieved in this job have cleared once and for all two major doubts regarding the use of crushed slate for road paving:

    • – The efficiency and efficacy of the slate in its crushed state for road building are at least equal to those of other rocks traditionally used for this purpose;
    – The use of slate rejects to produce crushed stone for road paving is a major contribution to environmental protection since it becomes unnecessary to open new quarries for the extraction of other rocks, such as limestone.