Kiwanians tour limestone mine

The Kiwanis and guests that toured the Martin Marietta mine north of Ames on April 22 were: Left to right: Howard VanDerPol, Harvey Beyer, Henry Dykstra, Betty VanDerPol, Donald Peery, Marvel Dunaway, Bob Dunaway, Kathy Van Veen, Marlene Beyer, Sarah Gillaspie, John Brannen, Cheryl Price, Eunice Keuning, Larry Diekema, Kathy Macy, Pearl Peery, Kay VanRyswyk, John Van Ryswyk, Gloria Van Wyk, Jay Johnson (host), Bob Johnson and Joe Street.

The opening of the mine looks quite small as you approach it in a big bus.

It takes less than a minute to load even the biggest of trucks with stone from the mine. Most of the stone from this mine is used for road construction – for road base, concrete and asphalt.

To meet demand during the construction season, the mine operates year-around. Conveyers carry rock to crushers and grinders and finally to large piles to be moved when needed. Water is continually recycled to wash the stone and there is surprisingly little dust.

Martin Marietta Mine tours are a regular things for the employees who gave a huge amount of information.

For the April 22 meeting of the Monroe Kiwanis Club, 21 members and guests took a tour of the Martin Marrietta Mine north of Ames. Then the group shared their experience over lunch at the Hickory Tree Restaurant.

At a couple hundred feet below ground in a 71 passenger bus that reminded some of a prison bus, the driver turned off all the lights. It was total darkness. One Kiwanian prepared herself when the guide forewarned that the lights were going off by checking to be sure the light of her cell phone was working – just in case.

While some of the limestone from this mine is used for Aglime to control the acidity of soil used for farming, most is used for road construction. Every mile of interstate contains 38,000 tons of aggregates and about 400 tons is used in construction of the average home.

Limestone is also used in the production of glass, paper, steel, PVC plastics, shingles and other common household products, for air and water purification and erosion control along dams, lakes and other waterways.

The Martin Marrietta mine is one of the biggest producers. It currently covers approximately 620 acres and extends 1.4 miles from north to south and 1.5 miles from east to west.