Agg Facts

Fun Facts:

1. Known as the Fraser Glaciation, great continental sheets of ice extended into Washington forming huge glaciers which covered the upper tier of the state. A lobe of ice, known as the "Puget Lobe" was almost 6,000 feet thick and carved out what we now know as the Puget Sound. When the glaciers receded, they left behind a chain of aggregate laden deltas, that extended from Friday Harbor to Olympia, Washington.

2. Washington state construction projects consume nearly 77 million tons of aggregates a year.

3. Washington residents consume approximately 12-14 tons of aggregates, use 1.3 cubic yards of concrete and 1.25 tons of asphalt per person, per year.

4. The Interstate 90 / Mercer Island project used nearly 1,000,000 cubic yards of concrete.

5. According to the DNR (Department of Natural Resources), construction aggregates (sand & gravel), are the most valuable production commodities in our state.

6. The average 2,000 sq. ft. Western Washington home uses almost 210 tons of aggregates in driveways, foundations, sidewalks, base materials & streets.

7. A typical county road uses approximately 4600 tons of aggregates for each lane mile.

8. Since 1985, only 30 new surface mine facilities have been permitted, while almost 700 have been depleted or reclaimed. Surface mining is only an interim use of the land.

9. While nature determines where quality and affordable aggregate resources are located, once they are built upon, they are lost forever. Aggregates are non-renewable finite resources, and for each ton used today, new sources must be located to serve our future generations.

10. Since 1991, over 8,000 acres or 40% of surface mine lands have been reclaimed and approx. 75 mining segments were reclaimed in 1994 alone.

11. It is the law in Washington state that "segmental reclamation" is the reclamation practice of choice. This means: Once a segment is depleted, it must be reclaimed within two years. This helps keep open segments small, and visually more appealing.

12. Buchart Gardens was once a cement, limestone and sand & gravel facility.

13. Twin Lakes in Arlington, Washington, and many of the lakes along interstate 5 were once sand and gravel sites, used to construct Interstate 5. They now serve as community lakes and parks.

14. Reclamation is an important part of our business. Sand and gravel sites can be reclaimed to become : Community parks and lakes, housing developments, golf courses, wild life habitats, salmon spawning areas, open space, wetlands and agricultural and forestry resource areas.

15. Large quantities of bulk aggregates are used for such things as: shoreline and slope protection (rip rap), residential landscaping, railroad ballast, soil and erosion protection, concrete and asphalt, sand boxes & sand raps, schools, shopping centers, industrial parks and more!

16. Sand & Gravel facilities employ over 850 workers in our state. Each sand & gravel job supports 67 other construction related jobs, like: 2,385 ready mix jobs, 5,430 concrete products and trade workers, 17,814 residential construction, 14,721 non residential trade workers, 5,313 heavy construction trades and 4,507 highway and street related jobs. That's a LOT of jobs! In 1990, over 52.2 million dollars in taxes were paid by our industry in excise, sales, B&O, property, fuels, licenses, workers comp and unemployment.

17. In 1992, construction sand & gravel production was valued at $2.9 billion dollars, produced by 4,100 companies in all 50 states. Leading states were California, Michigan, Ohio, Colorado, Minnesota, texas, Illinois and Washington. These states accounted for nearly 50% of the total.

18. In 1992, Washington state ranked 5th in the nation in aggregates production.

19. Because transportation is nearly 40% of the cost to produce aggregates, aggregate products are most commonly used within a 25-35 mile radius of origin. Efficient transportation keeps the cost of aggregate resources affordable.

20. Because concrete and asphalt products are perishable in nature, (concrete approximately 90 minutes) facilities must be located near the markets they serve and rarely travel more than 45 minutes in one direction.

21. In the next 20 years, millions of tons of aggregates will be needed to replace our aging infrastructure, maintain our streets and highways and support our quality of life. Without identifying new deposits, where will these materials come from?

22. The first permit issued in Washington (circa 1895), was located in Steilicoom, Washington, permit #1. This facility has been a critical source of aggregate resources for Seattle and the surrounding region. Prized for it's exceptional quality and durability, it has been shipped as far away as Brazil. Unfortunately, it has less than 10 years of supply.

23. According to the Department of Ecology and Department of Natural Resources, it may take as many as 32 state permits, 12 federal permits and 7 local permits, not including site specific conditional use permits, to permit a new facility. That's a possibility of 51 permits minimum !!!

24. Permits are required for air quality, dust emissions, water quality (including storm and process water NPDES), noise limitations, solid waste, underground storage tanks, shoreline permits, emergency planning, transportation improvements, and many many more…

25. In order to permit a typical cost effective facility of 50 acres or more, it may take up to 5 years and as much as $5 Million dollars to permit.

26. The aggregate, concrete and asphalt industries work very hard to be good neighbors and community citizens. Because our resources are geologically pre-determined, we recognize our responsibility to be good environmental stewards of the lands we use. Our employees give thousands of hours in community service, such as Little League coaches, Girl scouts, teachers and other community volunteers. The old adage of "If it can't be grown, it has to be mined!" still holds true for many of our basic metallic and non metallic resources.

Games:

WACA Word Search (Print .doc file)

WACA Word Scramble (Print .doc file)

Look for more games & puzzles to be added soon!
As well as our coloring contest page ! You will want to enter this contest, for a chance to win your very own poster!