Abstract
In general, exploitation of rock materials, such as limestone or granite exploitation, can cause serious damage to the environment near a mine area. With economic development and the ever-increasing demand for ore resources, mining activities have induced very serious environmental issues in China. Therefore, environmental restoration work around mines in China is urgently required. This study explores the Chuankou open-pit limestone quarry in Tongchuan City, Shaanxi Province, Northwest China, as the engineering case. The environmental issues caused by over 40 years of limestone exploitation, including land degradation, land occupation, dust pollution and potential geological disasters, were investigated. Combining the characteristics of this quarry with a summary of previous studies on environmental restoration work, this paper proposes a novel and systematic method that was comprehensively carried out through engineering and revegetation measures. The engineering measure, that is, the construction of an artificial slope by using local abandoned construction materials, solved the environmental problems in this quarry and provided site conditions favourable for revegetation. The revegetation measure restored the local ecosystem. This method provides both a new idea for the sustainable development of a mining area and a useful reference for analogous engineering cases.
Highlights
Exploitation of rock materials, such as limestone or granite exploitation, can cause serious damage to the environment near a mine area
Combining the characteristics of this quarry with a summary of previous studies on environmental restoration work, this paper proposes a novel and systematic method that was comprehensively carried out through engineering and revegetation measures
The engineering measure eliminated the environmental problems induced by the limestone exploitation activities and provided site conditions favourable for artificial revegetation
Summary
Exploitation of rock materials, such as limestone or granite exploitation, can cause serious damage to the environment near a mine area. Combining the characteristics of this quarry with a summary of previous studies on environmental restoration work, this paper proposes a novel and systematic method that was comprehensively carried out through engineering and revegetation measures. The revegetation measure restored the local ecosystem This method provides both a new idea for the sustainable development of a mining area and a useful reference for analogous engineering cases. Combining the characteristics of this quarry with a summary of previous studies on environmental restoration work, a novel method was proposed, which involves comprehensive and multidisciplinary measures and could restore the local environment and ecosystem. An artificial slope was filled with local abandoned building materials that included rock debris, construction waste and loess; this measure solved the environmental problems induced by the limestone exploitation activities over 40 years, including land degradation, land occupation, dust pollution and potential geological disasters. This study introduces a novel and effective idea to improve the sustainable development of an abandoned limestone quarry, and provides a useful reference for analogous engineering cases
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