A new quarry on the Bass Coast will create 20 new jobs and produce enough sand each year to fill 80 Olympic swimming pools.
The sand will go to Hanson's Yannathan plant to produce concrete for the booming Melbourne and Gippsland construction markets and will likely be used for the foundations of houses in the growing south-eastern suburbs, new schools, road projects and the Gippsland Rail Upgrade.
An average of eight tonnes of stone, gravel and sand per Victorian is required every year to deliver the state's infrastructure requirements. Victoria's Extractive Resources Strategy is focused on ensuring that the state has new and expanding quarries close to where materials are needed.
Raw building materials make up 35 per cent of construction costs and up to 40 per cent of major road expenditure. Transporting heavy materials is expensive and if the distance between quarries and build sites increases, infrastructure will be less affordable.
Quarry approvals are on the rise to help meet the demand from the infrastructure boom with 11 quarries approved across Victoria in the last year.
