Marine aggregates

At a time when land-based quarrying is under increasing environmental pressure, marine aggregates are of growing importance.

Some 21 per cent of the sand and gravel requirements of England and Wales now come from the sea. The marine aggregates industry also contributes to our balance of payments through exports to the near continent. Dredging is undertaken by a fleet of British owned and crewed ships working 24-hours-a-day, 365-days-a-year.

Licensed dredging areas typically lie six miles offshore and in water more than 20 metres deep, so avoiding any possibility of coastal erosion. Of some 640 square miles of seabed licensed for dredging in 1997, only 90 square miles – just 0.12 per cent of the UK continental shelf - was actually dredged.

Direct delivery of marine aggregates to wharves on the Thames and subsequent delivery of much of that material by rail effectively removes 40,000 lorry loads from the streets of London in a typical year.

The industry accepts its responsibility to operate with care and with concern for other users of the sea. Operators believe this challenge should be approached as a partnership with all the other parties involved and have instigated a voluntary initiative designed to restrict dredging to the level necessary to meet society's needs.

The interests of the QPA's marine aggregate producers are represented by an constituent body of QPA, the British Marine Aggregate Producers Association (BMAPA). Its website is available at www.bmapa.org.

For further information contact bmapa@qpa.org

Please note this website is maintained to provide information and guidance on UK issues, products and applications of those products.