Thursday 18 January 2024

Snow, Frost and Gravel Extraction

It has been rather cold in Denmark lately and with a cover of snow all over the country. It's been a few years since we have seen that. Snow didn't hamper gravel extraction as such. As long as the temperatures didn't drop too much below zero making the ground's top layer frozen, an excavator could force it's way to the gravel.

Winter in a gravel pit. Photo: Mimi Kristiansen.

The main reason for Nystrup Gravel's low production during winter and snowy conditions was the demand for gravel from construction projects. Most construction projects were stopped or reduced during winter to limit the risk of stoppages due to frost and snow. Winter was thus a season of repair and maintenance of equipment and production facilities.

Some of the workers at a Danish gravel company taking a break in the shadow of the company's loco shed. If they had good skills for maintaining equipment they kept their job during winter and frost periods. Otherwise they were laid off and had to find other jobs to help sustain their family. Often hard during winter where manual labour wasn't needed in agriculture. 

1 comment:

  1. I just reread this again. I love the imagery and that photo at the shed is epic. I kept meaning to share a link to the model I made, inspired by that photo and those heavily worn ties:

    https://princestreet.wordpress.com/2024/02/08/dirt-3-ties-some-broken-concrete-i-love-this/

    Thank you for continuing to post such powerfully inspirational 16mm scale models.

    Chris

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