St Kitts and Nevis upgrades Quarry with Primary Crusher to boost raw material for major projects

St Kitts and Nevis: Minister of Public Infrastructure Konris Maynard, participated in the commissioning of a brand new Primary Crusher at the Government Quarry. This 400-ton/hr crusher is set to replace a 36-year-old 80-ton/hr crusher from 1988.

Calling it a ‘major’ upgrade, the Minister noted that the Quarry was struggling to keep up with the demand for raw materials needed for some major projects the government is presently pursuing.

These projects include new concrete roads at Shadwell West & South, Race Course - Newton Ground, Boyds View, and Palmetto Point, with Rawlings - St. Pauls and White House - St. Peters to follow; the St. Peter's Main Road Development including drainage, sidewalks, retaining walls and road asphalt; coastline and ghaut side revetments; Water Storage Tanks; the new 2 million gallon per day Desalination Plant; the resurfacing of community roads; the private construction sector; and so on.

He emphasised that the Quarry was also needed to be ready for the anticipated upsurge from the Smart Home initiative where hundreds of homes are to be constructed and also for the construction of the new hospital and the other works capital projects of other ministries.

According to Konris Maynard, the Quarry will get a secondary crusher very shortly which makes smaller stones like 3/4" and 1/2". The primary crusher crushes the big stones into smaller manageable pieces for the secondary crusher.

During the Commissioning of the machine, the Minister pointed out that, “I'm happy that I was able and the administration was able to get this, because of all the construction that is, that is that is ramping up at the moment.”

He said that one of the major upgrades with this development is that the machine is going to increase the capacity of the quarry, exponentially, to meet those projects, which needs quick movement. 

The Minister also remarked that as of now the government is working to resurface a number of roads around different communities which are going to need smaller stones and the smart homes are going to start soon and all of such projects needs raw material, so the commisisoning of primary crusher is anticipated to be of significant help.