62 | Springfield Quarry REGIONAL Trust RHL for reliable, expert civil contracting solutions from Darfield, Canterbury to Otago. Shaping your vision, creating your future. 027 535 5935 dan@rhltd.co.nz www.rhlcontracting.co.nz • Earthworks • Commercial • Roading • Farm Development / Maintenance • Residential • Cartage & Transport Quarry’s rocks offer quality and durability The 10-hectare quarry was established 25 years ago and is today run by Darfield-based firm, RHL Contracting. T T Rosa Watson “It’s a big chunk by volume, but probably not necessarily by revenue, because the bigger the product, the cheaper it is by the tonne.” Springfield Quarry near Darfield is playing a key role in the rapidly growing area, providing hard rock for important agricultural and construction infrastructure. The 10-hectare quarry was established 25 years ago and is today run by Darfield-based firm, RHL Contracting, producing aggregates from fine chip-type aggregates like AP used for a variety of contracts around Canterbury, says managing director Dan Roughan. He says the raw material produced out of the quarry is unique to the Canterbury Plains. “A lot of the quarries are alluvial, and that means they’re extracting out of riverbeds or old riverbeds, whereas ours is into hard rock. “So, all of our product is incredibly angular and well-bound, which is why places like DoC (Department of Conservation) and the Christchurch City Council use our products on their walking tracks – the durability and the quality is a lot higher than what you get out of your usual riverbed material.” The RHL team of also provides cartage inhouse, offering customers a full service. “So, that’s sort of how it works well, because if Department of Conservation or Christchurch City Council, for instance, they might put an order in for 700 tonne of a certain material to be delivered to (site). We supply and we also cart.” The Christchurch City Council and Department of Conservation are regular customers in that product range, with material being spread on walking tracks up into Arthur’s Pass. “So, quite often that’s actually helicoptered onto site,” says Dan. A recent job was dumping 100 tonne out at Godley Head, which was helicoptered onto one of the walking tracks. For aggregate such as the 65 and 120, RHL is the main customer, using it predominantly for rural contracting in the Darfield area for dairy lanes and farm tracks. “We’ve got our agricultural stuff, our specialty products, and then the rest of it general roading and construction purposes. S “o, if [it’s] digging out for a new house in Darfield, we will use aggregate from Springfield Quarry to base up the foundation, or digging out for a hole in the in the road for the local council, we’ll use Springfield Quarry.” Dan says one full-time labour unit is employed by the company as a result of the quarry. Around a third of the material that comes out of the quarry is put onto dairy farms, either existing dairy farms or recent conversions. “It’s a big chunk by volume, but probably not necessarily by revenue, because the bigger the product, the cheaper it is by the tonne. “The stuff we take into Department of Conservation and Christchurch City Council is quite specialist sort of stuff, so it might be smaller tonnes, but the product itself is sort of worth a lot more,” he says. “It’s a lot more that goes into making it – extra work required to meet specifications and requirements.” The company has a number of farmers it has been working with for some time. “Like a farmer who was cropping last year, is milk and cows next year, it’s the same father we’re dealing with. So, it’s been really cool to be part of the journey for some of those guys. It’s pretty exciting projects. “Hopefully we can carry on servicing them and from a maintenance perspective going forward.” Dan says the company has established a great relationship with quarry landowners George and Jenny Adams. “They’ve been awesome to work with and we’ve got a bloody good relationship with each other.” The lease allows the couple to continue to develop the property. The ongoing growth and development in the Darfield area is “massive” for the town, Dan says. Things are looking positive in the local agriculture industry, and housing is also booming in the town, creating plenty of work for the company. He says there are nearly 2000 sections consented and ready to build on. “We’re multi-disciplined. We cover all those bases, so we are flat out.”
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