Gravel

Morning came early today (0430) to the sounds of industrial sized “leaf blowers” that were being used right outside my apartment window (I’m on the ground floor). They were being used to blow loose gravel from the lawn onto the sidewalk. This was followed by a large sweeper with a metal roller brush and vacuum that collected the gravel. Everywhere one goes at this time of year here in Kuopio you can see large piles of snow mixed with gravel. The grounds crews are waiting for the snow to melt allowing for the gravel to be “harvested” by these sweepers.

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When visiting Kuopio in the late Fall to early winter you’ll encounter gravel on most sidewalks to improve traction (Left image below this Spring; right image January 2020). That can be a blessing when ice and snow hit the area. It appears that the collected used gravel may be used in several ways including as landfill. Some countries including Denmark will use gravel in making concrete. One concern that crops up is contamination of the gravel with hydrocarbons and other chemicals (see: https://yle.fi/news/3-7846922). The article I cited dates from 2015 so some changes may have occurred in the intervening years. Sometimes it’s the simple things like learning about the life cycle of gravel interesting…