Bedrock & berries: re-cultivating exhausted calcareous quarries in Rockwood Manitoba

Abstract

Located less than twenty kilometres from the City of Winnipeg, the Rockwood Quarry District is heavily relied upon for the region’s aggregate needs. As the district thrives and grows, some quarries are nearing depletion and the question of post-industrial rehabilitation looms. Rehabilitation work is the start of the next cycle of life for depleted quarries. ‘Rehabilitation’ is a broad term though. Since a single quarry parcel can be larger than a square kilometre, it is necessary to evaluate potential strategies for post-industrial rehabilitation and how landscape architecture can contribute. A single quarry in the Rockwood district that is nearing depletion is chosen as a test site. Three rehabilitation approaches are discussed as options for the site: natural succession, managed succession and a saskatoon garden. Research and analysis will assist each approach and will help to provide some answers to the rehabilitation question.