Thornton Quarry is one of the largest aggregate

quarries A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their environ ...

in the world, located in

Thornton, Illinois Thornton is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States and a south suburb of Chicago. The population was 2,386 at the 2020 census. Thornton is home to the Thornton Quarry, one of the largest quarries in the world. Geography Thornton is loc ...

just south of

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. The quarry is 1.5 miles (2.5 km) long, 0.5 miles (1 km) wide, and 450 feet (137.16 m) deep at its deepest point. Gallagher Asphalt Corporation has been operating on the grounds of the quarry since 1928. A dryland

dike Dyke (UK) or dike (US) may refer to: General uses * Dyke (slang), a slang word meaning "lesbian" * Dike (geology), a subvertical sheet-like intrusion of magma or sediment * Dike (mythology), ''Dikē'', the Greek goddess of moral justice * Dikes ...

carries

Interstate 80 Interstate 80 (I-80) is an east–west transcontinental freeway that crosses the United States from downtown San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. The highway was designated in 1956 as one o ...

Interstate 294 Interstate 294 (I-294) is a tolled auxiliary Interstate Highway in northeastern Illinois. It forms the southern portion of the Tri-State Tollway in Illinois. I-294 runs from South Holland at I-80/ I-94 and Illinois Route 394 (IL 394) to N ...

Tri-State Tollway The Tri-State Tollway is a toll highway in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Illinois. It follows: *Interstate 80 from I-94/I-294/IL 394 in South Holland to I-294 in Hazel Crest; * Interstate 294 from I-80/I-94/IL 394 in South Hol ...

over the quarry. As part of the Chicago Deep Tunnel project, both Thornton Quarry and McCook Quarry will serve as reservoirs to reduce the backflow of stormwater and sewage from Chicago area rivers into Lake Michigan. Thornton Transitional Reservoir contributes a capacity to the system, and is expected to contribute when the system is completed in 2014. It is estimated that the reservoir will help protect 500,000 people who live in the surrounding 14 suburbs it serves, and will save the city around $40 million worth of damages each year. The quarry contains

Silurian The Silurian ( ) is a geologic period and system spanning 24.6 million years from the end of the Ordovician Period, at million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Devonian Period, Mya. The Silurian is the shortest period of the Paleozo ...

reefs which formed when the

Michigan Basin The Michigan Basin is a geologic basin centered on the Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. The feature is represented by a nearly circular pattern of geologic sedimentary strata in the area with a nearly uniform structural dip toward ...

was covered in sea water more than 400 million years ago. http://www.earthscape.org/t2/scr01/scr01ac.html

History

The first settlers came to Thornton, Illinois, in 1834.

Gurdon Saltonstall Hubbard Gurdon Saltonstall Hubbard (August 22, 1802 – September 14, 1886) was an American fur trader, insurance underwriter, and land speculator. He was influential in the development of the city of Chicago and responsible for its growth during the 19t ...

received 160 acres of land from Watseka, his Indian wife. In 1836 Hubbard opened the first quarry on Kinzie Street. The site was abandoned because the stone was too deep and of poor quality. Fred Gardner opened a quarry in 1846, and Stephen Crary opened one in 1850. In the early 1900s, Brownell Improvement Company purchased the entire area. Colonel Hodgkins bought the property in 1920. The quarry north of Ridge Road was opened in 1924, and a tunnel connecting the north and south quarries was developed in 1926. Colonel Hodgkins died in 1929, and Brownell repurchased the quarry in 1933. Then in 1938, Material Service Corporation purchased the property and has owned it ever since.

Contract with MWRD

The

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD), originally known as the Sanitary District of Chicago, is a special-purpose district chartered to operate in Cook County, Illinois since 1889. Although its name may imply other ...

(MWRD) contracted to use the quarry for stormwater overflow in 1998 as part of the Deep Tunnel or Tunnel and Reclamation Project (TARP) for the metropolitan area. The Thornton Quarry supplies 7.9 billion gal US of stormwater storage, allowing the water to be treated before release into the waterways.

References

External links

* *
Thornton Quarry history
*Army Corps of Engineers

Quarries in the United States Geology of Illinois Interstate 80 Interstate 294 Buildings and structures in Cook County, Illinois Geography of Cook County, Illinois {{mining-stub