Project: Ravena Rehabilitation Planning

Location: Ravena, New York, USA. Lower Catskill Mountains

Description:
Shortly after Lafarge bought the Ravena limestone quarry in the late 1990's Medialand was commissioned to create a rehabilitation plan in order that the quarry conform to the regulations of New York State and also to Lafarge's own exacting environmental policy.

Concept:
It was realized that once dewatering stopped the quarry would fill to form a substantial body of water. Medialand created a design to mimic the natural landform of the surroundings and to form a lake using the large amounts of overburden generated by mining. A detailed study was made to calculate the amount of waste material and the most efficient way that Lafarge could use it to create the designed landform. To further integrate the lake into the environment wetlands were planned along the lake margins and visitor facilities designed for when the property can be finally opened to the public. Care was taken to maintain visual buffers and to reinforce tree planting along the escarpment.