WBreedon Group plc is an AIM-listed British construction materials company headquartered at Breedon on the Hill, Leicestershire, England. In 2016 Breedon became the UK's largest independent construction materials firm following its acquisition of Hope Construction Materials and in 2018 extended its operations into Ireland with the acquisition of Lagan Group.
WConstruction aggregate, or simply aggregate, is a broad category of coarse- to medium-grained particulate material used in construction, including sand, gravel, crushed stone, slag, recycled concrete and geosynthetic aggregates. Aggregates are the most mined materials in the world. Aggregates are a component of composite materials such as concrete and asphalt concrete; the aggregate serves as reinforcement to add strength to the overall composite material. Due to the relatively high hydraulic conductivity value as compared to most soils, aggregates are widely used in drainage applications such as foundation and French drains, septic drain fields, retaining wall drains, and roadside edge drains. Aggregates are also used as base material under foundations, roads, and railroads. In other words, aggregates are used as a stable foundation or road/rail base with predictable, uniform properties, or as a low-cost extender that binds with more expensive cement or asphalt to form concrete.
WHarz granite is found in the Harz Mountains of central Germany. It may be divided into five types, all of which were widely used as natural stone: Knaupsholz granite, Birkenkopf granite, Wurmberg granite, Königskopf granite and Ilsestein granite. The first three granites were widely used in North Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands and, later, also in East Germany. Knaupsholz granite was "for a long time one of the most important types of cut stone in the former GDR".
WPlug and feather, also known as plugs and wedges, feather and wedges, wedges and shims, pins and feathers and feather and tare, refers to a technique and a three-piece tool set used to split stone.
WThe Robertson Quarry Galamander is a rare surviving example of a specialized stone-hauling vehicle. It is located in a small public park on the east side of Maine State Route 182 at its junction with Grist Mill Road in Franklin, Maine. It is the only known surviving intact example of the form, which was used widely in Maine's granite quarries. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992.
WTyndall Stone is a registered trademark name by Gillis Quarries Ltd. Tyndall Stone is a dolomitic limestone that is quarried from the Selkirk Member of the Ordovician Red River Formation in the vicinity of Garson and Tyndall, Manitoba, Canada. It is a cream-coloured limestone with a pervasive mottling of darker dolomite. The mottling gives the rock a tapestry-like effect, and it is popular for use as a building and ornamental stone.
WThe Vinalhaven Galamander is a rare surviving example of a specialized stone-hauling vehicle in Vinalhaven, Maine. It is located in a small public park at the junction of Main, Atlantic, and School Streets in Vinalhaven's downtown area. Its wooden parts are a reproduction of original elements; its metal parts are original. The vehicle, a type used in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in the island's granite quarries, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970.