Chimney Hollow Quarry Operations Winding Down; Daily Blasting Concluded

Chimney Hollow Reservoir construction activity is starting to look – and even sound – a little different these days, as work nears completion and various tasks continue winding down. 

Noticeably different is the absence of afternoon blasts from the Chimney Hollow quarry, where crews had spent about three-and-a-half years igniting explosives on a near-daily basis to extract the rock materials needed for the project. 

With the detonation that took place on May 27, project managers estimated that enough rock had been loosened to finish work on the reservoir’s main dam. Crews are now focused on processing, hauling and placing those remaining materials along the top of what will ultimately be the 350-foot-tall structure. 

Since the first blasts took place in the fall of 2021, crews have ignited over 20 million pounds of explosives and extracted nearly 25 million tons of rock from the approximately 80-acre quarry, which sits along what will eventually be the west side of the reservoir’s footprint.