Calendar
Vulcan Quarry - Manassas
- When:
- May 7 2011 CDT 7:30 AM - 12:00 PM
- Category:
- Field Trips
Saturday May 7, 2011 Meet 7:30 AM at Vulcan's Manassas Quarry. Out by 12 or when the quarry employees have to leave. The rock is diabase, with one level having a layer of hornfels. This quarry has produced prehnite, apophillite, calcite, amethyst, other quartz, chalcopyrite, pyrite, epidote, and zeolites -- stilbite, chabazite, heulandite, stellerite, and others. Our recent joint trip with the Northern Virginia club was quite productive, hence the second visit (I have invited them to join us on that day also).Please let me know if you plan to attendand your agreement to the waiver and rules by May 3 , so I can provide the quarry with an accurate headcount. Children 10 and up are welcome if accompanied and well supervised by a parents and use the required safety gear.
Note: Digging into the walls is not permitted at Vulcan quarries. We must stay 7 feet from any walls. Also, I may need to appoint a group leader.
Directions:From the Beltway, go West on 66.
Take Exit 44, SR-234. Go 3.6 Miles
Turn Left onto Wellington Lane. The quarry will be on your left, about .5 miles from Rt 234.
Waiver and rules
Field trip attendees are solely responsible for their own safety.
Quarries
and other field trip sites have hazardous areas that cannot be made
completely safe. Collecting is inherently risky. Risks include falls,
wall collapses, collisions with mobile equipment, injury from falling
material, inhalation of dust including asbestos, snakes, insects,
contact with toxic natural or man-made material, and damage to personal
vehicles.
and other field trip sites have hazardous areas that cannot be made
completely safe. Collecting is inherently risky. Risks include falls,
wall collapses, collisions with mobile equipment, injury from falling
material, inhalation of dust including asbestos, snakes, insects,
contact with toxic natural or man-made material, and damage to personal
vehicles.
Neither the club or property owners provide any insurance or funds to treat injuries that occur during collecting. Attendees must rely on their own insurance and financial resources to handle such events. The fact that the club or property owner may insist attendees follow safety or etiquette rules or warn that an area or an activity is unsafe does not imply a duty to forbid attendees from or warn them away from all unsafe spots or unsafe activities. Attendees should not assume an area is safe just because others let you work there or are working there themselves. Attendees must use their own judgment, accept the consequences, and hold all others harmless. For the purpose of this waiver "field trip facilitators" include the Gem, Lapidary, and Mineral Society of Montgomery County, owners, operators, and managers of properties visited as part of the field trip, any third party facilitating, supporting, or managing the field trips, and any affiliates, agents, or officers and directors of these entities. All attendees agree to indemnify and hold harmless the field trip facilitators from any and all liability, causes of action, claims, demands, costs, or debts of any kind incurred or arising from participation in a field-trip, even if such cause is an injury or property damage resulting from error, omission, or negligence by one or more of the field trip facilitators. Attendees agree that this waiver is binding on any heirs, insurers,or third parties that may bring a claim on their behalf. If the terms of this waiver are unreasonable or unacceptable, one must not participate in the field trip. Attendees recognize that the fieldtrip facilitators do not make any representations about the character or conduct of any third parties on the property or attending the fieldtrip and are not responsible for their conduct.
Rules
Rules
1) Required safety equipment.
The following equipment is required for everyone, including minors.
Hard Hat (ANSI Z89.1, certified for industrial head protection. These are
readily available at home centers and hardware stores. Bike helmets and
other sport helmets are NOT suitable).
Eye protection
Steel toed shoes (boots that provide ankle support are far safer than low cut steel toed boots).
gloves
long pants
Fluorescent safety construction vest (some quarries will require these, we may not know ahead of time).
long pants
Fluorescent safety construction vest (some quarries will require these, we may not know ahead of time).
Other safety equipment (we don't check for this, but you should use it!):
sunscreen
drinking water
snacks
raingear
Collectors missing required safety equipment will be asked to leave. 2) Children: I will post the age limits with each trip. In quarries where children are permitted, parents are responsible and assume all risk. Parents should stay with their children, watch them, and leave with them when they become too restless to be safely monitored. Children must have the safety equipment above. 3) General rules: Collectors must RSVP by the date specified in the announcement. Quarries are hurting from the recession and don't want to send their employees out to supervise only two or three collectors, so we need to give an accurate headcount ahead of time. I will have to be less lax about this going forward. If I find I don't have enough people the Thursday or Friday before the trip, we may have to cancel. DO NOT BE A NO-SHOW!! Collectors who are late may miss the safety briefing and hence the privilege of collecting. Please be on time! It is important to obey all instructions of the group leader, the group leader of any other participating club, and quarry employees. Failure to do so or unsafe behavior can lead to a collector being forbidden from future field-trips and other sanctions. In any site covered by OSHA or MSHA rules (quarries, construction sites), hard hats, eye protection, and hard toe boots must be worn at all times. All trips will have a group leader, either the field-trip chair or his designee. Most quarries don't want groups entering without a leader. If you find a spot and need to get a tool to work it or take a break, leave a tool by it to mark it as a spot. Honor other people's spots. Don't "claim" any spot you are not currently working, unless you are merely getting equipment to help you work it or taking a break. Let others have the joy of discovery. If you claim more than one spot at a time, don't complain if someone starts working one of them.
Removal all tools, food wrappers, and trash from the site; don't be a litter bug! 4) Collecting equipment. water--for drinking and rinsing potential specimens.
newspaper--for wrapping specimens
boxes
five gallon bucket (or something similar for schlepping things around)
3-5 pound blacksmith's hammer or hand held sledge. Do not use carpenter's hammers!
cold chisels or masonry chisels. Use wood chisels only if you enjoy ruining your tools and showering yourself and your friends with shrapnel.
long arm 8+ pound wrecking hammer--for breaking big boulders.
old pocket knife or small screw driver for prying apart small delicate specimens.
magnifying glass for examining smaller specimens.
camera
Removal all tools, food wrappers, and trash from the site; don't be a litter bug! 4) Collecting equipment. water--for drinking and rinsing potential specimens.
newspaper--for wrapping specimens
boxes
five gallon bucket (or something similar for schlepping things around)
3-5 pound blacksmith's hammer or hand held sledge. Do not use carpenter's hammers!
cold chisels or masonry chisels. Use wood chisels only if you enjoy ruining your tools and showering yourself and your friends with shrapnel.
long arm 8+ pound wrecking hammer--for breaking big boulders.
old pocket knife or small screw driver for prying apart small delicate specimens.
magnifying glass for examining smaller specimens.
camera
Location
-
Venue:
Vulcan Materials Quarry
8537 Vulcan Lane, Manassas 20109 , VA
http://www.mindat.org/loc-104545.html
What to Collect --- Prehnite, datolite, stilbite, byssolite, pyrite, pectolite, apophyllite, other zeolites. Good micros (e.g. laumontite).
See the Mindat page for pictures!
Directions --- From D.C. and Maryland area, take Washington Beltway (I-495) to I-66 (west) to Manassas Exit 44. Go south on Rt 234 (Bypass) for 3.3 miles. Turn Left on Wellington Rd. (at light) --- go ½ mile and turn left on Vulcan Road. Cross railroad tracks and take immediate right into office parking lot.
Equipment/ clothing --- Full safety gear --- steel toed shoes/boots, safety glasses, hardhat, work gloves --- rock hammer, 3 - 4 pound crack hammer, chisels, 5 gal. bucket, old newspaper for wrapping specimens, small pry bar. Optional -- large sledge hammer, long pry bar, extra buckets. Your best tools are sharp eyes. Clothing depends on the weather --- coveralls recommended. Rain poncho nice to have.
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