The picturesque surroundings of the Carrière de Cusy quarry, situated in France’s Parc Naturel Régional du Massif des Bauges, make it evident why the company has a strong commitment to restoration.
While producing 110,000 tonnes of limestone/year, it must also protect local wildlife and closely observe environmental regulations on noise limits, dust and machine emissions.
Owned by brothers Yves-Pierre and Denis Mathieux, the quarry opened in 1981. “It takes us 1-2 years to extract the limestone from each section of the quarry,” explained Yves-Pierre. “Then in the following year, we restore the land, planting trees and vegetation in a continuous process.”
Approximately 80% of Carrière de Cusy’s customers are public works contractors. “They also contribute to the restoration process,” he adds, “by bringing soil materials from earthmoving operations to dump at the site.
Their empty trucks are then filled with aggregates. Half of these materials are used for road construction, the other half for general construction.”
Essential to the activities at Carrière de Cusy are two new
Denis operates the ZX290LC-5 and has been impressed by the stability and power of the excavator, especially on rugged and uneven terrain. “The lifting capacity is excellent, it is still powerful even when handling heavy rocks and it has to work hard on this site,” he adds. “The TRIAS hydraulic system makes operating the machine so smooth and it helps to make it highly productive.”
Both the Zaxis-5 excavator and ZW-5 wheeled loader are well suited to the working environment at Carrière de Cusy. Their fuel consumption can be monitored on a daily basis from the comfort of the cab.