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223. Escambia's Sand & Gravel Industry 1910

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Updated: Mar 29, 2022


As the construction boom hit Northwest Florida and Southern Alabama, the need for concrete became much greater. Concrete roads began to appear more frequently around 1910 when they began to use Portland cement concrete in their construction process. Prior to that time, concrete was mostly used to support other materials such as wooden blocks, bricks, cobble stones, etc. But to make concrete you needed the following ingredients: Portland cement, sand, gravel, and water.


One extensive source for sand and gravel was the area rivers that were filled with both along their beds. Below on Little Escambia River, you can see an anchored dredge doing just that. The pipe along the starboard side of the dredge extends down into the water to the river bed. The contents of the riverbed are sucked up and blown down the pipe to the shore. The river water is blown out the back of the dredge. The contents are then emptied into a "filter" that separates the sand from the gravel and the trash. Then both the sand and the gravel can be transported by train or wagon to the company's customers.


There were also "gravel pits" scattered all over Escambia County in both Alabama and Florida. There was one off Highway 97 at the Alabama State Line and another in Flomaton, Alabama. The Flomaton pits contributed to the concrete that helped build the Pensacola Hospital on 12th Avenue, renamed the Old Sacred Heart Hospital.


Photo Courtesy of Jerry Fischer & Neal Collier, Alger-Sullivan Historical Society
















































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