July 25, 2016 – Cedar Mountain Stone Corp. recently hosted Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.,) for a site visit at the Mitchells Quarry near Culpeper, Va. The senator saw first-hand how the quarry uses drones to monitor blasts in the 50-acre quarry. “We use drones for about every other blast to understand if we’re using the right amount of explosives,” Cedar Mountain Stone Corp. owner Ed Dalrymple told the Culpeper Star-Exponent. The senator co-founded communications technology firm Nextel and is a proponent of unmanned aerial vehicles.
These kinds of visits help build relationships between producers and their members of Congress, and they are at the heart of the National Stone, Sand and Gravel Association’s (NSSGA) “Driving it Home” grassroots effort.
“The senator’s interest in technology seems to have been a great reason to arrange for a quarry visit,” said Jim Riley, NSSGA senior director of government affairs. “Inviting local media to quarry tours with lawmakers is also always encouraged. It helps our industry educate the local community on the value of our operations through media.”