Resources

Marine sand and gravel is a natural resource created and deposited, in the main, by fast-flowing glacial rivers, in valleys once on dry shelf, but now submerged by the sea.

The deposits were re-worked during rising sea levels in the warm interglacial stages that followed. Fluctuating sea levels over the past two million years have led to the deposition of the sands and gravels that now lie on the seabed. The gravel reserves are essentially immobile and locked in ancient submerged beaches and terrace deposits. In contrast, the sands have been mobile during higher sea levels and have often be formed into banks.

Locating and harnessing the resource to meet our needs is a challenging and complex process. Our marine business ensures the future supply of quality marine aggregates for customers in all its market areas through a managed programme of prospecting designed to secure licences to extract sand and gravel within economical distances of its markets.

This programme uses a range of techniques and equipment, including shallow seismic and side-scan sonar surveys, to locate submerged areas of marine aggregate deposited by rivers and glaciers many thousands of years ago.

CEMEX UK Marine's current licences are distributed in six main areas:

1. Humber
2. East Coast
3. Thames
4. South Coast
5. South West
6. North West