Quality building stone in Bangladesh is a relative scarcity. There is no quality stone quarries in the entire country as Bangladesh is more or less a flood plane of mud and sand. For concrete construction however quality stone is a must. This means all stone must be either imported from India via truck or pulled from riverbeds that border the Indian hills. Following collection or import the stone is then crushed and shipped by road as required throughout the country. For the new hospital project this means trucks must move the stone over 24 hours by road to the hospital site. With the scarcity of stone and transport costs combined this makes the price of stone unusually high ($65 USD per yard). See the photos below of the typical way stones are harvested, crushed, moved and used.
Boulders/Stones harvested from the rivers that border onto India (Jaflong, Bholaganj, etc.)
Trucks collect the stone along the rivers. The hills in the background are India where the stone have washed down from.
Boulders are sorted into size and color then crushed
(black stone & white stone have different characteristics)
Crushing and grading into sizes - 3/4", 1/2" & 1/4"
All stones and aggregates are moved and loaded by hand
Jon reviewing quality and pricing of stone with a field owner
Google Earth view of the Boulder collection & crushing areas in Bholaganj during the dry season. India/Bangladesh border can be easily seen by the change of vegetation and stone collection.
Stone stockpiled on the MCH site in use during casting
Jon Barrett
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