PRAGUE – Supplies of aggregates and sand-gravel mixtures, essential for highways, railways, and high-speed lines, are running dangerously low in Czechia and new quarries aren’t opening fast enough, warns a new study.
The analysis was commissioned by the Directorate of Roads and Motorways (ŘSD), state company ensuring the construction, modernisation and maintenance of Czech motorways.
In reaction, Czech Industry and Trade Minister Lukáš Vlček (STAN, EPP) is drafting a government regulation to fast-track new mining sites, classifying them as “deposits of strategic importance.” “This will increase extraction itself and reduce price pressure,” Vlček told Czech economic daily Hospodářské noviny.
The Czech Geological Survey is already pinpointing promising sites. Those that pass strict expert checks will be proposed for strategic status – a move that could slash long permitting times. Under current law, new deposits rarely open because of a complicated process that takes many years, but strategic sites enjoy faster approvals and easier expropriation.
Industry players are applauding the move. “New deposits are practically not being opened today, and when they exceptionally are, the permitting drags on for over 10 years,” said Petr Dušek, spokesman for České štěrkopísky, the country’s largest aggregate supplier, to Hospodářské noviny.
Without swift action, the sector could crash into a serious raw material shortage within five years, Dušek warned. Meanwhile, a construction boom looms, with the Czech Republic preparing for major projects like high-speed rail, nuclear power plants, and finishing the highway network.
“It is clear that an alarming shortage of aggregates can be expected in terms of future development, as some deposits have limited supplies in the short term. It is therefore necessary to look for solutions to secure the planned construction projects,” the authors of the study conclude.