Image courtesy Minnesota DNR.

Geologists at the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources have recently completed new aggregate resource maps for Redwood, Sibley, and Swift Counties. The maps show the potential for sand and gravel deposits, as well as crushed stone resources, in those three counties.

Aggregate resources are a critical natural material needed to construct roads, bridges, trails, and buildings. About half of all aggregate resources used in Minnesota go toward publicly-funded infrastructure projects. Almost all the accessible aggregate resources in Redwood, Swift, and Sibley counties were deposited more than 10,000 years ago, when meltwater streams from glacial land formations deposited sand and gravel in different areas of the state.

Maps of Kandiyohi and Renville Counties have already been completed by the DNR, and can be found on the DNR’s website.

Datasets for all three county projects, including maps to locate aggregate resources and a countywide gravel pit survey, will be publicly available this fall on the DNR’s online interactive mapping.   The online publishing dates for the maps and other data are as follows:

  • Swift County will be posted on Sept. 20
  • Sibley County will be posted on Sept. 27
  • Redwood County will be posted on Oct. 4