Project

Evaluation of the transportation of gravel and excavated materials in the Canton of Zurich

According to the Zurich cantonal development plan, at least 35% of the gravel and other uncontaminated materials excavated in the Canton of Zurich is to be transported by rail or by a combined means of transportation.
EBP examines industry compliance with this target at regular intervals.

In 2016, around 3.2 million cubic meters of gravel and around 4.8 million cubic meters of other uncontaminated materials were excavated in the Canton of Zurich. Given that the areas in which the gravel and other materials are excavated are concentrated in the “Zurich Unterland“ region, considerable amounts of gravel and other uncontaminated materials need to be transported across great distances within the canton. In addition to this, considerable amounts of excavated materials are exported to or imported from other Swiss cantons and neighboring countries.

EBP carries out regular surveys of the amounts of material that excavation companies transport by rail and barge. The departure and destination points of the gravel and other excavated materials transported by road are estimated with the use of a model. The canton’s 11 planning regions, the remaining cantons and Germany are considered and represented individually as source and target zones. Estimates of the transportation that takes place outside the Canton of Zurich are based on the “KAR model,” which simulates the flow of gravel and other extracted and excavated materials.

In the framework of an analysis, EBP evaluates the historical development and calculates the modal split. Updating takes place at regular intervals.

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