Basalt Overview

Over 17 million years ago, one of the largest lava flows ever to appear on the Earth’s surface engulfed about 54,000 square miles of central Washington. Over the next 12 to 15 million years, flow after flow poured out, eventually accumulating to over a mile thick. In rare cases, the lava was so thick and cooled so slowly that the basalt crystallized, forming these unique features known as basalt columns. Even more unusual is having these exposed at the surface to quarry.

At the quarry, we carefully remove the columns from faces much like the picture below. After sorting the different lengths and diameters, we load the columns on flat beds for shipment to our processing plant.

At our processing facility, we can cut, core and polish the columns for a wide array of architectural and landscape uses. Some design applications include: fountains, birdbaths, benches, sculptures, monoliths, and
retaining walls.

	Location of the Columbia Basalt Lava Flows in Washington State
	Faces like this 20 footer are quarried and loaded onto flatbed trucks.

Retrieving Basalt:

Quarried
Loaded
Sorted

Basalt Column Applications
Applications for basalt columns are only limited by the imagination of the designer, here are some examples:


Fountains	Gates	Bird Baths	Raised Beds

Sculpture	Posts	Pedestals	Monuments

Fencing	Lights	Structural	Fireplaces

Query Images:


Top of Basalt Quarry	Staging Site at High Quarry	Large Dish Rock in the Quarry

Staging Site at Low Quarry	Load Out 18′-24′ Columns	Mini Column Quarry Face