(Ottawa Citizen newspaper clipping dated Saturday July 9, 1966. No by-line. Photo credit Martin Timmerman)
A project that fascinates builders and others in this area is the unique operation by which the Eastview firm of Donat Graindrnaitre, Limited, sucks up sand from the bed of the Ottawa River.
Contrary to what one might expect, good quality sand for use in various forms of construction is a comparatively scarce commodity in this area.
It was the late Donal Grandmaitre, long-time Mayor of Eastview and father of that city’s present Mayor Gerard Grandrnaitre, who devised the unique method of taking sand from the river bottom.
In the late Twenties, Donat Grandmaitre became dissatisfied with having to haul sand, by horse-drawn vehicles, from pits miles away, and the sand-sucking operation was the answer.
At the outset a steel tower, mounted on a flat barge, carried the pumping equipment, and the sand was taken along stretches of the river to the east of the city, then carried by barge up to docks located west of Parliament Hill.
Today much more modern pumping devices are used, and the sand is cleaned and processed on Petrie Island, about 10 miles down-stream, which the Grandmaitre firm purchased in 1956. The island consists of some 300 acres.
Two years ago, $75,000 worth of machinery was bought for this purpose, and last year more than $50,000 worth of sand was sold by the firm.
The 35,000-ton annual output is considered top quality sand for fine cement and mortar work, and Gerard Grandmaitre, now head of the firm, says that the present demand far exceeds the supply. He believes that in the near future the sand pumping and processing operation will have to be done on a round-the-clock basis.
Mr Grandmaitre adds that engineers have estimated there is sufficient sand on the river bottom in this area to serve the city and district’s needs for at least 100 years.