Reclamation and reuse of abandoned quarry: A case study of Ice World & Water Park in Changsha

Comprehensive utilization of abandoned mine has become a hot issue in the recycling of world resources. The Dawangshan Pit in Changsha, China is an abandoned limestone quarry operated for over 40 years. This pit has always been a potential risk to the urban environment and ecological safety as it covers a large area and stores much water near downtown. The Changsha government has been recovering the landscape around the pit since 2014, and finally the project to construct a huge recreational building (the Ice World & Water Park, IWWP) in the pit was determined. This project faces three big challenges: unstable walls of the pit due to the poor geological conditions; huge size of the pit and the structures of the IWWP; and a fragile geological unit as basement. Settlements of these three challenges have been introduced one by one in this paper. This project benefits the Changsha city with a full utilization of land resource and improvement of the quality of land surrounding the quarry. Meanwhile, the recreational building will become a new landmark of Changsha.