0:00:35 > 0:00:36A thousand years ago,
0:00:36 > 0:00:39the islands of the West Coast were ruled by Vikings,
0:00:39 > 0:00:44more Norwegian than Scottish. In fact, the name of this place,
0:00:44 > 0:00:49Glensanda, is old Norse, and it means the Glen of the Sandy River.
0:00:51 > 0:00:56But it's not the sand that's drawn me here, it's the rock.
0:00:59 > 0:01:04This tanker is about to be loaded with 85,000 tonnes of granite
0:01:04 > 0:01:06from Europe's biggest super quarry.
0:01:06 > 0:01:11It's the rock that will make the roads of Britain roll.
0:01:12 > 0:01:14It's quite terrifying, actually,
0:01:14 > 0:01:18just the sheer mass of it, just a big steel cliff.
0:01:22 > 0:01:28Glensanda quarry sits at the mouth of the Great Glen Fault, an area rich in granite.
0:01:29 > 0:01:31Although the quarry is on the mainland,
0:01:31 > 0:01:34it might as well be an island.
0:01:36 > 0:01:39You can't get here by road, because there aren't any.
0:01:39 > 0:01:43But who needs roads when you have the sea,
0:01:43 > 0:01:46and water deep enough for huge ships?
0:01:50 > 0:01:53Europe's biggest super quarry relies on the coast.
0:01:53 > 0:01:57Rock and machinery all come and go by sea,
0:01:57 > 0:02:01a challenge for Deputy Manager, David Lamb.
0:02:01 > 0:02:04Hello, Neil, welcome to Glensanda. Nice to meet you.
0:02:04 > 0:02:07- That was very exciting with the boat.- It certainly was.
0:02:07 > 0:02:09Most impressed! So where does it all happen?
0:02:09 > 0:02:13It all starts at the top of the hill, at the top of the mountain.
0:02:13 > 0:02:16It's 2,000 ft from sea level to summit,
0:02:16 > 0:02:19but suddenly I get the full picture.
0:02:22 > 0:02:25From here you really do get a sense of super quarry!
0:02:25 > 0:02:28You certainly do. It's a big hole, isn't it?
0:02:28 > 0:02:31How much of the mountain have you already taken away?
0:02:31 > 0:02:35Out of this area, we've already taken one hundred million tonnes.
0:02:35 > 0:02:37How much remains to be taken?
0:02:37 > 0:02:41There's still almost eight hundred million tonnes left to go.
0:02:41 > 0:02:43So you're kind of scratching the surface at the moment?
0:02:43 > 0:02:46Yes. A big scratch, but only a scratch so far.
0:02:46 > 0:02:49- Can we go and blow things up? - We certainly can, Neil! Come on.
0:02:54 > 0:02:59100 million tonnes of rock extracted in 20 years.
0:02:59 > 0:03:03Now with 18 tonnes of explosive primed,
0:03:03 > 0:03:05I'm about to see how they do it.
0:03:10 > 0:03:14LOUD RUMBLING
0:03:14 > 0:03:17- That's fantastic! - It's very impressive, isn't it?
0:03:17 > 0:03:20Can we do that again?! Right now!
0:03:20 > 0:03:23If you're happy to wait another few days, yes!
0:03:23 > 0:03:27Wow! It's the way it's just the slow motion, ripple.
0:03:29 > 0:03:33Where does all this material go? Who uses it?
0:03:33 > 0:03:36An awful lot of the rock goes into road building,
0:03:36 > 0:03:41into the construction industry. Sub-bases for roads and motorways.
0:03:41 > 0:03:44Almost all of the rock for the English side of the Channel Tunnel
0:03:44 > 0:03:46was supplied from Glensanda.
0:03:52 > 0:03:58The granite here is hard enough to withstand the pounding of trucks and trains under our roads and railways.
0:03:58 > 0:04:03But what's really special is this quarry's coastal location.
0:04:03 > 0:04:07The rock's crushed, graded and washed before it even gets to the quay side.
0:04:07 > 0:04:13There it's loaded straight onto huge ships to be sent anywhere in the world.
0:04:18 > 0:04:20The rock might not stay around long,
0:04:20 > 0:04:23but the workers can sometimes live here for weeks on end.
0:04:23 > 0:04:26At least they've got some big toys to play with!
0:04:26 > 0:04:28It's like Jurassic Park in here!
0:04:32 > 0:04:36- Do you like it here? - Yes, very nice.- Why?
0:04:36 > 0:04:41- Is it the big toys?!- The big toys, and the views on a good day.
0:04:41 > 0:04:44Kind of feels like the Wild West out here!
0:04:44 > 0:04:48- Like a frontier town!- You get used to it, you get used to it.
0:04:48 > 0:04:51E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk