[MarianaM (OP)]

Peter is wondering...

The excavation of Pompeii must remove great quantities of volcanic ash. How and where is this disposed of? Would it have a purpose as a soil improver?

What do you think?

[Hayseed]

Probably the same as long past generations.  Cement.  Which is still a study of great interest and mystery.

That would be my guess.   But it, or parts of it, could have soil value.  Much credit is given to volcanic soils.

[evan_au]

I saw a documentary on the hidden city of Rome - they went down to old mines under the city where volcanic ash (pozzolana) was mined to make Rome's famous waterproof cement. These large caverns (excavated by slaves) are still there, under the city.

Similar ash occurs near Naples (in fact, it is named for a town near Naples).

The ash from Pompeii must be manually sieved and sorted to find artifacts. For mass cement production, there is a massive volcano nearby that would be a more convenient source for access by trucks and bulldozers - Mount Vesuvius, which destroyed Pompeii.

PS: I wonder if any of these caverns will one day collapse, taking a block of surface buildings into the underworld?

[syhprum]

What looks like sand only black with occasional floaters is dumped on rocky foreshores to make beaches for tourists to play on