Aggregates Manager September 2017

Aggregates outlook PG4

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New screener PG6

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Workplace exams PG26

September 2017 | www.AggMan.com

Yo u r g u i d e t o p r o f i t a b l e p r o d u c t i o n

Four

Corners Materials Expands Production By moving portable plants at its various pits, this company can move to the market.

Cover_AGRM0917.indd 1

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Improve your production planning

20

Maintain your wash plant using this primer

8/14/17 4:38 PM

THE QS331 GYRATORY CONE YOUR ULTIMATE BASE PRODUCT SOLUTION You spoke, we listened.

– – – –

3 Foot Cone 3 Foot Running Costs 4 Foot Performance 5 Foot Feed Size

Our QS331 is able to accept a feed size up to 90% larger than standard cones.

Low operating costs, high performance.

The QS331 is the ideal solution for your base product production needs. Don’t take our word for it, try it for yourself.

Please contact us for details of your nearest dealer: 610-662-5405 / 289-439-6125 info.mobilecs@sandvik.com www.construction.sandvik.com

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Irock Crushers’ new TS-518 mobile tracked screening plant offers a compact, but heavy-duty finishing screen.

On Our Cover: Four Corners Materials ramps up production using portable plants to service its various pits.

Cover photo by Kerry Clines.

PAGE 6

Use this primer, which points out the common maintenance issues, to protect your wash plant.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS SEPTEMBER 2017 |

VOLUME 22, NUMBER 9

FEATURE ARTICLES

8 20

Rocking and Rolling in the Rockies Four Corners Materials’ Animas Glacier Facility is growing in production and expanding its offerings.

Watch Points for Your Wash Plant

Make sure your maintenance routine hits these points to ensure efficient operation of your wash plant.

COLUMNS & DEPARTMENTS 3 Editorial Aggregates operations are valuable assets.

4 Data Mining The latest financial analysis of issues impacting in the industry and Aggregates Manager’s exclusive aggregates industry outlook.

6 RollOuts Asgco’s new semi-ceramic pulley lagging, and other new equipment for the aggregates market.

26 Rock Law Unless it is extended again, operators need to prepare for the Oct. 2 implementation of MSHA’s Workplace Examination Rule.

30 Advertiser Index See who’s who and where to find their products.

OPERATIONS ILLUSTRATED

15

Planning for Production

Communication between production and sales — and operator and customer — helps ensure accurate production planning.

TOC_AGRM0917.indd 1

31 Classified Ads Aggregate industry classifieds.

32 Carved in Stone Water purification processes using sand demonstrate another green aggregate application.

8/15/17 9:17 AM

How the top 5 aggregate companies gather aerial intelligence

Stockpile measurement. Mine planning. Inventory management.

Kespry is the only aerial intelligence system to deliver

output to popular CAD tools. No joysticks. No piloting skills. No integration or hardware issues to deal with.

autonomous drone data capture with wireless

Just one price, one team to call for dedicated

data upload and fast image processing made

support, and one precise system you

available in the cloud the same day. From

can rely on. No wonder it’s the first

field to finished, high resolution

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Discover more at www.kespry.com/aggregates

Plan operations and evaluate site topography with ease

Automate volume reporting – density conversions, tonnages

High resolution 2D and 3D models, not just stitched images

Mission planning on a tablet. No joysticks or flying skill needed

Copyright © 2017, Kespry Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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2/8/2017 10:35:06 AM 6/14/17 3:13 PM

September 2017

EDITORIAL

Vol. 22, No. 9

by Therese Dunphy, Editor-in-Chief tdunphy@randallreilly.com

aggman.com /AggregatesManager /AggManEditor

Editorial Editor-in-Chief: Therese Dunphy Editorial Director: Marcia Gruver Doyle Senior Editor: Kerry Clines Online Editor: Wayne Grayson editorial@aggman.com

Design & Production Art Director: Sandy Turner, Jr. Production Designer: Timothy Smith Advertising Production Manager: Kim Knight production@aggman.com

Construction Media Vice President, Construction Media: Joe Donald sales@randallreillyconstruction.com

3200 Rice Mine Rd NE Tuscaloosa, AL 35406 800-633-5953 randallreilly.com

Corporate Chairman: Mike Reilly President and CEO: Brent Reilly Chief Operations Officer: Shane Elmore Chief Financial Officer: Russell McEwen Senior Vice President, Sales: Scott Miller Senior Vice President, Editorial and Research: Linda Longton Vice President of Events: Stacy McCants Vice President, Audience Development: Prescott Shibles Vice President, Digital Services: Nick Reid Vice President, Marketing: Julie Arsenault

For change of address and other subscription inquiries, please contact: aggregatesmanager@halldata.com.

Aggregates Manager TM magazine (ISSN 1552-3071) is published monthly by Randall-Reilly, LLC copyright 2017. Executive and Administrative offices, 3200 Rice Mine Rd. N.E., Tuscaloosa, AL 35406. Subscription rates: $24 annually, Non-domestic $125 annually. Single copies: $7. We assume no responsibility for the validity of claims of manufacturers in any advertisement or editorial product information or literature offered by them.

Publisher reserves the right to refuse non-qualified subscriptions.

Periodical circulation postage paid at Tuscaloosa, Alabama and additional entries. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by an information storage retrieval system, without written permission of the copyright owner. POSTMASTER: Send all UAA to CFS. (See DMM 507.1.5.2); NON-POSTAL AND MILITARY FACILITIES: send address corrections to Aggregates Manager, 3200 Rice Mine Road N.E., Tuscaloosa, AL 35406.

Editorial_AGRM0917.indd 3

Aggregates Operations Are Valuable Assets

T

hroughout the year, Bill Langer has been writing about environmentally friendly uses of aggregate in his Carved in Stone column. From roofing materials to beach replenishment, he has highlighted various ways that aggregate can serve to enhance and preserve the environment. While entertaining, these articles serve a more important purpose. For those of you who deal with neighbors and local community leaders who question the value of having an aggregates operation nearby, the various uses highlighted in Bill’s column provide useful talking points about the value of our industry. Hard hats off to Bill for providing content that can help you educate and inform those who surround your business. I’d also like to recognize him for serving as Aggregates Manager’s longest running columnist. In December, Bill will finish his 20th year of writing about geology and the industry for us; a most noteworthy accomplishment!

While Bill has focused on environmentally friendly aggregate applications, I’d like to share a tale of how an underground mine served another beneficial purpose. During World War II, as British troops battled at Dunkirk, the directors of London’s National Gallery scrambled to develop a plan to protect the gallery’s artwork from German bombs.

An early suggestion called for art to be shipped to Canada. The gallery’s director, Kenneth Clark, objected to the plan due to concerns about U-boat attacks. He approached Winston Churchill, who is often quoted as responding: “Hide them in caves and cellars, but not one picture shall leave this island.”

Artwork was secretly shipped out of the museum on Sept. 2, 1939, a day before Britain declared war on Germany. It was temporarily stored in private country estates.

Meanwhile, two members of the museum staff searched for the perfect location for long-term storage. They wanted a site that was fireproof, had the right level of humidity, offered large openings, and had minimum steps. They found just that at Manod quarry. The site was close to rail access, remote, and accessible only via a long stretch of winding mountain roads.

Work quickly began to prepare the slate quarry for its additional use. Approximately 5,000 tons of rock were blasted to create a big enough entrance tunnel for the largest paintings. Brick buildings were built in the underground chambers to provide a controlled climate. Special rail tracks and cars were constructed to transport the artwork.

By the summer of 1941, the artwork was all successfully retrieved from its various locations and stored at this new site, where it remained for the duration of the war.

While there, museum staff was able to observe the effect of stable humidity and temperature on the artwork, and these discoveries influenced how the collection was displayed and maintained when it returned to the museum. In fact, the developed section of the quarry was reserved for future storage use during the Cold War. Now, that’s being a good neighbor!

(Editor’s note: To learn more, visit the National Gallery’s website at http://bit.ly/2umsko8.)

AGGREGATES MANAGER / September 2017

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8/15/17 8:30 AM

mining

U.S.

On-Highway

Diesel Fuel

Prices 8/7/17

Company Cemex, S.A.B. de C.V.

New England $2.384 One Week +0.027 p One Year +0.259 p

Central Atlantic $2.470 One Week +0.053 p One Year +0.326 p

Lower Atlantic $2.221 One Week +0.014 p One Year +0.230 p

Midwest $2.284 One Week +0.008 p One Year +0.169 p

Gulf Coast $2.154 One Week +0.071 p One Year +0.226 p

Rocky Mountain $2.390 One Week +0.047 p One Year +0.164 p

West Coast $2.842 One Week +0.009 p One Year +0.269 p

West Coast less California $2.588 One Week +0.009 p One Year +0.201 p Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (dollars per gallon, prices include all taxes).

DataMining_AGRM0917.indd 4

52-Week Low

52-Week High

$9.65 q

$6.91

$10.37

CRG

$34.74 q

$31.42

$38.04

Eagle Materials Inc.

EXP

$91.47 q

$73.27

$110.64

Granite Construction Inc.

GVA

$53.54 p

$42.59

$62.18

Heidelberg Cement AG

HEI

$95.87 q

$90.43

$111.09

LafargeHolcim Ltd. ADR

HCMLY

$12.17 p

$9.89

$12.23

Martin Marietta Materials, Inc.

MLM

$209.87 q

$167.06

$244.32

MDU Resources Group, Inc.

MDU

$26.10 p

$22.94

$29.92

Summit Materials

SUM

$29.51 q

$17.27

$29.72

United States Lime & Minerals, Inc.

USLM

$81.77 p

$60.24

$83.00

U.S. Concrete

USCR

$78.50 q

$42.82

$80.45

Vulcan Materials Co.

VMC

$118.39 q

$105.71

$138.18

Source: Wall Street Journal Market Watch. Currency conversion calculated on date of close 8/08/17.

COMPANY SPOTLIGHT

One Week +0.026 p One Year +0.228 p

East Coast $2.336

CX

Current Value

CRH plc

United States $2.378

One Week +0.030 p One Year +0.270 p

Ticker

E

agle Materials (EXP) started off strong during the first quarter of its fiscal 2018 year, which ended June 30. It posted record revenues of $336.1 million, an increase of 23 percent against its first quarter 2017 results. Net earnings per diluted share of $1.13 were up 22 percent. First quarter earnings before interest and income taxes also increased by 22 percent. Higher sales volumes and net sales prices across most of its businesses, as well as its acquisition of a Fairborn, Ohio, cement plant from Cemex, fostered these results.

Cement revenues for the first quarter totaled $182.9 million — 26 percent higher than the same quarter in 2017. The average cement net sales price for the quarter was $106.95 per ton, a 6-percent increase over the first quarter of 2017. Like-for-like average net cement sales prices and sales volumes increased 4 percent and 7 percent, respectively, compared to the same quarter a year earlier.

Concrete and Aggregates revenues Eagle Materials (EXP) for the first quarter were $43.5 million, an increase of 26 percent from first quarter 2017. First quarter operating earnings were $6.0 million for the first quarter, a 63-percent improvement for the same quarter in the prior year.

This reflects improved concrete and aggregates pricing and concrete sales volumes.

“The opportunity to sell products across all of our businesses — cement, wallboard, proppants, and concrete and aggregates — continues to improve, and we’re taking advantage of these trends,” said President and CEO Dave Powers during the company’s quarterly conference call. “The underlying drivers of our businesses are almost universally toggled in the up position, and longer-term risk currently skew to the upside.

“Single-family housing starts, for example, continue to improve and have substantial room for growth. Household formation trends, combined with an economic environment of low unemployment, healthy job growth, and low interest rates, are a powerful combination,” he added. “Most areas of the U.S. are doing well, especially in the markets that we operate. Infrastructure investment is growing and could grow even more in the years to come.”

Source: Market Watch

Data

STOCK REPORT

8/15/17 8:27 AM

ek

37

04

64

18

09

23

32

92

72

00

45

AGGREGATES INDUSTRY OUTLOOK The August Aggregates Industry Index increased for the second consecutive month to an overall score of 134.60, a 0.74-percent increase from July. While wet weather seemed to hamper some operators earlier this year, monthly sales reports increased 6.3 percent from last month’s results, the survey’s most dramatic monthly increase.

Looking back to August 2016 results, all categories have reported significant increases. Annual increases range from a low of a 13.6-percent increase in expectations for tons of aggregates sold for the next year to a high of a 26.8-percent jump in the outlook for tons of aggregate sold in the current month, compared to a year prior.

Aggregates Industry Outlook 150

139.35

145

139.94

140 135

124.24 122.43

130 125 120

134.60

132.37

140.38

135.06

133.61

109.80 111.42

111.00

115

108.08

110 105 100 Sept.

2016

Oct. 2016

Nov. 2016

Dec. 2016

Jan. 2017

Feb. 2017

March 2017

April 2017

May 2017

June 2017

July 2017

Aug. 2017

Sept.

2017

18 The demand for construction related products remains strong.

New projects are continually popping up in each market that we manufacture and service in. The outlook is very positive, and expectations remain high.

I believe that Trump has got it going again. Our family is involved in a number of business sectors, and all seem to be on the upswing.

— Jon Thompson, President, Letart Corp.

— Van Stockstill, President, Consolidated Aggregates

I believe another positive influx is the recent addition of eight states that have enacted legislation to increase the gas tax. I think a direct correlation will be seen in the aggregates industry as a result of the increase and the need to support deteriorating infrastructure across the United States.

— Jill Shackelford, President, Shackelford Consulting

Editor’s note: To join our panel, email Editor-in-Chief Therese Dunphy at tdunphy@randallreilly.com.

MOBILE EQUIPMENT FINANCED Type of Equipment Wheel loader (250-1,000 horsepower)

198

Excavator (160-520 horsepower)

102

Wheel loaders Cat 980M

Top Cat 982M models Cat 980G financed

14 13

Cat 988K

7

Top Cat 349FL models financed Komatsu PC360LC-11

Wheel Loader Wisconsin

18

Pennsylvania Ohio 10

11

California

8

28

8

Cat 336FL

DataMining_AGRM0917.indd 5

Number financed

Komatsu WA500-8

Excavators

TOP STATES

04/01/201706/30/17

Alabama

8

Texas

18

Excavators Wisconsin

Number financed

6

19

Pennsylvania Ohio 6

5

10 8

Deere 470 G LC

8

Volvo EC480EL

5

Texas

9

Florida

5

8/15/17 8:28 AM

ROLLOUTS

Your complete guide to new and updated equipment and supplies in the aggregates industry.

by Therese Dunphy | Editor-in-Chief | tdunphy@randallreilly.com

Portable screener offers quick setup Irock Crushers’ new TS-518 mobile tracked screening plant is said to give medium to large producers a compact, heavy-duty, and easyto-move finishing screen with a high output. The screener features hydraulically powered components, including conveyors, which allow operators to move the machine into place for production in as little as 10 minutes. The screening plant has a 12-cubic-yard hopper and 129-horsepower Cat diesel engine. It is offered in two- and three-deck configurations, and producers can change out the screen media on each deck for full control over end-product size. The screener’s feed conveyor offers an adjustable speed for efficient and effective material loading into the screen box. Producers can sort and stockpile three different materials with the unit’s tail conveyor and two side conveyors. The tail conveyor sorts material into stockpiles up to 15 feet, 2 inches, while its two side conveyors offer an adjustable speed for fast sorting into stockpiles up to 16 feet, 8 inches.

Irock Crushers | www.irockcrushers.com

BEKA SYSTEMS

TAKE A THUMPIN’& KEEP ON PUMPIN’ BEKA auto-lube is built to take the bumps and grinds of a hard-working life on the road or off. Give your fleet the solution that keeps them on the job.

• Cast aluminum base withstands impacts and hot/cold cycles without leaking • No springs! Eccentric gear drive resists wear, fatigue and cold • Consistently precise grease dosing Find out why industries are choosing today’s best-built auto-lube systems.

Call 1.888.862.7461 or email us at info@beka-lube.com.

1.888.862.7461

www. beka-lube.com BEKA - LUBRICATION SPECIALISTS SINCE 1927

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AGGREGATES MANAGER 026-144B AGG Manager 4.5x4.5 4C.indd / 1September 2017 Untitled-14 1

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Repositions screening blade for various sizes Allu introduces its patented Allu TS drum assembly construction, which allows operators to perform multiple jobs with one unit by repositioning the standard screening blades. Made for existing Allu D-Series material processor bucket frames, the core of the technology is the configuration of the screening blades that spin between the screening combs. The end product size is defined by the space between the combs, and different fragment sizes can be achieved simply by repositioning the combs. The TS drums are available with two different blade types: standard blades for screening applications and axe blades when a crushing or shredding effect is required. Blade sizes available include 0.63/1.26 inch, 0.98/1.97 inch, and 1.38 inch.

The TS assembly is available in seven different models for 17.6- to 49.6-ton excavators and 7.7- to 33-ton wheel loaders.

Allu Group | www.allu.net 2017-02-01 3:26 PM 2/6/17 9:27 AM

8/16/17 9:42 AM

Corrects belt slippage and premature wear Asgco rolls out a Semi-Ceramic Pulley Lagging that features 40-percent coverage.

Available as an option to full ceramic coverage with its Arrowhead line on hightension drive pulleys, the new pulley lagging offers a solution when conventional rubber lagging fails to correct belt slippage and wears prematurely. The ceramic tiles are embedded in rubber on all sides and separated by a horizontal groove for dispelling water and dirt and are suitable for use in dry, wet, or muddy applications. The lagging is available in 15-inch by 32.81-foot rolls for customized use.

Asgco | www.agsco.com

Suitable for stockpiling and load-and-carry Caterpillar’s 950GC Wheel Loader features its Z-bar linkage for strong digging capabilities and breakout force with the use of its Cat Performance Series buckets. The unit, which has a 241-horsepower, Tier 4 Final engine, is suitable for stockpiling, load-and-carry work, hopper charging, and truck loading. The Cat Fusion quick coupler and controls are also available, and the quick-coupler control arrangement includes a dual tilt kick-out system for bucket return-to-dig and fork operations, selectable from the cab. The Engine Idle Management System, Engine Idle Shutdown, and on-demand cooling fan are said to optimize fuel efficiency while lowering operating sound levels.

Caterpillar | www.cat.com

Quality. Performance. Reliability.

Materials Testing Equipment you can depend on!

SS-22

MD-2000

Tablet tracks truck location and load status Trimble introduces the Trimble ConnectedTablet, a ruggedized mobile computer for fleets in the aggregates and ready-mix industries.

The Android-based tablet connects wirelessly to the Trimble Vehicle Gateway. It includes features such as in-cab navigation with CoPilot Truck from ALK Technologies, Hours of Service, daily vehicle inspection reports, and text and push-to-talk voice communications. The gateway uses GPS technology and cellular data to provide vehicle tracking with real-time updates on location and events using a combination of automated geo-based statuses for site arrival and departure, and sensor-based automated statuses for load and unload events.

Micro-Deval Apparatus

Stainless Steel Sieves

Gilson Silent Sifter® II

800.444.1508 • www.globalgilson.com

Trimble | www.trimble.com AGGREGATES MANAGER / September 2017

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PLANT PROFILE

by Kerry Clines | Senior Editor

Still Going

Strong Richards Spur Quarry is still breaking rock after more than a century in operation.

Rocking and Rolling in the

Rockies

Four Corners Materials’ Animas Glacier Facility is growing in production and expanding its offerings.

F

our Corners Materials, an Oldcastle Materials company, has aggregates operations in several locations in the Four Corners area of Colorado and New Mexico. Its Animas Glacier Facility in Durango, Colo., is ramping up its

8

operations after only being in business for a short time. How, you ask?

Determination, hard work, and creativity.

The site The operation in Durango consists of three portable crushing/screening plants.

One is a new wash plant that began as a rental before the company decided to purchase it. The company also owns and operates a ready-mix concrete plant and a hot-mix asphalt plant on site. “We run portable plants because we have many pits to keep products

AGGREGATES MANAGER / September 2017

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in, so we need to be able to move to where the work is,” says Travis Mylroie, aggregates operations manager at Four Corners Materials’ Animas Glacier Facility in Durango. “Also, it allows us to move different plants to different pits depending on what needs to be produced. So, if we have a big job for asphalt and need to put up a lot of material for it, we’ll put one of our larger plants there, but if we’re just restocking a pit with road base, then a smaller plant with a lower operating cost works out better. The same goes for the wash plants, we have five batch plants spread over our area, so it’s more cost effective to produce the materials in a closer location to keep trucking costs down. Being portable allows us to be very versatile.”

“We’ve been here three and a half years now,” says Kyle High, general manager at Four Corners Materials. “We put in the first crusher at the end of 2013. Concrete and asphalt came in two years ago.”

When deciding where to move a crushing plant, they used a drone to take an aerial photograph of the area.

It took a picture of the plant where it was sitting, took another picture of the area where they wanted the plant to go, measured everything out, mapped them together, and shot the points where the plant would sit in the pit. That way, when they moved the plant, the drivers could just drop it between the points.

“We didn’t have to be over here stepping it out and measuring it out to set it up,” Mylroie says. “They just set it between our pegs, dropped it off, went to get more, came back, and put the belts in. The drone really helped out with the process.”

“We’re finding more and more things for drones to do all the time,” High explains. “We use them for measuring stockpiles, so we don’t have guys climbing on these piles trying to measure them. And we use them for construction.

We’re mainly heavy highway — we like the paving — but also do dirt work and utilities.”

There is a well on site that supplies

Once the dozer pushes the material down, a loader picks it up and feeds it to the dry plant for crushing and sizing.

water for the wash plant and other operations, but it only generates 35 gallons of water per minute, so a clarifier is needed. The operation just installed a new clarifier 15 feet taller and 1 foot larger in diameter than the old one.

The dirty water from the wash plant is pumped into the middle of the clarifier where it mixes with a polymer flocculant that makes the sediments drop to the bottom. The clean water is then recirculated back to the water tank that feeds the wash plant.

Mylroie says the new clarifier “makes mud thicker than chocolate pudding with almost no water in it at all.” This is thanks, in part, to a new dry flocculant system. A laser eye in the clarifier determines how dirty the water is, and the automated flocculant system adjusts the amount of flocculant needed. Once the mud at the bottom of the clarifier reaches 37 percent, a pump kicks on and sends it out through a 4-inch underground pipe and dumps it into one of two, lage rectangular settling ponds in an area above the pit. After the mud settles out and the water level gets high enough, the clean water will be returned to the water tank below.

Operations The entire operation is run by a crew of 24, including Mylroie. The crusher

and wash plants each run a three-man crew. The ready-mix batch plant requires 13 — a batch operator, a loader operator, a quality control technician, and 10 drivers. The hot-mix asphalt plant has a crew of three — a plant operator, a loader operator, and a ground man. Operating hours are from 5 a.m. to 6 p.m., but the hours can be extended if a night job requires hot-mix asphalt or an early morning paving job requires ready-mix concrete.

There is no blasting at the operation, but scrapers are required to strip off approximately 10 feet of overburden and push it aside for use in future reclamation. Below the overburden is a layer of gravel approximately 80 feet deep.

“We need a large volume of feed stock and should be able to get that easily,” Mylroie says. “We bench down in the pit and strip off the deposit until we get to a layer of clay. That layer varies in thickness from a couple feet thick on one side to approximately 8 feet thick on the other. The material on top of the clay is a bit dirty, real rocky, but works great for base and such. We’ll strip the clay off and make feed stock out of the material underneath. The material is really clean under that clay and makes the wash plant run a lot faster.”

A dozer works the pit from 60- to 70-foot benches, pushing the material AGGREGATES MANAGER / September 2017

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8/16/17 10:17 AM

PLANT PROFILE

The new wash plant features five sprayers that soak the material in the wet box before it hits the screen. Then it goes through screws and a dewatering screen where 50 percent of the water is removed.

over the edge of the bench to the bottom of the pit. A loader then picks it up and feeds it to a portable crushing/

screening plant. The crusher breaks the material down to 5-inch and sends it on to the screen, where all the 1-inch

minus material is separated out. The 1- to 5-inch then goes to another plant, where it is crushed to the desired size before being recirculated back through a screen and sent out to the product line.

“It’s all automated,” Mylroie says, talking about the cone crusher. “It automatically adjusts itself to the pressure that the cone’s crushing, so it will raise itself up and down throughout the day and adjust for where it’s crushing.”

The belt on the wash plant has a variable drive that can speed up or slow down, depending on the feed stock.

Five sprayers in the wet box soak the material before it hits the screen. It then goes through screws before hitting the dewatering screen that shakes out close to 50 percent of the water. The sand isn’t completely dry when it comes out of the dewatering screen, but it only takes a day and a half for the rest of the water to leach out before it’s ready to be used.

“This wash plant will be more permanent here, where before we moved it

Design & Construction of Fines Recovery Equipment

Doing What We Do Best PLATE & FRAME PRESS

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VERTICAL DURABILITY CELL

Providing Solutions

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DEWATERING SCREEN

FRACTIONATOR

Learn More Call 866-616-9351 or Visit www.azfab.com

AGGREGATES MANAGER / September 2017

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8/16/17 10:18 AM

Safety is the top priority at Four Corners Materials Before any work begins at Four Corners Materials’ Animas Glacier Facility in Durango, Colo., a 15-minute safety meeting is held each morning. However, if there’s a serious incident reported or if something out of the ordinary is planned for that day, extra time is spent in discussion. If anything is found out of place or wrong during the morning walk around, the plant won’t start up until everything is in place and ready to go.

“Some think if you follow the rules, you won’t get anything done,” Mylroie says. “There’s proof here that you can follow all the rules and still get it done. Once you see it in action, it’s a no brainer. Don’t do anything risky.”

If the crew has a problem with anything — the job, a project, or a task — they do a detailed analysis. The crew gets together, writes down the way it’s being done, and then writes down better ideas of how it could be done to make it safer and compare them.

“It’s the crews that get together and do those,” Mylroie notes. “We’ve had a lot of good ideas come from this, too.”

One such idea was a better way to change a cone crusher liner. When the bonnet on the cone is removed, it leaves an open hole shaped like a cone where a worker must balance to do any type of work inside. Mylroie and two welders built

a platform that sits down inside the open hole that allows them to walk around or sit down to perform maintenance or repairs. Their creativity in solving the problem got them honorable mention for safety innovation from Oldcastle in 2017.

“Honestly, you need that to come from those guys,” Kyle says. “They’re the ones that do the job every day. They’re the ones who need to come up with a safer way to do it, and we need to support them and get it done. I like it when someone comes to me and says ‘look at these pictures of what we did.’

It’s already done before I know it. They feel empowered to just get it done and then show me, and that’s fine.”

There are several safety items that are stressed at the operation. These come from Fundamentals of Fatality Elimination (FFE), which — if not done properly — are things known to cause industry fatalities.

“We focus on these and have an audit on at least one of the FFEs every month at all of our locations,” Mylroie explains. “The audits get the whole crew involved in discussions on what our procedures are and if there are other things that need to happen or change to do tasks the safest way possible. Safety is pushed as #1 and is a core value across all operations. Safety trumps production. We make safety our family business, always.”

AGGREGATES MANAGER / September 2017

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PLANT PROFILE

Most of the material produced at the operation is used internally to feed the company’s ready-mix concrete plant and the hot-mix asphalt plant, both of which are located on site.

in and out,” Mylroie says. “It was hard to get a good base established when we were moving it around. It shouldn’t be

moving anywhere now.”

A large percentage of what is produced at the operation is used internally

by the ready-mix concrete plant and the hot-mix asphalt plant. Everything else is trucked out. A Caterpillar 988 loader on site can load a customer truck in one and a half passes to get it on its way quickly.

The ready-mix concrete plant is fed by one loader through a feeder with a movable conveyor system. The conveyor system is operated remotely by the loader operator. As the operator loads different materials, he can move the conveyor from one bin to the other as needed.

The hot-mix asphalt plant is also automated and features four bins with a counter-flow drum where the flames go in one direction in the drum, and the aggregates go in the other. A percentage of the aggregate added to the mix is recycled asphalt pavement (RAP), which is added after the oil is heated by the burners.

The operation is supplying material for several major projects in the area.

One is a waste water treatment plant

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AGGREGATES MANAGER / September 2017

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Equipment List

The new, larger clarifier recycles the water from the wash plant, returning clean water to the water tank after removing the silt and sending it to a settling pond.

for the city of Durango. Another is a new school and a school addition for the town of Bayfield. Material is also

being supplied for several subdivisions, housing projects, and other businesses being built in the area. AM

• Cedarapids 30/42 jaw crusher • Terex | Cedarapids 60x20 screen • Sandvik H4000 cone/ screen combo • Cedarapids 6x20 wash plant with double screw • Caterpillar 980G front-end loader • Caterpillar 980G front-end loader • Caterpillar 988 loader • Komatsu D155 AX dozer • Clear Water 1500 clarifier

AGGREGATES MANAGER / September 2017

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OPERATIONS ILLUSTRATED

By Tina Grady Barbaccia, Contributing Editor

Planning for Production

OUR EXPERTS

Steve King, executive vice president of sales and business development at Ozinga Materials & Logistics (OM&L), is responsible for sales, marketing, and developing future and strategic opportunities across the OM&L group. King’s customer focus, industry experience, and passion for developing teams helps customers meet their goals through strong customer partnerships.

Ed Van Poucke serves as the chief operating officer for Ozinga Materials & Logistics (OM&L) where he is responsible for profit and loss performance, strategic direction, revenue generation, operations management, supply chain optimization, demand planning, and business development for the group. He has more than 25 years of management experience.

Talk to customers about their upcoming projects.

Analyze where you have met your customer needs — and failed to meet them.

Listen to the pulse of the local market.

Monitor local market conditions such as project lettings and housing starts.

Joel Galassini is Cemex’s regional president – Texas Region, previously serving as vice president/general manager of aggregates – Florida Region and heading the Global Sales Management Track. Galassini obtained his MBA from the University of Texas at San Antonio and his BBA in accounting and marketing from the University of New Mexico’s Anderson School of Management.

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Communication and Relationships Impact Forecast Accuracy

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lanning for production at Chicago-area Ozinga Materials & Logistics (OM&L) can be likened to examining legs of a stool. “We look at residential, what is public, what the state and Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) are doing, and what commercial is doing,” explains Ed Van Poucke, chief operating officer for OM&L, noting that they also talk to their customers to get their perspective.

All this information translates into what each operation is going to produce. The market outlet and these “legs of the stool” are key, Van Poucke says, to how his team makes material production projections and how they begin the planning process.

The forecasting process for the next year is typically started in October. In addition to using historical data, Ozinga developed its own tool that shows the past 12 months activity by location and by product. “We can adjust from there, including broader ‘global’ adjustments of volume and/ or ASP (Average Selling Price) adjustment factors specifically developed for forecasting,” says Steve King, executive vice president of sales and business development for OM&L To coordinate sales and production, each salesperson works with the customers in his region/geographic location. “Strategic customers, especially if they are fixed plant operations — which includes concrete, asphalt, and pre-cast customers — will have their own forecast put together,” King says. “They may tell us that it’s softer in some parts of the market and stronger in others. We take all this into account to get a real feel for industry geography.”

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Once all the numbers are in, they are compiled and analyzed, often through several iterations, to arrive at an accurate forecast, King says. “Once we get what we believe is a reasonable forecast, we can then apply market logic,” he explains. “We can see which parts of the business or materials will increase or decrease and what the pricing trends will be.

We can apply a global increase or decrease and then come up with a reasonable expectation of what may happen.”

Joel Galassini, regional president – Texas Region, says Cemex breaks products into two different categories. The first includes those purchased on a regular basis, including aggregates for concrete and asphalt producers. “Generally, the demand for these products can be predicted using statistical and seasonal trends,” Galassini says. The second group, including most base materials and materials for special one-time projects, needs to be forecast separately.

“It is useful to develop a true backlog for these projects and keep track of what has shipped,” Galassini says. “It is always surprising to see how many of these special projects either overship or undership the original amount. It always seems that contractors are in the hurry up and wait mode, which creates a lot of inventory headaches for the aggregate producer.”

With large projects, communication is particularly important. “The aggregate producer needs to understand where the contractor is in the schedule and if any significant changes have occurred,” Galassini says. “Don’t stop communicating when the purchase order has been signed.”

Maintain consistent communication

Ensure everyone involved in the production process is involved in the material forecasting process. This means talking to customers regularly to get a feel for how the various segments of the market have been and what they expect. Review any data points key customers provide, and analyze historical data as well. Be sure to regularly communicate with sales personnel, equipment operators, and trucking companies hauling aggregate from your operation for input.

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Determine the operation’s ‘lifeline’

Although historical data and input from everyone involved in the material production process are key to developing an accurate forecast, it’s important to consider other factors, such as geographic location (urban or rural area of the country), geological resources, and any significant micro or macro factors.

For rural operations, this may include analyzing housing starts. Other operations may need to consider permits applied for or received, or local or state transportation agency projects that have been let.

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Build relationships with customers

Obtaining sales and other data from customers that is important to factor into predicting production numbers — information often considered sensitive and proprietary — could be challenging without an established, trusted relationship. By developing good customer relationships, producers are able to attain information to predict accurate forecasts and better serve them. It is also vital to constantly pay attention to what is happening in the marketplace to make sure your operation has enough material and is ready to respond.

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Discuss ‘hits’ and ‘misses’

Take a look at and discuss issues that may have impeded production, such as equipment malfunctions or any problems with serving customers, including not having adequate material to meet their needs, as well as any other service failure. Recognize and talk about successes as well, such as getting an unexpected project or achieving production above expected goals. Understanding these problems and accomplishments allows an operation to develop a good pulse of the market, which assists in forecasting production.

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Voices of Experience Steve King

Ed Van Poucke

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E

here is no such thing as too much communication when developing a production forecast. “‘Over communication’ is very important from a sales perspective,” says Steve King, executive vice president of sales and business development at Ozinga Materials & Logistics, noting that he checks in with sales and production to track actual sales of specific materials against forecasts and adjust accordingly.

Everyone needs to understand the demand signal, whether it’s the end customer or the distribution point. This is especially important because of the extensive network of logistics that must be coordinated at OM&L, which include water, rail, and truck shipments, as well as mobile and contract processing.

“Everyone needs to be aware of anything that may cause a problem, such as too much or too little inventory, and understand the sensitivity of each request to make sure we are meeting the customer’s needs,” King says. “We accomplish this through both formal weekly, quarterly, and annual team meetings and informal communication — text and phone calls.”

Informal communication is an effective way to share hits and misses. A hit may be a project that the company wasn’t expecting to get or a higher-than-anticipated production reap, while a miss may be unforeseen equipment breakdown or a service failure. “You need to pay attention to the little things,” King says.

“If you do those things well, it all pays dividends throughout the process.”

Everyone needs to discuss how things are going and share observations, such as what has been run through the pit and what may need to be adjusted. This communication better serves customers and enhances the business as a whole.

“Communication, and over communication, will ultimately help us with the production planning process,” King says. “It enables us to be able to meet, and hopefully exceed, the needs of our customers.”

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ffectively planning for production is not a one-size-fits-all approach. Geology and geography factor into developing a production forecast, but it’s also about understanding what your lifeline is, whether that may be housing starts or state DOT projects, says Ed Van Poucke, chief operating officer for Ozinga Materials & Logistics,.

Individual construction projects don’t typically influence material forecasts, particularly if the project requires a mainstream product, but a customer need for a non-mainstream product may require planning. Another exception would be if need could arise based upon micro versus macro factors, as was the case for OM&L with the I-90 Tollway project in Chicago. “If you can predict everything in the market is going to get sucked into a project, places normally served out of that project would move to different areas,” Van Poucke says. “Prices would tend to rise for the duration of the project. If we saw places running out of material, we would adjust and figure that into our planning process for pricing and production.”

Accurately predicting materials demand is also about developing customer relationships. “It’s difficult to check in with every customer all the time, but you need to stay in touch with them regularly,” Van Poucke says. “You should have a good idea of what is going on in their business without being a nuisance.”

He says his customers will call to tell them about special upcoming needs so they can plan for a specific volume. “This is a real relationship-based process,” Van Poucke notes. Otherwise, it can be difficult to get numbers to use for planning, especially since some companies can be skittish about sharing this information.

“As you develop good, trusting relationships, they learn that the better they can help predict things with us, the better we can help serve them,” he says.

By understanding the changing market needs, it’s easier to stay well stocked and ready to respond.

Joel Galassini

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o balance the overarching needs of sales and production in a forecast, both groups need to understand that they are after the same goal — profitability — and physically sit down to communicate.

“There is a natural stress between production and sales,” says Joel Galassini Cemex regional president – Texas Region. “It seems like sales always wants to sell more of the products that are difficult to make, and production wants to produce the products that are easy to produce. Left unchecked, animosity can form between the two departments.”

The physical nature of the conversation reduces animosity that can occur on calls or an email string, he notes.

Both groups should come prepared.

Sales should develop a forecast by product, and the production team should provide accurate inventory information.“By making both groups accountable for producing something, everyone tends to have some ‘skin in the game,’” Galassini says. “It cannot be a situation where one group presents to the other and then gets beaten up the entire time. This will quickly create a dysfunctional team.”

A plant can be overwhelming with the numerous products that can be produced. “I have found that it is a lot easier to understand what the bottleneck product is,” Galassini says. “Once this has been identified, then production planning becomes a lot easier to determine.”

Identifying a bottleneck enables sales and production to have a more meaningful conversation about the effects of the planned production. “The two groups can determine if that sales portfolio is desirable in light of the other products that have to be produced and the hours required to operate the plant,” Galassini says. “The two groups talk at least twice per month, dealing with facts, not emotion. These conversations build overall trust, and together, the two groups can often find great solutions to problems once thought too difficult to tackle.”

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EQUIPMENT MANAGEMENT

by John Best

Watch Points for Your Wash

Plant

Make sure your maintenance routine hits these points to ensure efficient operation of your wash plant.

T

he efficiency and availability of any wash plant is affected by poor or non-existent maintenance practices.

Maintenance programs should cover safety, lubrication, and wear parts.

Types of maintenance include preventive, reactionary, and time based; logic dictates preventive is always better.

The first, most basic part of any maintenance plan should be to thoroughly read and understand equipment manuals. These manuals are designed

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to ensure equipment longevity and efficiency.

Start with safety The number one priority in any maintenance task is safety. Do a review of conditions surrounding the maintenance: What tools are required? What man power? Will work platforms/man lifts be required? If you are cutting into equipment for access or replacement, evaluate if flammable materials such as rubber lining or flammable fluids are

present. Please, never heat an item to assist with dismantling without reference to the manufacturer — a recent fatality demonstrates the absolute need for this.

As part of routine maintenance, check guards and warning decals.

Guards that may be seen as ‘inconvenient’ find their way to the ground because bolts have been lost or an operator could not be bothered to replace them. However, guards should be replaced and warning decals cleaned or

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replaced. Used equipment should always be checked for the integrity of all safety items before use.

Avoid unintentional damage Some equipment, especially vibratory, requires re-torqueing of bolts. This is a critical step; if missed, it can cause significant damage to equipment and probable loss of warranty. Check whether you need a torque-multiplier if the torque is higher than available tooling.

Also, check what specification, such as lubricated or dry threads, is used.

While lubrication schedules vary, check the quantity and type of grease/ oil required. Determine answers to questions such as: is replacement of lubricant needed following a fixed time after start-up? Is the period based on environmental conditions? A seemingly obvious (but not always heeded) guideline is that Zerk fittings should be cleaned before engaging the gun and dirt cleaned around oil filling points. Inspect spent lubricants for contamination. In some cases, analysis should be carried out for tracing specific metals associated with certain types of failure.

Don’t be too quick to employ a program of preventive maintenance where teardown and reassembly is carried out ‘just to check’ — certain failure curves have the highest incidents of failure immediately after initial start-up.

Sometimes, the old adage “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” can be the best advice.

This can be the case with pump glands, for example.

Equipment-specific recommendations So, what equipment-specific things can we watch for in a typical wash plant?

Scrubbers/trommels — Apart from lubrication, mounting alignment is very important to prevent permanent damage to tires and drives. Checking screen media condition is an obvious maintenance activity, but often forgotten are the internal lifters and advancing/retarding paddles, which can significantly affect performance if their height is below a certain critical point. Material will not

rotate and interact effectively. Saving a few dollars by letting the lifter go for a month or so can cost much more in lost/ non-spec production.

Screw-shaft based equipment — Wash plant equipment such as log washers, blade-mills, aggregate conditioners, coarse material washers, and fine material washers all have a common weakness — the lower bearing. There are various designs — from the complex ‘submerged’ bearing to the simple outboard pillow-block — and each claims an advantage, but all require lubrication.

Paddles and flights need periodic inspection. Any time metal paddles are used, take care, as worn edges can be razor sharp. Wear and fastenings are important to check, as is checking their connection point to the shaft. Check the shaft for run-out and any deflection at the shaft ends, as eccentric motion can cause premature failure of bearings and even the shaft. Shaft straightening should be carried out by experienced personnel only.

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Pumps — These are the heart of a wet process. The correct selection of the materials of construction is critical to long-term, cost-effective service life.

There are three key areas in any pump: wet end, gland, and bearings. It is important, particularly with open-vane style impellers, to check the clearance between the impeller and the suction side liner. Too wide a gap leads to bypass inefficiency and, in slurry pumps, accelerated wear. Impeller wear should be monitored, as reduction in performance is most likely due to impeller wear.

Pump glands seal the pressure generated inside the pump wet end from the outside. They come in various forms, including the industry standard packed gland, as well as proprietary glands and mechanical seals. Typically, they are ‘setand-forget’ and last a full season, but it is critical that they are set up properly in the first place. This is one area of the pump where regular teardown and reassembly as ‘preventive’ is likely to cause more

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EQUIPMENT MANAGEMENT

Repeated dismantling and reassembly to inspect a pump gland may end up causing higher failure rates.

On vibrating equipment, re-torqueing bolts can be critical.

problems, as initial set up takes finesse, and glands have a higher ‘start-up failure’ rate. Always check the quality, pressure, and flow of any lubrication water.

Bearings in slurry pumps mostly have B10 lives in excess of 50,000 hours and should, if properly lubricated, provide years of service before failure. However, if the pump is cavitating (poor design) or running on ‘snore’ (low sump level causing vortexing), bearing and gland life can diminish to weeks, so maintaining make-up water valves is instrumental in assuring pump life. Failure of ‘wet-end’ bearings can also be caused by gland failure. V-belt tension can factor into ‘drive-end’ bearing and motor bearing failure, so belt tension should be routinely checked.

Hydrocyclones — These have no moving parts, but there are two failure modes, delamination and wear, that affect performance. Liners coming loose (due to wear or adhesion) cause disruption of flow inside the unit, and poor performance with misplaced particles is the result. Checking the internal lining of a

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cyclone should be done at least seasonally; this is particularly important when dealing with siphon (vacuum)-assisted cyclones/separators. The apex (spigot) is the fastest wearing component; they are sized based on mass-flow, so, as they wear, the underflow becomes more dilute and more fines will bypass into that stream affecting the wash-out of deleterious fines. If your product is getting dirtier, check the apex. Worn vortex finders can allow coarse fractions to short-circuit to the overflow and fill the ponds or contaminate the next stage of production.

Worst case is wear can cause the pipe to detach from the plate, causing significant damage.

Separators or ‘siphon-assisted’ cyclones can be affected by holes worn in the overflow piping, which defeats control, and flushing will occur.

Unfortunately, symptoms such as uncontrolled flushing are insidious and hard to trace. Close annual inspection for thin pipe sections should be carried out.

Dewatering screens — Dewatering screens typically have a very long service life, but there are some areas to watch.

Side plate cracks (as with sizing screens) can occur. If noticed, trace the crack to its end with dye penetrant and drill a 1/8inch to 3/16-inch hole. This ususally takes care of the problem, and the side-plate will last the life of the screen. Cracks in

cross members or the bridge should be referred to the manufacturer immediately, as should any bolt breakage. The problem with cracking in dewatering screens is frequently the support structure rather than machine integrity. Lubrication is a general maintenance activity, but take extra care as some vibrator motor manufacturers use specialized grease that, if not used, voids the warranty.

Often, motor wiring gets draped across from the motor to the side of the screen and vibrates against adjacent surfaces — this is a very dangerous condition. Check this and replace the wiring as needed. Always check direction of motor rotation on restarting after electrical work.

It is not uncommon to see sideways tracking of material on a lightly loaded screen, this is typically not of concern, but springs or rubber buffers should be checked once a month. At rest, measure the height of each buffer and confirm with the O&M manual that it is within tolerance. The screen should sit square; any sideways deformation at rest should be investigated, as should sideways motion greater than 1/16-inch during operation. Record and refer this to the manufacturer. If the screen has an unusual action (non-linear), check the motor counterweights for settings — all four locations should be consistent — and

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VISIT US #3422 INDOOR 3 - 5 OCT 2017

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EQUIPMENT MANAGEMENT confirm the motor direction of rotation.

Where mechanical exciters are used, check oil levels at recommended intervals.

Once a year, check the oil for contamination, as annual checks can reveal increasing wear. As with the vibratory motors, confirm counterweight settings and inserts for consistency.

Effluent treatment — Thickeners typically require little maintenance, but the large planetary gearboxes and the associated hydraulic power units do require routine attention. Presses are really a story for another day.

Remote condition monitoring is gaining more attention. Measuring

Worn apex leads to misplaced fines in the underflow.

Complex seals require careful maintenance, but provide longer service.

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power-draw, heat, vibration, pressure, and using belt scales can provide important insights into plant operation and needed maintenance. Subtle vibrations can prelude noise, which is when most operators will react (too late). Most importantly, in some circumstances, it can also prevent serious accidents.

As a final word, remember nothing will make up for inappropriate (often cheapest) selection of equipment.

Equipment that is too small, over-rated, and thus overstressed will always have compromised life no matter how good the maintenance. AM info@unifiedscreening.com www.unifiedscreening.com 866.968.3697

John Best is McLanahan Corp.’s global product manager for washing and classifying.

AGGREGATES MANAGER / September 2017

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by Dana M. Svendsen

ROCKLAW MSHA Workplace Examinations Unless extended again, operators need to prepare for the rule’s Oct. 2 implementation.

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Dana M. Svendsen is a member in Jackson Kelly PLLC’s Denver office, where she practices in the Occupational Safety and Health Group. She can be reached at 303-3900011 or dmsvendsen@ jacksonkelly.com.

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he Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) extended the effective date of the Workplace Examination Rule (the Rule) to Oct. 2, 2017. MSHA’s reasoning for the delay is to address the regulated community’s concerns about compliance assistance materials and to give MSHA time to train its inspectors. The extension of the effective date affords MSHA more time to complete development of compliance assistance materials and conduct stakeholder meetings with the regulated community.

But, as of Oct. 2, 2017, what will operators have to do to comply? If the effective date is not extended yet again, will your site be ready? This article discusses the rule’s requirements and identifies compliance issues to consider.

The rule requires an operator to: designate a competent person to examine each working place before miners begin work in that place for conditions that may adversely affect safety or health; notify miners in the affected areas of any conditions that may adversely affect their safety or health; promptly initiate corrective action; and make a record of the examination. This examination must be conducted at least once each shift.

Many in the regulated community are concerned about the rule’s requirement to complete examinations before miners begin working in an area. Specifically, the rule requires that an examination of each working place must occur before miners begin work in any “working place.” Mine operators are then charged with the responsibility of promptly notifying miners of any adverse working conditions in their working places. “Prompt notification” requires that notification occur before

miners are exposed to the condition. While MSHA believes that, in most cases, verbal notification or descriptive warning signage would be sufficient, it will be difficult for mine operators to prove notification occurred if a dispute arises without documentation of such notification. If the adverse conditions are corrected before work begins, notification is not required.

The rule also contains more specific requirements for examination records. While the records do not need to be signed by the examiner, each examination record must include: the name of the competent person conducting the exam, the date of the exam, the location of all areas examined, and a description of each condition found that may adversely affect the safety or health of miners. The record must then be supplemented to include the date of the corrective actions taken for the listed adverse conditions. However, examination records do not need to contain a description of the corrective action taken or the name of the person making the record of the corrective action.

Each record of examination must be completed before the end of shift for which the examination was performed. Further, each record must be maintained for one year. In addition to providing the exam record to MSHA upon request, operators must provide copies to miners’ representatives upon request.

MSHA continues to define “working place” as any place in or about a mine where work in the extraction or milling processes is being performed.

MSHA has stated that “working place” includes roads traveled to and from a work area. However, it does not include roads not directly involved in

AGGREGATES MANAGER / September 2017

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ROCKLAW the mining process, administrative office buildings, parking lots, lunchrooms, toilet facilities, or inactive storage areas. MSHA notes that it will still inspect these areas for other violations.

Mine operators are required to examine isolated, abandoned, or idle areas of the mine only when miners have to perform work in these areas during the shift.

The definition of “competent person” did not change under

the new rule. A competent person is a person having the abilities and experience that fully qualify him to perform the duty to which he is assigned. While MSHA will not require additional training for competent persons performing workplace examinations, a competent person must be able to recognize hazards and adverse conditions that are expected or known to occur in a specific work area or that are predictable to someone familiar with the mining industry.

Many operators have concern about implementation of the rule. Since the Mine Act is a strict liability statute, noting adverse conditions on examination records raises the concern that MSHA will cite operators for violations that are found and recorded on examination records, even if operators are in the process of fixing or have previously fixed the noted conditions. This will be more likely if the date of corrective action has not yet been added to the examination record or if there are delays in getting noted conditions corrected.

Other operators are concerned about the ability to perform the workplace examinations in the time required by the rule. Mine operators must designate a competent person to conduct an examination before work begins in each working place. The competent person is not required to complete the actual record of the examination until the end of shift.

However, the operator is held responsible for notifying any miner who would be affected by the adverse condition prior to that miner potentially being exposed.

Therefore, operators will need to decide prior to implementation of the rule how the adverse conditions noted during an exam will be communicated to other miners before work begins if exam records are not turned in to the operator until the end of shift.

Proactive mine operators should be preparing for compliance before the effective date of the new rule. Addressing the issues posed above will allow your mine site to successfully comply with the An ITW Polymers Adhesives Brand new rule. If you need compliance support, seek advice of counsel. AM

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28

AGGREGATES MANAGER / September 2017

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Cubee the AggMan helping educate children about the importance of aggregate since 1998 “The Story of Cubee the Aggregate” helps teach children at the youngest ages about the important role aggregate plays in their daily lives. Geared for students in grades K-3, Cubee and his aggregate friends will take children on a magical journey from Cubee’s birthplace in the neighborhood quarry to his new home in the schools, roads and other structures that enrich our communities and our lives.

The “You’re on Rock” Workbook presents basic earth science information while emphasizing the vital role of the industry in our world. An aggregate activity book for junior geologists, mining engineers and earth scientists. Geared for students in grades 4-6.

Cubee the AggMan T-Shirts are available.

To learn more about these great tools for community outreach, adopt-a-school programs, and receive sample copies of the coloring/workbooks,

Call 800-430-4540 e-mail: cubee@aggman.com

Cubee_AGRM0612pg145.indd 1

or visit www.AggMan.com

5/15/12 8:53 AM

ADINDEX September 2017

Advertiser

Web

Page

Astralloy Steel Products

www.astralloy.com

25

Azfab, LLC

www.azfab.com

10

BKT Tires

www.bkt-tires.com

13

BekaWorld

www.beka-lube.com

Bill Langer - Research Geologist

www.researchgeologist.com

31

CL Dews & Sons Foundry

www.dewsfoundry.com

31

Elrus Aggregate Systems

www.elrus.com

Gilson Company, Inc.

www.globalgilson.com

7

Hammond Air Conditioning LTD

www.hammondac.com

21

HCEA

www.hcea.net

31

ITW Polymeres Adhesive

www.devcon.com/rf

28

Kespry, Incorporated

www.kespry.com/aggregates

Laser Technology, Inc.

www.lasertech.com

14

Martin Sprocket & Gear, Inc.

www.martinsprocket.com

BC

MB America

www.mbamerica.com

23

Motion Industries

www.MotionIndustries.com

19

NSSGA Membership

www.nssga.org

27

Progressive Commercial Insurance

www.progressivecommercial.com

12

Sandvik

www.construction.sandvik.com

Sweet Manufacturing

www.sweetmfg.com

31

Unified Crushing & Screening

www.electricmotors.com

24

Vertex Railcar Corp.

www.vertexrail.com

11

6

IBC

2

IFC

This index is provided as a service. The publisher does not assume any liability for errors or omissions.

30

AGGREGATES MANAGER / September 2017

AdIndex_AGRM0917.indd 30

8/16/17 12:52 PM

MARKETPLACE

• Technical writing and review • Lecturer

Contact me at:

Bill-Langer@researchgeologist.com www.researchgeologist.com

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JOIN HCEA TODAY!

Find us: Aggregates Manager Magazine

Connect

@AggregatesMgr

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/Aggregates Manager

Services Offered: Applied geology and geological research for construction rocks and minerals, with an emphasis on aggregates.

FIND US ONLINE!

7/21/16 3:37 PM

• USGS Aggregate Resource Geologist 1977-2011 • Past Chair and Distinguished Service Award recipient, Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration, Industrial Minerals and Aggregates Division • Author of ASBPE award-winning columns - Carved In Stone, Aggregates Manager, 1998-Present

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Experience: Retired November 2011 following 41 years with the U.S. Geological Survey

WEAR PARTS

937-325-1511 • FAX 937-322-1963

sales@sweetmfg.com SPRINGFIELD, OHIO

MANUFACTURING CO.

READ ALL ABOUT IT!

12/14/16 8:54 AM

Join the Historical Construction Equipment Association (a non-profit organization) and receive its quarterly magazine, Equipment Echoes.

Read fascinating articles about all types of old construction equipment, illustrated by beautiful historic photos.

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2015 • IS

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That’s not all we do! We also feature: International Convention & Old Equipment Exposition Held annually and featuring working demonstrations and static displays.

National Construction Equipment Museum and Archives A world-renowned collection, open to the public, of everything from fully restored antique machinery to 1800s literature and photographs.

Thank you for your interest and support!

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It’s only $35 US in the USA and Canada, $45 US all others. To join, call us at 419-352-5616, or mail a check or money order to HCEA, 16623 Liberty Hi Road, Bowling Green, Ohio 43402.

Join online and learn more about us at www.hcea.net.

AGGREGATES MANAGER / September 2017

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10/22/15 1:27 PM

8/17/17 8:26 AM

CARVED IN STONE

Bill Langer is a consulting research geologist who spent 41 years with the U.S. Geological Survey before starting his own business. He can be reached at Bill_Langer@hotmail.com

Schmutzdecke + Sand = Clean H2O Water purification processes using sand demonstrate another green aggregate application.

W

e have a man-made waterfall and a stream with small pools and fish in our backyard. The system is naturally maintained by water plants and a biological filter. Water is pumped from an underground tank at the downstream end of the stream up into another underground tank at the top of the waterfall. That tank contains two open-cell foam pads that are coated with beneficial bacteria to form the biological filter.

The pads capture dirt and debris, while the bacteria trap other microorganisms, nutrients, elements such as iron, and so forth. The whole mess of stuff is called schmutzdecke, which is German for “dirty skin.”

The same principle, applied in combination with natural sand, used to be the preferred method to filter drinking water. In the filter, called a slow sand filter, water first passes through about 36 inches of sand, then through a layer of gravel, and finally exits the system via an underdrain. Schmutzdecke, similar to that in our water feature, forms on top of the sand. The sand removes particles from the water through adsorption and straining, and the schmutzdecke takes care of most of the other nasty things in the water. Whatever nasties aren’t captured are finished off by disinfectants such as chlorine and ozone.

One of the earliest applications of slow sand filtration was in Pittsburgh. During the late 19th century, the death rate from typhoid and diphtheria in Pittsburgh was significantly higher than most, if not all, other cities in the world. A slow sand filtration system was put on line in 1908, and the death rate from typhoid and diphtheria dropped immediately and dramatically.

One problem with slow sand filters is that the schmutzdecke slows down the filter flow rate, so the system must be very large. Also, when the schmutzdecke becomes too thick, the water flow will stop. Municipal filter plants periodically have to scrape away their schmutzdecke, as well as the top inch or so of sand.

During the early 20th century, rapid sand filtration began to replace slow sand filters as the preferred method of water treatment, especially in large metropolitan areas. The main difference between rapid and slow sand filtration is that rapid sand filtration utilizes physical treatment dependent on coagulation and flocculation, whereas a slow sand filter utilizes biological treatment dependent on schmutzdecke.

Particles in turbid water that are too small to settle out (called colloids) commonly have a surface charge on them. The like-charged colloids repel one another and stay in suspension. Adding coagulants to turbid water neutralizes the charges on the colloids so the colloids can coagulate into a gelatinous mass (floc) large enough to settle out of the water. Gently stirring the water (flocculation) causes the flocs to collide with one another and agglomerate into even larger masses that settle out or are filtered from the solution.

Eliminating the schmutzdecke allows a higher rate of filtration, thus a rapid sand filter system can be much smaller than the slow sand system and still process the same amount of water. Consequently, rapid sand systems tend to prevail in large municipalities where space is limited. Slow sand systems may serve the needs of smaller communities and of developing countries.

Well, schmutzdecke, coagulation, and flocculation are neat scientific topics, but water purification also depends on sand.

So……

Next time you have a nice glass of clean, cold water, remember to say…

Danka schon, schmuzdecke, and sand. AM

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AGGREGATES MANAGER / September 2017

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when PULLS will do Benefits include: •

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•

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AGGREGATE SYSTEMS Check out our blog. It’s loaded with helpful crushing and screening tips.www.elrus.com/blog

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