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NSSGA’s leadership awards given to two at Lehigh Hanson
NSSGA says two Lehigh Hanson Inc. employees have earned its highest leadership awards in Safety & Health and Environment. Jon Reedy, Lehigh Hanson’s director of Environment, Safety & Health for the South Region & Hanson Building Products, received the 2013 James M. Christie Safety and Health Professional award. James “Jim” Zadorozny, Lehigh Hanson’s Area Environmental manager, won the 2013 Environmental Leadership Award. The James M. Christie Safety and Health Professional Award was established in 1987 to recognize an individual who has made superior and substantial contributions to his or her company's and the industry’s efforts toward proactive safe and healthful operating practices. NSSGA says Reedy has been an aggressive advocate for mining aggregates in a safe manner. Through his work, Lehigh Hanson brought about procedural changes and improved training with the goal of preventing injuries. Reedy oversaw development of many training programs, as well as the adoption of metatarsal footwear and cut/puncture resistant work gloves, and the improvement in machinery guarding. Additionally, he has been active in NSSGA’s Safety and… Keep Reading
Double Coin Tires, CMA open second distribution center
Tire manufacturer and marketer Double Coin Tires and CMA opened a west coast distribution center. The newly built facility, which is located in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., will support the dealer and end-user supply chain with shipments of the Double Coin brand and other CMA products. This is CMA’s second North American distribution center; the other is in Memphis, Tenn. “We’ve invested in the latest building innovations to construct an energy efficient and technologically advanced distribution center,” says Aaron C. Murphy, vice president, CMA. “The new energy-efficient facility utilizes more natural light and is constructed with other energy-saving sources, including motion-detecting lighting technology.” The distribution center also features customized and portable racking systems that provide multiple tire storage combinations at full capacity, a wireless mobile security monitoring system, and dock-high and grade-level bay doors with stalls for trailer parking and faster shipping. Brian Rainwater is the distribution center's manager. Keep Reading
Getting the green light
Sustainable environmental initiatives pave the way for a coveted California coastal-zoned expansion permit. There is no shortage of potential roadblocks when it comes to permitting. Even the best and the brightest have fallen short in this pursuit. But for one coastal-zoned quarry, a long permitting process resulted in sweet, unopposed success – something to be savored by Richard DeAtley, president of West Coast Aggregates, which describes itself as “an environmentally concerned company.” In partnership with his savvy consultant, DeAtley employed several winning strategies, each just as important as the other. Their meticulous game plan included highly creative environmental impact mitigation; the enlistment of key-decision-maker support via open information sharing; and an ongoing education campaign on the value of maintaining a local source of aggregate products. With those initiatives in play, the eventual jackpot was the permitting of reserves exceeding 52 million tons at the Pilarcitos Quarry, which is located near the California coastal city of Half Moon Bay. Operating five locations, West Coast Aggregates processes a variety of drain rock… Keep Reading
Safety first
We offer several tips for safely operating and maintaining excavators and other mobile equipment. Whether it’s an older excavator or one of the new, high-tech, Tier 4 models, operating a large piece of equipment at a crushed-stone or sand-and-gravel operation offers a unique set of challenges. What follow are safety tips for those operating and working around excavators: The top priority for any operator should be the safety of everyone at the site. Review the example guidelines listed here for best operating safety practices: ■ Do not exceed posted speed limits. If they’re not posted, ask management. ■ Do not make sharp turns or swings. Be mindful of the center of gravity of the machine; do not exceed rated loads. ■ Honk at intersections before proceeding, and make sure there is a clear line of sight. ■ Wear seat belts and personal protective equipment (PPE) as required. ■ Understand company policy on right-of-way. Machine safety It’s imperative to manage – and where possible, minimize – the safety risks that can occur when operating a machine.… Keep Reading
Crown Eagle
Crown Eagle offers the Irish Manufacturing Services (IMS) MS842W high capacity wheeled screen plant, providing output of 150-200 tph generally, but up to 300 tph in ideal conditions. This truly affordable unit also provides real portability you can use. MS842W features end-to-end crowning, 4 bearing screen, patented folding conveyors, the largest feed hopper in its class and customer-friendly, simple, controls and service access. This combination guarantees higher production and much more efficient separation than with similarly sized flat screens. On-board stockpiling and product conveyors allow for fast setup by eliminating the need for off-plant stacking conveyors. The tandem braked axle and reduced tail-swing means this screen plant is compliant with road transport regulations anywhere in the world. www.crown-eagle.ca Keep Reading
Rock-by-Rail
Vulcan Materials’ new program makes rail transportation a viable way to connect quarries and plants. Vulcan Materials Co. is known for implementing forward-thinking strategies that deliver consistently superior quality materials and services to its customers. Most recently, Vulcan has begun linking its aggregates resources with processing plants using rail transport lines in Southern California, one of the largest per-capita aggregate consumption regions in the U.S. Vulcan’s supply-demand assessment for the region revealed that major metropolitan areas, like Los Angeles, faced imminent aggregates shortages, which could have potentially restricted the region’s ability to fully realize the benefits of an economic recovery following the 2008 downturn. With an understanding that the emerging demand for aggregate materials would need to come from multiple sources, some of which lie beyond the metropolitan area, Vulcan developed its Rock-by-Rail program, an economically viable means of bringing aggregates by rail from its Big Rock Creek site in Antelope Valley to be processed at its Sun Valley plant, just north of downtown Los Angeles. “For years, the Sun… Keep Reading
New Beginnings
A Texas Native American tribe gets into the aggregates business, and helps fellow tribal members along the way. In the native tongue of the Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas, it’s called E-No-Ko-Ski-Eh-Pi-I-Ki, or New Beginnings. The three-year-old construction and labor program is dedicated to helping at-risk tribal members learn a new trade and maintain employment. It has helped more than 115 tribal members since its inception, according to Rene Trevino, founder and manager of New Beginnings. At the same time, the program serves to improve the reservation’s infrastructure and reduce its dependence on outside contractors. Nestled on the U.S.-Mexico border near the basin of the Rio Grande and just south of Eagle Pass, the Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas is a longstanding Indian nation deeply devoted to its culture, traditions and community. The New Beginnings program reflects the tribe’s commitment to its members and the land on which they live. Trevino is a young tribal member and Kickapoo warrior who returned to his homeland determined to develop an opportunity that… Keep Reading
Jaw crusher maintenance
A lot can be saved or achieved by giving your machine the attention it needs, including costs and time your crews could be spending elsewhere. With proper planning and preparation, maintenance programs can be made easier – and more effective. Importantly, operations can meet time management, cost savings and safety goals by employing good maintenance strategies. “Successful jaw crusher maintenance requires the right resources, the right tools and the right approach,” says Bill Macini, a Telsmith service technician. Certainly when an operation is down, whether for preventive maintenance or component failure, there is always the pressure to get the plant up and running as soon as possible. “So workers may take shortcuts that ultimately cost the operation more in the long run,” Macini says. “Crews need to be trained in the proper methods, and management needs to provide the support and resources to do the job correctly. Macini offered several tips to enhance your own maintenance. Cleanliness is key: Keep oil systems free of contamination. With a “production, production, production… Keep Reading
Need for proppant
A Minnesota company creates a new start-up operation to meet frac sand demand. In ancient times, sea water washed across Wisconsin and Minnesota, eventually leaving sand on the sea bottom that was uniformly hard and round. Eons later, the sand was discovered to be particularly desirable for use in horizontal hydraulic fracturing. So the granular material is being gobbled up, carted away and injected into the ground again to prop open subterranean cracks so oil or gas can ooze out. Because this sand lies near the surface in Wisconsin, more than 100 proposed or operating mines have been organized to skim off the silicate material for fracking companies that can’t get enough of it. Tiller Corp. entered this commercial fray two years ago. The 67-year-old Minnesota gravel and asphalt company based in Maple Grove was introduced to the business in 2010 when it began washing material for Preferred Sands LLC. Tiller soon decided that the booming market for proppant sand perfectly complemented its core business, particularly in a stagnant road-building… Keep Reading
