Aggregates Manager Digital Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/452309
15 AGGREGATES MANAGER February 2015 PLANT PROFILE Lafarge Canada's Spy Hill Plant stays busy supplying aggregate for the on-going growth boom in the Calgary area. struction companies, helping to keep costs and the transportation-related car- bon footprint down, but that close prox- imity can also translate into community relation challenges as the new housing developments in the area fill up with homeowners. Spy Hill is fairly isolated at the mo- ment, but the rate of growth in the area will soon have neighborhoods located right next door. Spy Hill runs 24 hours a day, and the city's truck route planning is not favorable. All the main arteries are too close to the homes, so truck traffic is going to become more of an issue as time goes on and neighbors creep ever closer to the plant. Changes in operational activities can be amplified quickly when neighbors are so near. "That's why we pay close atten- tion to what we do and how we do it," says Vedat Ulugtekin, general manager, aggregates, for Lafarge. "We manage the truckers diligently and make sure our operation has the least impact on neighbors. Those are key items, because, for the next 20 years, Spy Hill will be a major aggregate supplier for the city of Calgary. Good community relations are, obviously, a best practice in the industry, and a good reputation goes a long way." Production The pit at Spy Hill has been in operation since 1985, but at that time there was only a small wash plant on site. Since the site contained such a huge gravel deposit, Lafarge decided to build a large, more efficient processing plant. The large fixed plant has been in operation since 2008. The combination crushing and washing operation is capable of crush- ing approximately 1,000 tons per hour and washing approximately 700 tons per hour. Since the plant isn't located on a river or creek, it uses city water in its opera- tion. After being used for processing and washing, all waste water is run through a fines recovery system to clean it as much as possible. The water coming out of the fines recovery system is fairly clean, making it easier for the settling ponds to do their work. The plant predominantly produces concrete and asphalt material for La- farge's ready-mix plant located on the property. "Having a ready-mix plant and an asphalt plant on site cuts down on truck traffic, as most of the product used in the production of concrete is pro- duced here in the pit," Ulugtekin says. "It makes good sense to do that from an