Aggregates Manager Digital Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/674527
AGGREGATES MANAGER / May 2016 17 come out of the log washer and go to the crusher. An underflow conveyor will bring it back up from the crusher to the screen, which will act as a recirculating mode. We should get a very significant reduction ratio right off the bat. That will go straight to sand, and the rest will recirculate. It's fairly efficient and simple to install." All the material that leaves the plant is shipped by truck. Most mornings, em- ployees will find a line of trucks waiting to get into the plant to pick up their first load of the day. The plant is preparing to open a new area for mining. A back-up-and-dump hopper has been installed to feed the new conveyor system that has been set up to transport the material from the new area to the processing plant. Some upgrades to the plant are in the planning stages. "We're looking at getting a remote printer," Soule says. "We're also looking at Smart Loader, where the loader has an iPad in it." The RFID reader at the scalehouse would read a truck's RFID tag when it arrives and send information to the loader op- erator about what type of material that truck wants and how many tons to load into it. Crew members The operation runs 16 hours a day with two shifts and is manned by approxi- mately 30 crew members. Production takes place five days a week with main- tenance performed on Saturdays. "The night crew is fairly new people, but we have an older, experi- enced lead man running it," Soule says, explaining that there's a mix of older and newer employees. "The two shifts overlap by about an hour to allow for a smooth transition. You don't want them to step into something they're not aware of." Most of the maintenance is done in- house, but vendors come in to provide on-site services for the heavy equip- ment. Everybody is on the maintenance team, which Soule says encourages good preventive maintenance during the week on such things as maintain- ing good lubrication levels. Soule says that, when the employees do their own maintenance, they take ownership of it and take pride in what they do. "One of the challenges of the indus- try as a whole is trying to find the next generation of employees," Soule com- ments. "We look at the employees that are in-house. We have some people that really stand out as far as work ethics, enthusiasm, and questions. People who ask questions are great. We try to iden- tify the stand outs. They may be ready to take on a little more responsibility or be put in a lead man role. Then we start sending them to some training, like Agg Academy or Train the Trainer, to prepare them for that future role. It's huge. You Material from the off-site pit is transported by bottom-dump trucks. The trucks dump into a pivoting clamshell feeder near the processing plant. The clamshell opens out flat for dump- ing, then raises up on one side, pivots, and raises up on the other side, ensuring that all of the material goes through the grizzly feeder and onto a 42-inch-wide conveyor. Family Safety Days Bristol Sand & Gravel opens up its operation to the families of its employees once a year for Fami- ly Safety Day, giving everyone a chance to see what their family member does at work and what aggregate mining is all about. It also provides a chance for the company to talk about safety. "We design Family Safety Day around the children. We have bounce houses and haul in a big pile of sand for the kids, but the kids spend all their time using their imaginations in the sand pile," says Allen Lathem, plant manager. "We let the kids put their hands in paint and put it on the side of the tank on our water truck. We had just bought several pieces of equipment and didn't run them until after the event, so we could show them off." Everyone is fed at the event, and there are drawings for prizes for the employees, but safety is an important part of it. "We have a quick safety meeting with the employees and their families," Lathem explains. "We talk about what we do every day and how we have to be safe, and discuss some of the steps we take to be safe. The kids usually get hard hats, a high-visibility vest, and safety glasses so they can dress up like daddy." PLANT PROFILE