Aggregates Manager Digital Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/891178
12 AGGREGATES MANAGER / November 2017 PLANT PROFILE plant was mined out, the dredge was moved to an another parcel of farmland on the other side of a wooded wetland that can't be mined for environmental reasons. Bald eagles nest in the area, so if the miners see a nest, they must watch it closely. If the eagles lay eggs and are raising young, they can't mine within 500-600 feet of the nest. Fortunately, the eagles usually raise their young during the operation's winter break, when the plant shuts down between Thanksgiving and April. Dredging can't be done during that time anyway, because the pond freezes over. The operation also helps the environ- ment by recycling all the used oils and fluids that come out of the machinery and mobile equipment. The diesel booster pump that is needed to move the material the extra distance from the dredge to the plant is high efficiency with very low emissions. And once the new portable plant is installed, the booster pump will no longer be necessary. Safety first Safety comes first at New Harvey Sand… always. "Our main goal for the day is everybody goes home at the end of the day the way they came," Chambers says. "Our safety culture is next to none. These guys think safety every day to make sure everybody is doing what they're supposed to be doing. By working safe, production comes in line with it. We can still be productive and be safe at the same time. It's a proven fact." The operation runs two shifts in the summer. The night shift consists of a dredge operator and a plant operator. The day shift consists of a dredge operator, a plant operator, and a yard loader operator, along with an office/ scale house person. Every Monday morning begins with a safety meeting. They read over any MSHA alerts that might have come out and talk about how it could be prevented and what they would do if they had anything like that happen at their plant. They also discuss visitors to the plant, including customers, and safety regard- ing the traffic through the site. On the door in the new building is a poster of the Guardian Angel Creed that the crew reads each day before they begin work. "We live by the Guardian Angel Creed," Nicoson notes. "It tells the employ- ees they can shut anything down that they want to, if they don't think it's safe." "They'll shut it off, fix it, and get back to running the plant," Chambers adds. "That's the key. They know they can turn anything off. If we're swamped or out of sand, they can still turn things off if they even think something might be a safety hazard. They just shut it off and fix it, which is key to everybody going home. I can trust them to get it done, make the right decisions, and do it safely." There's another little twist that has been added to the morning safety routine. After the morning tailgate talk, everyone gets up and stretches before they start The concrete/asphalt sand passes through a washing screen. The same sand is used for both concrete and asphalt because the spec is so similar. The classifying tank separates out the concrete/asphalt sand for further processing. Everything else is considered fill sand.