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JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2022 | VOL.16 ISSUE NO.1 | www.AggBusiness.com

Vive les granulats!

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COMMENT

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EDITOR Reasons to be cheerful

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easons to be Cheerful, 1, 2, 3” is a lyric in Ian Dury & The Blockheads’ late 1970s hit Reasons to be Cheerful, Part 3.

The lyric and great song came to mind after returning to work in January after a festive break and thinking about the prospects for the European aggregates sector in 2022. I came up with three good reasons for optimism: the coronavirus pandemic is in retreat; aggregates market demand across Europe is mainly strong; and the coming year sees the staging of several big aggregates processing and construction equipment sector shows.

Many European-headquartered aggregates processing original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) will be at AGG1 in Nashville, USA, 29-31 March; the Hillhead quarry exhibition near Buxton, Derbyshire, England, takes place 21-23 June; and bauma, Munich – the world’s biggest construction, aggregates processing and mining equipment exhibition – is being staged 24-30 October.

As well as being a great platform to stimulate unit sales and generate interest in the abundant innovation in and vital importance of the aggregates processing and construction equipment industries, each event is a great chance for OEMs, their customers, industry associations and trade media to gain valuable face-to-face time after an extremely challenging two years of COVID-19-induced disruption.

Indeed, the enthusiasm for face-to-face industry interaction was highlighted by Klaus Dittrich, chairman and CEO of Messe München, organiser of the bauma, Munich exhibition, in mid-January, when reporting that 97% of available space had already been confirmed by exhibiting companies.

“In the personal conversations we have with exhibitors and visitors, we hear one thing over and over again: they are really looking forward to having face-to-face discussions and, of course, to experience the special atmosphere that only bauma can create,” said Dittrich. “I am really confident that the situation will soon have improved to the point that we will be able to put on an exciting bauma that will attract a large number of international companies and visitors.”

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Twitter @Agg_Business

“Some of the European Union’s €750 billion coronavirus recovery fund will go on creating new infrastructure” As previously reported in this magazine, the European aggregates industry has demonstrated its robustness throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. And coming out of the pandemic, some of the European Union’s €750 billion coronavirus recovery fund will go on creating new infrastructure on the continent, infrastructure which will require huge volumes of aggregates.

France is the focus of this issue’s aggregates market report, and Volvo Construction Equipment reports that the country’s around 400 million tonnes a year aggregates market was up 12% in 2021 compared to 2020 (-7% in 2020 vs 2019). The same source says the French market for heavy loaders in 2021 was also up 6%, and articulated dumper and heavy crawler excavator sales in France rose by 49% and 19.7%, respectively.

SigmaRoc, the London-listed quarried materials group, demonstrated its confidence in 2022 being an industry growth year when announcing in early January the acquisition of UK quarried materials supplier Johnston Quarry Group (JQG) for an initial £35.5 million.

The deal expands SigmaRoc’s presence in key British markets. JQG generated £14.7mn revenue and a pretax profit of £3.6mn in the 12 months to 30 September 2021.

In addition, as part of the deal, SigmaRoc has also agreed to acquire two further quarries from JQG for a potential price of £14.5mn.

JQG produces construction aggregates, building stone and agricultural lime at eight quarries and two processing plants located across southwest England, Oxfordshire and Lincolnshire. The group has access to 86 million tonnes of reserves and resources, giving an average mine life of more than 40 years.

You know what? I think Ian Dury & The Blockheads were on to something! GW © AGGREGATES BUSINESS EUROPE January/February 2022

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CONTENTS

CRUSHING & SCREENING

“Sustainability & high productivity are vital elements of modern crushing operations” p19

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2022 | VOL.16 ISSUE NO.1 | www.AggBusiness.com

Vol.16 ISSUE No.1 January/February 2022

Regulars

Features

03 COMMENT

19 CRUSHING & SCREENING

12 ASSOCIATION NEWS Why a national and a European aggregates association?

13 LEGAL UPDATE Data protection and privacy in 2022

Vive les granulats!

LOADING Manufacturers load up with new launches p24

The global off-the-road (OTR) tyre manufacturing industry is seeing new product launches as well as ongoing acquisition and consolidation activity

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Recent months have seen a raft of excavator & wheeled loader launches from major global manufacturers including Caterpillar, Hitachi, Doosan, and Hyundai

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Holcim divests NI cement business; SigmaRoc acquires Johnston Quarry Group; CEMEX restored quarries produce bountiful harvest

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A leading manufacturer’s crushing solution is helping a major UK quarry meet its sustainability & productivity goals

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COVER STORY: A Hitachi ZX490-7 excavator at work in a quarry

49 EQUIPMENT UPDATE Global OEMs’ new equipment launches & applications

30 CONVEYORS – 1 A leading bulk material handling systems company discusses how its environmental and social-minded approach to product development is helping to transform its sector

50 EVENTS All the key events in the quarrying & aggregates world

36 CONCRETE PLANT Projects globally demonstrate how concrete plant manufacturers are providing solutions to produce good-quality concrete while also delivering more sustainabilitycertified buildings

43 SCREENING BUCKETS & ATTACHMENTS

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Latest examples of how screening buckets and attachments can offer big returns for mineral processing efficiency

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CONTENTS

30 Specials 08 INTERVIEW Peter Tom’s stellar career in the British building materials industry is entering an exciting phase after the launch of Bay Capital, his new investment company

40 TEREX DIGITAL SOLUTIONS Terex Materials Processing has created a new Digital Solutions business unit to coordinate its work in this vital industry area.

46 QUARRY PROFILE A Kleemann PRO plant train is proving impressive at a highly productive German granite quarry by producing quality grit in just two stages

14 MARKET REPORT France’s aggregates market is well set for growth in 2022, continuing healthy demand seen last year

40 www.AggBusiness.com

AGGREGATES BUSINESS EUROPE January/February 2022

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NEWS

A SigmaRoc Ronez quarry in the Channel Islands

Holcim divests NI cement business H olcim has sold its cement business in Northern Ireland to Cookstown Cement. The sale is for an enterprise value of CHF70m (€67.46m) and covers a production capacity of 450,000 tons. Cookstown Cement is a newly-founded local construction company, established by a longstanding business partner of Holcim.

Miljan Gutovic, EMEA region

SigmaRoc has acquired UK quarried materials supplier Johnston Quarry Group (JQG) for an initial £35.5m.

The London-listed quarried materials group said JQG fits its model and expands its fingerprint in key British markets. The business generated £14.7m revenue and a pre-tax profit of £3.6m in the 12 months to 30 September 2021.

In addition, as part of the deal, SigmaRoc has also agreed to acquire two further quarries from the same sellers for a potential price of £14.5m.

JQG produces construction aggregates, building stone and agricultural lime at eight quarries and two processing plants located across the southwest, Oxfordshire and Lincolnshire. The group’s products include Cotswold Ironstone and Bath Stone used by housebuilders. JQG has access to 86 million tonnes of reserves and resources, giving an average mine life of more than 40 years.

SigmaRoc chief executive Max Vermorken said: “The acquisition extends our footprint significantly in several key markets within the UK while offering the opportunity for further improvement and platform-based synergies.”

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with a strong team and excellent products and the investment we are making will allow us to expand further in the years to come.”

Holcim says the sale advances its green growth strategy to consolidate in core markets

CEMEX restored quarries produce bountiful harvest CEMEX’s commitment to considered and high-quality restoration of its quarries has resulted in the harvesting of olive oil, citrus fruits and grapes from locations in Croatia and Spain.

In Split, Croatia, CEMEX organised a volunteering activity in the olive groves located in its quarry, cooperating with the Agricultural and Veterans’ Cooperative Lintar. In a few hours, seven teams of five to six volunteers managed to break the daily harvesting record with 1,162 kg of olives harvested. Almost 6.5 tonnes of olives were collected, from which 900 litres of eco-certified extra virgin olive oil will be produced.

Furthermore, restored quarries in CEMEX’s Spanish operation provided additional examples of successful horticulture and environmental enrichment from productive restoration. The former ‘El Clotet’ quarry in Alicante, Spain, is now a 138-hectare agricultural holding with more than 55,000 fruit trees. The farm has started collecting more than 2,000 tonnes of citrus fruits for the national and export market.

Another pioneering project is CEMEX’s vineyard,

CEMEX’s quarry restoration has led to the harvesting of olive oil, citrus fruits and grapes

located in the former quarry of the Yepes cement factory near Toledo. Thirty hectares of land and 92,000 plants of the best grape varieties are cultivated in a restored natural environment. The former industrial land now produces grapes and wine.

Cementa gets permission to continue quarrying

Image: Cementa

SIGMAROC ACQUIRES JOHNSTON QUARRY GROUP

head at Swiss multi-national Holcim, commented: “This divestment advances our ‘Strategy 2025 – Accelerating Green Growth’ with a focus on consolidating our leadership in core markets to become the global leader in innovative and sustainable building solutions.”

David Millar, managing director of Cookstown Cement, said: “We have acquired a great company

Cementa, the Swedish subsidiary of HeidelbergCement, has been granted a new permit to continue quarrying limestone at the Slite site on the island of Gotland that

© AGGREGATES BUSINESS EUROPE January/February 2022

supplies 75% of the country’s cement.

Cementa says the move heads off the immediate prospect of an acute cement shortage in Sweden.

The government granted the new permit - valid until December 31 2022 - on November 18. The limestone quarries at Slite supply Cementa’s integrated cement plant on Gotland.

The latest move follows an ongoing legal wrangle over the future of the Slite site. In July, Sweden’s Land and the Environmental Court of Appeal rejected Cementa’s permissionrenewal to continue and expand its

limestone quarry activities at the Slite site due to concerns about its environmental impact.

Magnus Ohlsson, CEO and MD at Cementa, commented: “Despite the temporary permission from the government, the situation for cement production is associated with significant uncertainties, and a shortage situation may still arise depending on what happens in the future.”

Cementa says the process for a shorter permit of 3–4 years has begun, and the consultation period when comments are obtained prior to the preparation of the application closed on 5 December 2021.

www.AggBusiness.com

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INTERVIEW

Peter Tom is eyeing a hat-trick of successful UK building materials conglomerates with his latest venture, Bay Capital

Locking onto an aggregates hat-trick Peter Tom’s stellar career in the British building materials industry is entering an exciting new phase after the launch of Bay Capital, his new investment company. The aggregates king tells Guy Woodford about his ambitious plans to complete a hat-trick of successful UK building materials conglomerates

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INTERVIEW

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hether launching into crunching tackles on opposition players in his rugby heyday as Leicester Tigers’ lock in the 1960s to founding and building up Breedon and Aggregate Industries into UK building materials sector heavyweights, Peter Tom’s passion and enthusiasm have been evident.

Given such lust for life, it should have been no surprise to anyone when news broke that at the age of 81, Tom had teamed up with long-time business associate and close friend David Williams to launch Bay Capital on the London Stock Exchange on 30 September 2021.

The new investment firm has raised £7 million to fund initial operations. It will look to acquire or invest in industrial, construction and business services companies and the software and technology companies that service them.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has created business opportunities that we will look to take advantage of,” says Tom, Leicester Tigers executive chairman and a proud CBE recipient for his outstanding contribution to British commerce and sport. “What we have been saying, though, since the successful launch of Bay Capital is that when we [with Simon Vivian, ex-Breedon] started Marwyn Materials around 12 years ago, it did take nearly two years before we did the reverse takeover of Breedon. My experience is that deals take much longer than you might expect, so don’t necessarily expect to see anything being announced by us soon.”

Tom retired as executive chairman of Breedon 2019 after playing a key part in turning the Breedon on the Hill, Leicestershire, England-headquartered firm from a shell company into a British market

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Breedon Quarry in Breedon on the Hill, Leicestershire

“The guy working in a quarry for 30 years knows every idiosyncrasy of the site: go into this corner to gain more material, don’t do this and that” leader after Breedon’s £336 million purchase of Hope Construction Materials in 2016. He had previously founded Aggregate Industries by merging Bardon and Camas in 1997 before later selling it to Swiss sector heavyweight Holcim for £1.8 billion.

The Cornwall-born, Guernsey-based octogenarian was chairman of Aggregate Industries when he first retired in 2007, only to return to the industry to mastermind Breedon’s rise.

I ask Tom to describe what David Williams, formerly of Marwyn Materials, another key player in the Breedon success story, brings to the new Bay Capital venture.

“I’ve known David for 34 years. He was chairman of a major waste company and Bolton Wanderers FC. The club was one of the first to build a modern out-of-city or large town football ground, the Reebok Stadium.

He invited me there as executive chairman of

Leicester Tigers, as he wanted to get more details about similar works we were doing at our club.

“When he set up Marwyn Materials, we resumed our business relationship and friendship. He brings a balanced view to business and sometimes takes my great enthusiasm and nails my feet to the floor as we work out how we’re going to approach things. We went through a lot together with Breedon, and he understands that it takes time to do deals.”

Tom says he and Williams are keen to make sure that the rolling costs of Bay Capital are “not too much” as they build up the new venture. “We do have potential building materials industry colleagues that may be keen to join us. The great thing about our industry, whether it’s Tarmac, Hanson, Cemex, or another company, is that the people who have worked in it for some time all know each other.

“There are a few ex-industry people who have set up their own consultancies. We may make use of them when we have a potential acquisition. It’s some time since I worked in the US aggregates industry, but I’ve also kept in touch with former colleagues there. They could also be useful contacts.”

Tom’s father bought a share in Bardon Hill in the late 1940s, and the family moved to Leicestershire from Cornwall in the 1950s.

Tom spent a lot of his youth in the quarry and was even crushed in an accident there when he was 10. But that didn’t put him off the business. © AGGREGATES BUSINESS EUROPE January/February 2022

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INTERVIEW

He says he used to joke with Breedon and Aggregate Industries’ university graduates and other young people early in their careers that they “better get out of the building materials industry after two years, or you’ll never get out”.

“Way over 30% of industry employees have done more than 30 years’ service for the businesses they’re in. I like the fact that the men, and increasingly women, who work in our industry are people you ask rather than tell to do things. The guy working in a quarry for 30 years knows every idiosyncrasy of the site: go into this corner to gain more material, don’t do this and that. They tend to be cruel with their humour, which means you get rightfully cut down to size if you get ahead of yourself. You meet amazing characters in this industry.

“One of the special things is you’ll be working in a major quarry, and you’ll have a big project that you’re supplying material to. Twenty years later, you’ll be boring your kids or your grandkids about how you supplied material for HS2 or that big Amazon warehouse you pass all the time driving on a motorway.”

I am keen to learn Tom’s thoughts on whether the COVID-19 pandemic has had any lasting impact on the UK construction materials industry.

“I was in Leicester at Tigers all day the other day [early October 2021]. We started building a 200-bed hotel at the club on 23 April 2020, and it’s externally finished. We’re going to open it in spring 2022, and you find yourself thinking for a minute, ‘How on earth did this get built?’ given we’ve had the pandemic. But the construction and many other industries have carried on, with notable exceptions like hospitality having been worse hit.

“From a Leicester Tigers perspective, the crowds are back at Welford Road, and our season ticket sales have recovered.

“COVID certainly changed lots. You could ask, ‘Would I have launched Bay Capital if COVID hadn’t hit?’ I think I would. I’ve always been quite lucky in that I get up early and find business itself fascinating. I’ve also got various business ventures here in Guernsey.

David and I were chatting about this new venture as far back as a year ago and working out when there would be a degree of normality to move things forward.”

Tom says Bay Capital is focusing on British building materials market acquisitions, with no plans to follow other young buy-and-build groups like London-headquartered SigmaRoc. “SigmaRoc has done very well. I know its chairman, David Barrett, and we worked together at London Concrete. I think around the industry edges there’s always opportunity.

We want to avoid getting into bidding wars.

One of the reasons people were happy to engage with us at Breedon is that we were always very confidential. There were lots of potential deals that didn’t happen for many reasons that people never knew about. If you’re the chief executive of a major, and we were engaging in a potential deal, you

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© AGGREGATES BUSINESS EUROPE January/February 2022

could trust us that the details would remain confidential. It would be the same if we’re dealing with a family-run construction materials business. One of the reasons for creating the [Bay Capital] funding vehicle was to show a major corporation or a family business how we could fund a deal and fund it quickly. It gives great reassurance to people that we have the financial firepower.”

Commenting on how the circular economy and greener production is changing the modern building materials industry, Tom says: “It is so important. At Bardon Hill Quarries, we were the first or second to buy a Standard Havens asphalt plant that recycled. We were very active in recycling again at Aggregate Industries and Breedon. If you went into a major quarry 20 years ago, there would be conveyor belts running empty and lots of lights on all day. All of that is changing thanks to, for example, software that ensures that conveyor belts are only working if there’s material passing along them. The modern equipment you buy is also much more sustainability-focused and sensitive to the environment.”

Peter Tom playing as a lock for Leicester Tigers

The UK government’s ‘Levelling Up’ agenda, improving the Midlands and Northern England’s infrastructure to mirror London and the South East’s, is creating huge commercial opportunities for building material suppliers.

A key infrastructure megaproject is HS2 (High Speed 2), establishing a national high-speed railway linking London, Birmingham, Leeds, and Manchester, with connectivity to the existing rail network. It is hoped that HS2 will not only improve people’s mobility but also create more freight transport opportunities, relieving some of the often-heavy traffic congestion on England’s major roads network.

“If you want to modernise the infrastructure of a country, you must consider how you are going to get your aggregates, cement, and other materials to your work sites, along with how best to reduce your carbon footprint.

“Many years ago, my companies were heavily involved in putting rail freight terminals in London. By the time I left Aggregate Industries, the company was transporting a lot of materials into London terminals for asphalt and ready-mixed concrete customer applications. Breedon Hope has a lovely facility in Dagenham, Essex, where they bring the cement in. The difficult bit when it comes to rail freight is creating network flexibility, so you can equally meet the material transport needs of quarries in, say, Newcastle as well as in London.

“There is now a lot of software coming out that allows you to monitor and control your delivery trucks. We all use Zoom and Microsoft Teams. Quarry companies need to invest the capital in modern and efficient equipment.”

Tom feels the coronavirus pandemic has made the entire business world far more efficient. “It’s been fascinating going through various things at Leicester Tigers. We realised that there was a lot of work that we were doing inefficiently before the pandemic. We’ve changed the whole way we do our mail order

In the thick of it! Peter Tom (arms raised) celebrating a pack-secured try for Leicester Tigers

www.AggBusiness.com

INTERVIEW

Peter Tom CBE receiving and responding to the presentation of an Honorary Degree (Doctor of Laws) at the University of Leicester

and club shop and changed our systems, so we need fewer people. A lot of other companies will be doing the same.”

The “inflation proof” nature of the UK building materials industry is, Tom believes, another key factor in Bay Capital’s business growth strategy. “You see a lot in the news about potential inflation, and if you’re an investor, you might be favouring investment in SigmaRoc, Breedon, CRH or another aggregates business. Some statistics around three to four years ago showed that aggregates prices since the Second World War averaged around 2% above inflation.

“This is as good a time as the industry can expect. You look at housebuilding, and you tend at times to forget how much of a benefit to the aggregates supply business it is. It’s a very busy industry now, and it looks like being very busy for the foreseeable future. A lot of warehouses are also being built all over the country.”

The Aggregates Levy – £2 per tonne of material produced – continues to be a controversial tax within the UK aggregates supply industry, with many industry figures questioning the need for a tax purportedly going towards various green infrastructure projects when the industry has an impressive track record of reducing its environmental impact by, for example, improving quarry site biodiversity, restoring former quarry sites to nature, and using dust- and noise-suppression solutions on production plant.

Furthermore, from April 2022, red diesel will be available only to the UK agriculture and rail sectors. As a result, users of off-highway construction machinery will have to pay an extra 46.81p per litre for their diesel, paying the standard tax rate of 57.95p per litre rather than the subsidised red diesel rate of 11.14p per litre. Quarry operators say this will notably increase their site operating costs.

I’m keen to learn Tom’s take on those

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two big aggregates industry talking points.

“About 30% of all UK aggregates are now recycled. What percentage of that was due to the Aggregates Levy, I don’t know. What was collected was always meant to be used in infrastructure expenditure, but I don’t think that’s happened. To a degree, in my latter period at Aggregate Industries and in my time at Breedon, it has ended up as a cost to the consumer [due to higher product pricing].

“I think the Aggregates Levy was introduced with good intention, but I’m not sure the industry is more efficient. It’s the same with the red diesel change. Ultimately, the customer ends up paying for it. In many instances, that’s the government paying, when it comes to their funding of major infrastructure projects.”

In my research before talking to Tom, I read a lot about the various milestones reached in his executive career with Aggregate Industries and Breedon. But what satisfied him the most in his time at the British sector giants?

“At Aggregate Industries and Breedon, we ensured that our colleagues had shares in the business. Seeing some of your colleagues benefit significantly from that was very pleasing. I remember at Aggregate Industries getting ultimate planning approval after buying the Old Rise Rocks land some 40 years ago. It is pretty much where the new Bardon Hill Quarry is.

“I remember sitting in the Breedon boardroom with Simon Vivian in September after we’d just bought the company, drinking coffee and me saying to Simon, ‘I hope you and I are as clever as we think we are!’

Seriously, though, I think achieving success a second time proved that it wasn’t down to luck.”

Tom says he has always loved putting capital into his businesses to improve their day-to-day operations.

“I remember early one morning going to a quarry site of one of the businesses that we bought and having a look at the crusher shed.

I explained to a guy onsite who I was, and he said, ‘I’ve never met a boss before’. It is one of those funny moments that you remember, and I have been so fortunate to work in an amazing industry full of incredible people.”

Tom says he is delighted with the continued success of Aggregate Industries and Breedon.

“They are two super businesses. Breedon, in particular, is going great guns. If you read management books, the biggest trick of all is making succession work. And I’m pleased to see the new quarry at Bardon Hill and some of my former colleagues have been promoted and are doing well.

“When I left Breedon, the share price was around 70p, and it’s now trading around the £1 mark. I’ve gone, as have Simon Vivian, Tim Hall and Pat Ward. Rob [Wood, CEO] and the team are doing a great job. It’s a very competitive industry, but I’m proud that I worked across the business. I want Tarmac, Hanson and all other industry firms to do well.”

I joke with Tom that at an age when most successful business executives would be enjoying their golf club memberships and world travel to the full in retirement, he is putting his admirable energy into establishing a third UK building materials conglomerate.

So, why do it?

“I like business. I like people, and I like solving problems. I’ve got a restaurant here in Guernsey that we’ve had for 11 years, and we don’t try and be clever, and run it in a way that works. It’s successful, as is my boat works business. It’s actually three businesses we have here, as we also buy the fuel for the boats and repair and look after them.

“I do get annoyed with myself as I sit in places observing how things are done and working out how I’d do it differently. Numbers also make a lot of sense to me.

“I’ve got two lovely grown-up daughters and four grandchildren, and I was fortunate enough to get married later in life and have another son and daughter.”

Given the wealth of commercial opportunities set to come the way of the wellfinanced Bay Capital investment company, there is little chance the children will find their father at home on the sofa any time soon. AB © AGGREGATES BUSINESS EUROPE January/February 2022

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ASSOCIATION NEWS

An aggregates production site in Europe pic: MPA

Why a national and a European aggregates association?

UEPG (European Aggregates Association) president Antonis Latouros outlines why it is important to have an effective industry platform to convey both national and Europe-wide aggregates sector perspectives

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e have an industry that provides humanity with products essential for economic growth and the comfortable life we all enjoy.

We have an industry whose processes are carried out responsibly, sustainably and in partnership with stakeholders. Acting in this way is not only part of our industry’s “obligation”; it also leads to close cooperation with all the big international environmental NGOs (non-governmental organisations).

These stakeholders clearly state that the European aggregates industry is not a threat to the environment. On the contrary, it is part of the solution—a part of the solution that is a very good example to be followed worldwide.

All of the above should make us proud of our industry, of the way our industry operates, of what our industry offers to humanity.

Without aggregates, there would literally be nothing around us.

UEPG, in its turn, is very proud of representing and being the custodian and the advocate of this European aggregates industry, an industry that is by far the largest extractive industry in Europe, both in terms of volumes and number of sites. Our industry consists of so many sites and so many different companies, making it imperative to have associations both on a national

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level to shape varied national legislation and policies based on our industry’s needs, rather than simply accepting what comes directly from Brussels.

Therefore, UEPG is here:

“Without aggregates, there would literally be nothing around us”

and a European level. Therefore, all these companies and all these sites must unite under one umbrella and have a strong voice that will help them; on the one hand, to fight for the best interests of the industry and, on the other hand, to promote the essentiality of aggregates.

National associations are vital for lobbying national institutions and stakeholders on key industry issues. But as most of our national legislation comes from the EU in Brussels, our industry needs somebody at the European

•

WHY – To act as the advocate and the custodian of the European aggregates industry so that we will have a sustainable and responsible extractive industry for the long-term benefit of humankind.

•

HOW – To strengthen the UEPG membership to ensure a solid industry representation and a sound and stable financial framework, which will allow us to expand our Brussels-based team for obvious reasons.

•

WHAT – To lobby European institutions and stakeholders, promote the interest of our members, seek and maintain close collaboration with NGOs, and promote the essentiality of aggregates for our economic growth and comfortable life. AB

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LEGAL UPDATE

DATA PROTECTION AND PRIVACY IN 2022 Robert Brooks, a privacy officer at Stephens Scown LLP, reviews what data protection changes are on the horizon

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he last two years have been exceptional in many ways when it comes to data protection.

Businesses have constantly had to keep on their toes to stay ahead of the curve. I can’t see this changing too dramatically anytime soon.

So, what might 2022 look like, based on what we know now?

A new commissioner joins the ICO John Edwards has been confirmed as the new information commissioner. He was formally in the same position in New Zealand and is the government’s favoured person for the role.

AI technology & data protection With the big players pushing the use of AI (artificial intelligence) in society and the workplace, there is a very real danger that regulation is falling behind technology again.

The intention from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is there – you only have to look at the recent, possible ‘first’ cross-border joint investigation fine involving Clearview AI, the US tech company that has been ordered by the ICO (and other international authorities) to stop processing UK citizens’ personal data and to delete it.

It has been suggested that much of the data Clearview uses will have been collected (scraped) from social media accounts without people’s knowledge.

Ad-tech Ad-tech continues to be under the microscope following the ICO opinion piece in November when it called for companies to eliminate existing privacy risks posed by the ad-tech industry.

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Ad-tech, cookies (and similar tech), data co-ops and email marketing etc., are a huge part of all of our professional and personal lives. The effects of personal data being processed in this way are potentially far-reaching. We already see growing numbers of privacy-based campaigns – cookie hunters and subject access requests.

This, too, will evolve.

The ICO opinion piece itself didn’t indicate any new regulations but it did suggest enhanced enforcement – but this will likely depend on the new leadership. We may instead get red tape confetti.

Data protection in a post-Brexit world The fallout from Brexit feels very much with us still, and in the ongoing grasp of the pandemic, data principles can be pushed to the limit, whether that is UK civilian health data being processed by more and more third-party processors, with mistrust never far away, or our online activity being tracked, trapped, and sold on the market.

Whatever an organisation is doing with people’s personal data, consideration regarding privacy and what is legally compliant needs to be made. Organisations may want to consider conducting ethical impact assessments as well as privacy impact assessments. This is especially relevant if your brand or your brand ethos matters to you.

Consumers’ choices are changing, and more consideration is now given when it comes to ‘who am I dealing with and what do they stand for’.

The adequacy decision Underpinning all of this, we have ‘the adequacy decision’.

An adequacy decision is a formal decision made by the EU which recognises that another country, territory, sector or international organisation provides an equivalent level of protection for personal data as the EU does.

The adequacy decision ‘sunset clause’ has a four-year run time until review, expiring in June 2025, but can be revoked within that time if there is a shift in how we do things and/ or developments based on the drafted data reforms in the UK which would no longer justify an adequacy finding.

Might we see new regulations and dataprotection-law modifications? Or a loss of the adequacy decision? If so, this could make things very difficult for businesses – and things are already quite difficult as they are.

Being informed, flexible and ahead of the curve, as best you can, help the sustainability of your business. Compliance with the current legislation will prepare you for the future, whatever it brings.

If you have any questions about this article, please get in touch with our team. AB

CONTACT Robert Brooks, a data protection specialist at Stephens Scown LLP, advises clients with their data protection enquiries. Robert has extensive experience dealing with subject access requests and data breach investigations.

If you would like to discuss any of the issues raised in this article, please call 01392 210700 or email ip.it@stephens-scown.co.uk www.stephens-scown.co.uk AGGREGATES BUSINESS EUROPE January/February 2022

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MARKET REPORT

Encouraging growth in French aggregates market The French aggregates market and quarrying and construction equipment sales are well set for growth in 2022, continuing the healthy demand seen last year. Guy Woodford reports

F

rance’s near 400 million tonnes a year aggregates market was in good health going into 2022. Hitachi Construction Machinery Sales & Service France SAS (HCSF) reports that French sales were up 12.3% in the year to 31 October 2021, compared to the same 12 months of 2019-2020. Hitachi also notes that rolling 12-month French construction equipment sales (all excavators, wheeled loaders, ADTs, RDTs, dozers, graders, backhoes) were up 7% in November 2021, with November 2021 sales up 9% on the same month of 2020.

“Market demand is still increasing, and the construction equipment market is forecasting an increase in 2022. However, global material cost increases may be risk factors,” says a HCSF’s president Katsuhiro Kanomata.

“In France, the forecast market demand increase could be due to the suspension of many projects to due COVID-19 during 2021 and their restart this year. Another factor is that the French government has made a

lot of investment to stimulate the French economy.”

HCSF says the new COVID-19 omicron variant has been spreading in France and a shortage of manpower at French building and quarry sites may cause problems. Commenting on how omicron is also impacting on original quarrying and construction equipment manufacturers’ operations, Kanomata adds: “Machine supply will not be sufficient to satisfy the demand from the building and quarrying industries. End users may have to accept used machinery or rental machinery instead of new machines. In addition, customers may consider holding on to their equipment for a

longer period than planned.”

Hitachi’s large crawler excavators – from the ZX490 upwards – are said by the OEM to be in big demand among French quarrying customers because of their high-quality, productivity and reliability. “HCSF has close relationships with French quarries and can recommend suitable machines to end users, and together with the local authorised Hitachi dealer, support customers directly,” says Kanomata.

HCSF says France has the highest number of Hitachi CTA (clamshell telescopic arm) excavators working in Europe. Many ZX350LC-6 CTA and ZX135US-SRF (shortreach front) excavators are said to be heavily involved in the €40 billion Grand Paris Express project, the largest transport project in Europe and France’s biggest current infrastructure project.

GlobalData, a leading business market intelligence consultancy, expects the French construction industry to have grown by 10.5% in 2021 (final figures still to be announced),

Hitachi Construction Machinery (Europe) has welcomed growth in the French aggregates and quarrying and construction machine markets.

Pictured is a Hitachi ZX490-7 excavator at work in a quarry

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MARKET REPORT

registering an annual average growth of 2.2% between 2022-2025. GlobalData says the sharp growth in 2021 was mainly driven by the very low starting base in the previous year, particularly in the second quarter.

The industry’s output over the forecast period will be supported by government spending in infrastructure, notes GlobalData, particularly in preparation for the summer Olympic games in Paris in 2024. The French government plans to spend €6.8 billion to upgrade the country’s infrastructure by 2024.

GlobalData reports that long-term growth in the construction industry will be also driven by the government’s plan to invest €80 billion (US$94.4 billion) on transport infrastructure between 2018 and 2037. The same source notes that work is progressing on the €31.7 billion Grand Paris Express project.

With its 68 new stations and 200 kilometres of additional tracks, Grand Paris Express’s rapid transit lines will create a ring route around Paris (line 15) and lines connecting developing neighbourhoods (lines 16, 17 and 18). Additionally, Grand Paris Express also involves the extension of existing metro lines. Its four new lines circle the capital and provide connections with Paris’s three airports, business districts and research clusters. It will service 165,000 companies and transport two million commuters daily.

The start of this year saw a big deal in the French building materials market with news that Holcim had entered an agreement to acquire PRB Group, France’s biggest

Holcim CEO Jan Jenisch has spoken of the importance of his group’s acquisition of France’s PRB Group independent manufacturer of speciality building solutions, with annual sales of around €340 million.

PRB Group offers a broad range of high-performance building solutions, from coatings and insulations to adhesives and flooring systems with advanced energy efficiency and renovation solutions. With its leadership in sustainability and eco-design, PRB Group is a leading partner to support France’s new regulation (RE2020), advancing energy efficiency in buildings.

PRB Group’s products and solutions

are highly complementary to Holcim’s and expand its reach in the high-growth repair and refurbishment market. PRB Group’s broad footprint covers the entire French market with more than 700 people and state-of-the-art facilities, including its Research & Development (R&D) Centre, five manufacturing sites and 26 warehouses, as well as 1300 distributors.

Speaking after the January 2022 announcement of the PRB Group deal, Jan Jenisch, Holcim CEO, said: “We are off to a strong start to the new year, on our way to welcoming the PRB Group into the Holcim family. This is another exciting step in the expansion of Solutions & Products, advancing our Strategy 2025 – Accelerating Green Growth. I am highly impressed by the outstanding achievements of the Laurent family as well as by the expertise and passion of the entire PRB team. I look forward to warmly welcoming all employees into Holcim and to invest in our next era of growth together, with a continued focus on innovation, sustainability and branding.”

Jean-Jacques Laurent, president of PRB Group, said: “I am excited that PRB is on its way to joining the Holcim family. As a long-standing and trusted business partner of ours, this is a natural next chapter for us. With both companies sharing the same vision and values, together we can accelerate our growth strategy. Like PRB, Holcim is focused on driving the circular economy and leading the way in sustainable construction. With Holcim’s leadership in this sector, we know that our company will

Image: Metso Outotec

A Metso Outotec greenfield installation near Paris for Déromedi Carrières

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© AGGREGATES BUSINESS EUROPE January/February 2022

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MARKET REPORT

ABOVE LEFT: Metso Outotec offers a large range of screens conforming to the EN 1009 standard for health and safety – a new standard said to be driving French equipment sales ABOVE RIGHT: Volvo Construction Equipment is supplying machines to the Grand Paris Project via its Trappes-based dealer be in good hands to reach its next level of performance.”

Founded in 1975, PRB Group has grown to become France’s largest independent manufacturer of speciality building solutions.

Its innovation-driven portfolio ranges from coatings and insulations to adhesives and flooring systems, with a strong position in premium segments, from energy efficiency to repair and renovation. An established leader in sustainability, PRB Group’s state-of-the-art R&D centre is constantly innovating for eco-design and easy-touse high-performance products. With its ‘Responsible and Sustainable’ line, it offers the industry’s first and only complete range of speciality building solutions with a reduced carbon footprint in France. With the French government allocating €7.5 billion to low-carbon construction in its stimulus plan, the housing renovation market has the potential to grow by 18%, establishing a strong growth platform for PRB. The acquisition will advance Holcim’s Strategy 2025 – Accelerating Green Growth to expand its Solutions & Products business to 30% of group net sales by 2025, entering the most attractive construction segments, from roofing systems to insulation and renovation.

The transaction is in line with Holcim’s commitment to strict financial discipline and is subject to regulatory clearance and works council consultation in France. It is expected to close in Q2 2022.

Metso Outotec is a leading global crushing and screening equipment manufacturer with a big presence in the French quarrying and construction markets.

François Wintergerst, Metso Outotec’s vice president sales & service region, South Europe and North Africa (SENA), believes that equipment sales are being driven more by investment in machine change-outs.

“With the arrival of the European Norm EN 1009 standard, health and safety is becoming another key investment factor for

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all stakeholders. The main stakeholders are also increasingly environmentally sensitive to noise, dust, power consumption, and other issues.”

Wintergerst says France is still a country where fixed plant installations are dominant in the quarry business, with mobile crushing and screening solutions mainly limited to recycling and contractors.

He adds: “The organisation of the quarry business is based on administration authorisation for a length of 20 to 30 years,

providing the opportunity for producers to invest in highly efficient and industrial plants where HSE, dust treatment, ergonomics and noise treatment are integrated directly in the design.

“The biggest installations are with hard rock in the western part of France, or with limestone in north of France. The south is mainly a combination of smaller installations.

“Metso Outotec, through the development of new machines sizes, low energy

Volvo CE has a strong presence in France. Pictured are Volvo technicians examining a Volvo EC480 heavy-duty excavator belonging to one of the OEM’s quarrying customers

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MARKET REPORT

consumption or environmentally friendly mobiles and crushers, can accompany and satisfy the producers’ requirements to classify end products and thus help them achieve their own HSE and environmental targets.”

Wintergerst notes that Metso Outotec is supporting aggregates producers involved in a variety of major French infrastructure projects, including the Grand Paris Project ahead of the 2024 summer Olympic Games in Paris. “There’s also a growing need to satisfy population expansion in the western and southern areas of France,” he explains.

“Many of these infrastructure projects operate in urban environments, and this is an important factor for developing our recycling business.”

Volvo Construction Equipment (Volvo CE) is another major off-highway equipment maker with a significant French market presence.

David Forget & Rémi Teysseire, Volvo CE France product managers for wheeled loaders/articulated haulers and excavators, respectively, echo HCSF president Katsuhiro Kanomata in highlighting how COVID-19linked disruption has lengthened machine manufacturing and delivery time due to the unavailability of some components such as semiconductors. “We believe that in 2022 the [French] market will continue to increase but at a lower pace,” the pair forecast.

Forget says French quarrying customers are particularly keen on the Volvo L150H2 wheeled loader. “It is a 23-tonne machine mainly used for trucks loading and

aggregates storage applications. It’s capable of loading a 27-tonne truck in just three passes,” he explains.

“Regarding articulated haulers, the Volvo A40G2 is the machine of choice for quarries, as its 40-tonne payload is well suited to most French customers.

It’s used for transport between the quarry face and the primary crusher or for aggregates storage applications.”

Teysseire says the most popular Volvo CE excavators in France are the 40-tonne EC380E and 50-tonne EC480E. “These machines can fit a bucket sized from 2.3m³ to 3.3m³ which is a good size to fit with most of the articulated haulers.

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“These machines can fit a bucket sized from 2.3m³ to 3.3m³ which is a good size to fit with most of the articulated haulers”

These 40-50-tonne machines are perfectly adapted to medium-size quarries.”

Forget and Teysseire say that Volvo CE, through its dealer in the Trappes area of Paris, is supplying machines to the Grand Paris Project. “Another major construction site will soon be starting up, the Seine Nord Europe Canal, and Volvo CE will have a place there to supply its range of heavy machinery,” they add.

While COVID-19-induced supply chain issues remain in the French aggregates and construction and quarrying equipment markets, government and private investment is flowing, creating attractive commercial opportunities in 2022. AB

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© AGGREGATES BUSINESS EUROPE January/February 2022

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INTERNATIONAL

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2022 | VOL.16 ISSUE NO.1 | www.AggBusiness.com

Vive les granulats!

SE Asia aggregates markets on the rise

Growing French aggregates demand boosts national producers p14

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QUARRY PROFILE Kleemann displays true grit for Berger Rohstoffe p46

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SA CEMENT Major victory for producers after government import decision p46

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CRUSHING & SCREENING

PowerX Equipment’s solution for CEMEX Dove Holes comprises a Powerscreen Trakpactor 550 impact crusher, a Powerscreen Chieftain 2200 screener and a Powerscreen Maxtrak 1000 cone crusher

Sustainable & productive crushing A leading manufacturer’s crushing solution is helping a major UK quarry meet its sustainability and productivity goals, while new crushing and screening plant is making a big impression globally. Guy Woodford reports

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ituated in Derbyshire close to the Peak District in central England, Dove Holes is CEMEX’s largest quarry and provides aggregates for construction projects all over the

country.

The Dove Holes operation continually strives to be more efficient and sustainable, with nearly 50% of the aggregates transported by rail to major markets such as Leeds, Sheffield, Manchester, London and Birmingham.

With an increasing demand for aggregates, in March 2021, the CEMEX Dove Holes team engaged the expertise of PowerX Equipment, signing a crushing contract to increase their output to satisfy this surge in demand.

PowerX Equipment proposed the ideal combination of three machines: a Powerscreen Trakpactor 550 impact crusher, a Powerscreen Chieftain 2200 screener and a Powerscreen Maxtrak 1000 cone crusher, which working together process the single-size limestone at the required output. Operation is simple with the as-dug material loaded by shovel into the hopper of the Trakpactor 550, which in turn feeds the Chieftain 2200. The screener stockpiles two sizes and recirculates the +20mm oversize directly back into the Maxtrak 1000, which after crushing it again, feeds it back into the Chieftain for further stockpiling.

Dove Holes primary manager Neil Plant, who has responsibility for overburden

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removal, drilling and blasting, primary and contract crushing, takes up the story: “The proposal from PowerX Equipment ticked all the boxes on price. Since the start of the contract, we have been delighted with the performance of the equipment and the support we have received from PowerX.” With the combination of machines employed at Dove Holes, the operation is finely tuned to produce the maximum output of saleable sized aggregate at a high production rate.

With the as-dug material being fed into the large hopper of the primary crusher in the line, the Powerscreen Trakpactor 550 impactor is an ideal crusher for processing soft to medium-hard primary materials like limestone.

Material is fed into the large feed hopper common on both the vibrating grizzly feeder and live pre-screen versions, both of which feature a selectable crusher bypass facility and optional fines discharge conveyor. With up to 500 tonnes per hour (tph) of output potential, load sensing ensures the wide crusher inlet opening receives a continuous feed of pre-screened material, avoiding unnecessary crusher wear.

The Powerscreen Trakpactor 550’s robust impact chamber features a twin apron, four-bar rotor design, with hydraulic release aprons, hydraulic setting adjustment, hydraulic crusher overload and is driven directly off the engine via clutch for optimum fuel economy.

At the centre of the screening operation at Dove Holes, the Powerscreen Chieftain 2200 two-deck screen processes large volumes of high-specification products with maximum versatility. The Powerscreen Chieftain 2200 has two highly versatile double-deck screen boxes, which provide a total screening area of 19.5m². It has a revolutionary patentpending drive system that allows switching between two and four bearings with bolt-on parts. The maximum variability of the Chieftain offers improved capabilities over its class rivals, especially in sticky scalping applications. User benefits include a quick set-up time (typically under 30 minutes) with hydraulically folding conveyors and track mobility. Its high-aggression screen boxes manage dirty, sticky material with ease.

At the heart of the recirculation of the oversize material is the high-performance Powerscreen 1000 Maxtrak cone crusher, a machine that has been designed for direct feed applications without pre-screening on clean rock. At the heart of the Maxtrak is the Automax cone crusher with hydraulic setting, tramp release, and unblocking system. Its unique crushing action provides excellent capacity, high reduction, and optimum product cubicity to produce high-quality aggregate and sub-base materials.

Luke Talbot, managing director of PowerX, said: “Teamwork with the customer, in this case, CEMEX, is vital in ensuring that needs are met at the Dove Holes operation.

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CRUSHING & SCREENING

meet changes in a processing situation.

To date, it’s been a total success what has been achieved so far with the machine line-up of world-beating Terex Powerscreen equipment.”

The PowerX Equipment team has a hugely successful portfolio of contract crushing over many years and has completed contracts up to 10-years long and, notably, achieved landmark processing in the construction of the Aberdeen bypass, where the team processed more than four million tonnes of granite.

The 500-hectares Dove Holes site plays a major part in conservation, as the surrounding grassland around the quarry area is a key habitat for the rare twite bird.

This species has been categorised as having high conservation importance and is a priority UK BAP (Biodiversity Action Plan) species. The grassland helps provide the seed food needed by the twite, which has been seen nesting in cracks of an old quarry face.

CEMEX is constantly working with the RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) to help manage and restore its sites, giving nature a home.

Sandvik Mobile Crushers and Screens has introduced the QI353 mid-size impactor, the first of its new third-generation 3-Series products. Designed in response to customer research, the QI353 has been built with more productivity, uptime, efficiency, flexibility, connectivity, and safety at the forefront of its innovative design.

The Powerscreen Maxtrak 1000 cone crusher and Powerscreen Chieftain 2200 screener at work at CEMEX Dove Holes quarry

The Sandvik QI353 features a ground-up new mid-size track platform and custom Prisec impact crusher. Targeted at quarry, recycling and contractor segments, the QI353 is the most versatile, mid-sized mobile impactor available today, designed to provide more uptime than any other.

The QI353 offers a user-friendly mobile solution with the operator in mind, with controls and maintenance points located conveniently at ground level. The new automated control system featuring Optik intuitive user experience is a key highlight. It offers a colour visual display, easy navigation, and total integration for troubleshooting, diagnostics and support.

The QI353 has been designed with productivity in mind and can process up to 400 tph. Its feed arrangement includes a new feed hopper with heavy-duty curved sides for greater capacity and tapered feed arrangement to reduce blockages and ensure continuous crushing. It also features a new pan feeder with geared drive and a larger pre-screen with improved access to replace media. At the core of the QI353 is a new mid-size Prisec impact crusher, which boasts the largest feed opening 1170mm x 730mm and largest rotor diameter 1150mm in its class, for higher capacity and greater energy

efficiency. Adjustable apron curtains and tip speed ensure a wide range of product grades can be achieved. Also, all plant conveyors have larger discharge heights for increased stockpiling capacity.

The QI353 features a free-flowing feed arrangement where all components in the flow path through the machine get wider for improved material flow. A larger pre-screen ensures effective fines removal, maximising throughput and reducing wear. In addition, the QI353 benefits from extended service intervals and larger onboard fuel storage to extend intervals between refuelling.

The QI353 has been designed to consume less energy. Its double-deck pre-screen ensures maximum scalping capability and prevents any undersized material from passing through the impactor. This maximises crusher throughput while also reducing wear costs and energy consumption. The machine requires 40% less hydraulic oil per service and benefits from extended hydraulic oil replacement intervals.

When combined, this can be up to 64% less hydraulic oil consumed over 10,000 hours of machine usage (subject to oil sampling). The QI353 is also fitted with the latest emissionscompliant power pack for maximum performance and cost-efficiency.

The QI353 comes prepared to accept Sandvik’s new enhanced HS323 hanging screen module, offering the flexibility for the crusher to operate in an open or closed circuit. Boasting a high degree of flexibility to suit any application, the QI353 is particularly useful for contractors who change jobs frequently. The natural fines conveyor can be positioned for right- or left-hand discharge with a three-position bypass chute under the pre-screen, allowing you to decide where to send your natural fines.

The HS323 enhancements include prepared-to-accept belt scales for tph monitoring on fines and stockpile conveyor belts, subframe enhanced for improved screen media access and tensioning and an updated mid-size stockpile conveyor.

Sandvik has unveiled the QI353 mid-sized impactor, the first of its new third-generation 3-Series products

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CRUSHING & SCREENING

Stelex recently supplied a Hercules HT212 heavy-duty trommel to a Norwegian customer The novel design enables set-up in less than 30 minutes and can be fitted without the use of additional lifting equipment.

The patent-pending hanging screen option delivers multi-functionality as a one-, two- or three-way split screener, as well as a highly productive and efficient impact crusher.

The new automation system with Optik intuitive user experience includes simplified operation controls and total integration with Sandvik’s My Fleet telematics solution.

Diagnostic support, pre-installed guides for troubleshooting and real-time information allow customers to know exactly how their equipment is being utilised. One of the new additions to the plant is the availability of optional belt scales on the QI353. These are fitted to the product conveyor and enable productivity data to be displayed on the user interface and via My Fleet for tph monitoring.

With operator safety paramount, Sandvik has incorporated a new access platform under the feeder and pre-screen and a spacious three-sided 270° platform for service and maintenance. A lifting beam, jib and tackle are provided, as well as the patented rotor turning device to ensure operator safety when removing, rotating, or installing hammers. A height-adjustable overband magnet and all conveyors can be conveniently lowered for inspection and servicing purposes. Enhanced safety features are embedded within Optik intuitive user experience, including visual warnings and emergency stop locations.

Stelex Engineering, manufacturer and supplier of the original ‘Hercules’ range of heavy-duty trommel screens, has added to its machines operating in Norway.

The HT212 model was chosen for its

heavy-duty features when working with a very abrasive feed material and processing large rock sizes at high hourly rates.

The HT212 is rated up to 750 tph and can accept a maximum lump size of 1050mm direct from a dump truck. The heavy-duty feed hopper is fully lined with wear-resistant steel plates.

The Norwegian customer requires specific weights of rocks to be screened from the trommel barrel. The barrel needed a bespoke design that maximised the open area of the screening surface. Stelex’s valuable experience, gained over many years, means that the barrel now lasts longer than ever.

A chute is fitted under the first half of the barrel that feeds the fines to a conveyor and away for further processing. Chutes under the second half of the 8m-long barrel

separate the different product sizes ready for collection from bays on each side of the trommel.

The purpose-built power unit for the trommel allows the barrel rotation speed and feeder stroke rate to be changed very quickly and easily from the touch-screen panel. These parameters can be changed to suit the feed-material characteristics and the weather conditions at different times of the year. The 20-inch standard container used for the power unit provides a safe and lockable housing for the motors, pumps and associated hydraulic and electrical equipment.

The modular design of the trommel allows for simple installation and quick site startup.

All plant is transported to customers from Stelex’s UK-based factory.

METSO OUTOTEC LAUNCHES O-SERIES SPARES Metso Outotec is launching O-Series spares, a new range of OEM (original equipment manufacturer) crusher spare parts, said to offer the ideal combination of value, quality and function.

O-Series spares are warranted spare parts backed by Metso Outotec’s world-class service and support systems.

Charlotte Kilpinen, global product manager of O-Series spares at Metso Outotec, said: “Metso Outotec is expanding the crusher spares product offering to include previously underserved customer segments. O-Series spares is a cost-sensitive alternative that is ideal for customers who want the added value and security offered by the OEM but at a price that makes sense for their operations. The O-Series crusher spares are developed with strong OEM know-how with

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An example of Metso Outotec’s new O-Series crusher spare parts range an understanding that not all customers value the same qualities of spare parts.”

Metso O-Series spares is a focused parts offering for the most important operational spare parts, enabling the right balance between performance and affordability for your Metso Outotec crusher. With a commitment to

ensure that O-Series spares will grow with its customers, new parts will be added regularly so customers can rely on Metso Outotec to provide quality, affordable parts with the security and value of the OEM. Initially, O-Series spares will be available for the Metso Outotec Nordberg HP Series but will

expand to include other models such as the C Series jaw crushers. The O-Series will be sold through select Metso Outotec sales offices, and the accredited Metso Outotec distributors in most of the European countries (France, Germany, Russia, UK, Ireland and Nordics). The O-Series will be released incrementally over the course of the next year as well as grow in its offering. O-Series crusher spares expand the existing O-Series line that was launched in 2019 with O-Series crusher wears by offering customers a comprehensive solution.

“We are pleased to launch this new range of crusher spare parts and give our customers the opportunity to get better control of their operations with an affordable, fit-for-purpose product,” Kilpinen concludes.

© AGGREGATES BUSINESS January/February 2022

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CRUSHING & SCREENING

Stelex says it would not have been possible to carry out this project with any other screening method than the trommel based on the large feed size, high tonnage rates required, and large product sizes required. This is even more evident with the work site containing high quantities of clay/ contamination.

Hercules trommels are helping customers to reduce waste material within their quarries and extend the life of existing quarry reserves for years to come.

Northern Ireland-based Omega Crushing & Screening (Omega) will soon have three versions of the same high-quality jaw crusher available to customers.

Set to be released on the market in March 2022, the 1000 x 650mm J1065T tracked jaw crusher follows Omega’s field-proven J1065M wheeled mobile crusher and J1065S modular static crushing plant.

The J1065T is a cost-effective, all-electricdrive tracked jaw crusher well suited to quarrying, mining, and recycling applications.

Capable of up to 200 tonnes per hour throughput, the dual-powered plant is equipped with a Deutz generator. Like the J1065M and J1065S, the J1065T is fitted with the high-performing Northern Irish-built Omega 1065 jaw crusher with its simple toggle tensioning system.

As well as its user-friendly operation with no PLC (programmable logic controller), the J1065M comes with dual power options and is well suited to urban worksites along with primary quarry applications.

The all-electric-drive J1065S crusher can integrate into an existing system or be used in a standalone application. The latter’s modularity also allows it to fit in a container for shipping.

Last year was highly encouraging for Castlederg, Co. Tyrone-based Omega, after a severely coronavirus-impacted 2020. Colin Daly, the company’s co-founder and sales director, who has over 30 years of experience in the global crushing and screening plant market, says Omega’s future-proofing focus

on quality electric-powered plant leaves it well placed for growth in 2022.

“Our customers so far have mainly been traditional quarry-based buyers, but one of the last crushers we sold was a static plant that went to a skip hire company in Poland and is working indoors. Another static plant is currently working in a recycling company in Loughborough, England, which has replaced a traditional hydraulic dieselpowered crusher.

“The customer thinks that running our electric-powered crusher, instead of a hydraulic diesel plant, will decrease his fuel cost each year.”

Commenting on Omega’s biggest-selling crushers during the company’s first three years of trading, he continues: “The whole industry moved from static applications to wheeled mobile to tracked mobile, and surprisingly we find ourselves quoting on all-electric modular crushing plants.

“The crushers work with a variable speed drive and have a reverse function that can run different cycles to clear any crushing chamber blockage,” adds Anthony Carlin, an Omega co-founder and the firm’s technical support director. “When we’ve done testing, we tend to find that just one cycle can get rid of whatever is blocking throughput. We call our system OmegaEcoDrive. It is the kind of safety system that is going to be the future for crushing.”

“Our system can also save up to four hours in downtime when you’d otherwise have to physically empty the crushing chamber to remove a blockage,” adds Carlin, who has more than 20 years of crushing and screening industry experience.

During Aggregates Business’s Omega factory visit in early December 2021, the

company’s senior design engineer, Burton Taylor, was examining the walkways on a quarry customer’s J1065S plant to see if any adjustments could further enhance operator access and safety. “We have a company policy of continuous improvement,” he explains. “This plant is part of that.”

Daly points to a J1065M jaw crusher inside the factory as an example of how Omega can tweak each model for specific customer applications. “This crusher is going to a limestone quarry customer in Malta who is changing his plant fleet from diesel to electric as part of a government scheme. We are increasing the size of the hopper walls so a dump truck can feed it directly from the back, rather than a wheeled loader or excavator.”

Omega crushers’ robustness in extreme weather conditions is another key selling point, notes Daly. “We have a crusher working in extreme heat in an Uruguayan mine, working double shift day and night in high temperatures. We’ve got another in western Norway working well in -20C temperatures.”

Daly says 2022 will see Omega making further progress in building its global dealer network, with the company attending off-highway equipment industry exhibitions in Europe and the Middle East. The bulk of the firm’s current customers is in the UK, Ireland, Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, and South America.

“The first year of the business was all about product development. The coronavirus hit in 2020, but 2021 was a much better year for us. We hit the ground running and developed our new tracked machine [J1065T]. We’ve started a line of stockpilers for our static and wheeled crushers and will look at producing impactors, cone crushers and screeners in due course.” AB

Omega’s J1065M wheeled mobile crusher with and without generator

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© AGGREGATES BUSINESS January/February 2022

www.AggBusiness.com

ARR 1575 TRENCH ROLLER

Light Equipment

Soil and Asphalt Compactors

OVERPOWER STUBBORN SOILS You need a trench roller that conquers the most challenging jobsites. That’s exactly what you get with the Ammann ARR 1575 Trench Roller. This powerful compaction machine: • Articulated joint with oscillation and two steering cylinders for high steering accuracy and permanent ground contact

• Wide-opening hoods for quick and easy machine checks before start-up

• Infrared remote control that can be charged directly • Two-stage exciters placed in both drums for adjustable from the machine or via solar cells compaction output • Central lifting hook • Optimal machine stability, low centre of gravity • Working widths from 640 mm (25,2 in) or 850 mm (33,5 in) include scrapers

For additional product information and services please visit: www.ammann.com MMP-2819-00-EN | © Ammann Group

Asphalt Pavers

LOADING

Manufacturers load up with new launches Caterpillar has updated its 7-9 tonne 966 and 972 wheeled loader series to boost operator efficiency

Recent months have seen a raft of excavator and wheeled loader launches from major global manufacturers including Caterpillar, Hitachi, Doosan and Hyundai. Liam McLoughlin reports

C

aterpillar has announced major launches and upgrades to its excavator and wheeled loader quarrying equipment lines in markets around the world.

In Europe, Cat has launched the new 336 hydraulic excavator which is designed to offer class-leading production and low-cost operation. Its powerful hydraulic system delivers strong digging forces and swing torque to boost production in the most demanding applications.

Three engine modes match excavator power to the demands of the job while saving fuel. Power mode delivers maximum power to meet the most demanding tasks; Smart mode automatically matches engine and hydraulic power to digging conditions to lower fuel consumption. Reducing engine speed to a constant 1,500 rpm, Eco mode minimises fuel consumption.

Synchronised 1,000-hour oil and fuelfilter service intervals reduce downtime. Cat says the extended intervals also eliminate labour cost for nine oil and fuel-filter changes and parts cost for 27 oil and fuel filters over 10,000 machine operating hours compared to many competitive 30–40-ton excavators.

High-ambient temperature capability of 52˚ C (125˚ F), cold-start capability at -18˚ C (0˚ F), and the ability to work at up to 4,500m (14,764 ft) above sea level enable the 336 to work in various climates. Auto-hydraulic warmup in cold temperatures gets the machine to work faster and prolongs the life

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of machine components. The air-intake filter with pre-cleaner features high dust capacity, and a high-efficiency hydraulic fan offers optional automatic reverse to keep cores free from debris.

“Our new Cat 336 model delivers the right balance of power and payload,” says Brian Abbott, Caterpillar global product manager for large hydraulic excavators. “The result is a rugged and reliable machine that delivers excellent production along with low owning and operating costs.”

Also in Europe, Cat is launching the new 340 hydraulic excavator which features a more powerful engine, wider track, and 7.5-ton counterweight to increase productivity by 10% over the 2020 model year Cat 336. The manufacturer says its increased power and stability, combined with next-gen electrohydraulic system efficiency, make it the best choice in the 40-tonne (45-ton) class for moving tons per hour.

The new excavator’s reinforced structures are designed to ensure long-term durability in harsh digging, truck-loading, and hammer applications. The Cat C9.3B engine’s 14 million hours of service attest to its long-term reliability.

“The 340 reaches a new level of performance,” Abbott comments. “Our additions make the machine more productive and stable with larger work tools, giving contractors more flexibility to complete a wider range of projects.”

In North America, South America,

Europe, Africa, Middle East, Turkey, Eurasia, Australia, New Zealand and Asia (excluding Japan and South Korea) Cat has updated the 7-9 tonne 966 and 972 wheeled loader series to boost operator efficiency. The 966 and 972 models deliver consistently high bucket fill factors to increase productivity by up to 10%. Their next-generation design is said to extend fluid and filter change intervals to lower maintenance costs up to 20% when compared to the previous models.

The continuous variable transmission (CVT) of the next-gen Cat 966 XE and 972 XE loaders improves fuel efficiencies by up to 35% compared to the previous powershift models. Prolonged service intervals plus efficiencies gained through the CVT powertrain result in even lower maintenance costs of up to 25%, further reducing operating costs.

All four models in the updated 966 and 972 loader series feature standard Cat Payload with Assist for accurate weighing of bucket payloads, so operators can load to target the first time, every time. Realtime data is fed to the operator display and allows manual tip-off function to improve final bucket adjustments and truck load accuracy.

The new Cat Autodig with Auto Set Tires is designed to deliver consistently high bucket fill factors for the updated medium wheeled loaders. Fully automating bucket loading, Autodig improves fill factors

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LOADING

Hitachi’s new ZW180-7 loader is designed to maximise uptime

and decreases loading time. Working in conjunction with Autodig, Auto Set Tires promote proper loading techniques to significantly reduce tyre slip and wear.

Hitachi has launched the ZW180-7, a smaller next-generation model from its Stage V-compliant wheeled loader range, which the manufacturer says has been designed to appeal to both owners and operators. It says owners benefit from the new model’s exceptional efficiency and maximum uptime, as this gives them greater control over their profit as well as their fleet, thanks to remote monitoring tools and services provided by Hitachi.

For operators, the company says the spacious and fully redesigned cab will enable them to work more productively.

The ZW180-7 is claimed to offer some of the lowest noise and vibration levels in the market. Much consideration has been given to easy operation with the improved seat with mounted electric pilot control leavers, ergonomic multifunction lever, anti-slip steering wheel, 40% larger and fully adjustable armrest with integrated controller and convenient side switch panel. The hi-res screen is also easier to view.

The cab of the new ZW180-7 is said to offer operators superb all-round visibility and intelligent systems. With the Aerial Angle camera system, they have a 270-degree bird’s-eye view of the job site and can work in challenging conditions with the full LED work lights package. If anything is close to

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the rear of the machine, they are alerted immediately by the rear obstacle detection and warning system.

Hitachi says owners will be able to increase their profits due to the impressive fuel economy, efficiency, and versatility of the ZW180-7. This model can be used on a wide range of applications, with three types of lift arms available: standard, high and parallel.

Faster and more efficient short loading operations are enabled by the Approach Speed Control feature, which reduces fuel consumption by 16%, further satisfying owners’ requirements. Productivity is boosted by reduced cycle times gained by the auto power-up function, which automatically increases the RPM to maintain travel speed on inclines.

The performance and traction force of the ZW180-7 have also been enhanced by significant improvements to the engine torque, resulting in easier bucket filling, faster cycle times, and higher productivity with reduced fuel consumption.

Hitachi says the new ZW-7 model loads trucks more accurately, saving time and money, using the payload monitoring system.

In addition, operators can monitor the fuel consumption via the new ECO gauge and performance can be improved with several adjustable functions.

The manufacturer adds that the use of high-quality Hitachi buckets, customised to suit the application, and robust ground engaging tools that are easy to install and

replace, further maximises uptime.

Hyundai Construction Equipment is launching three EU Stage V-compliant A-Series crawler excavators in the popular 13-15 tonne sector, designed to deliver new levels of performance, efficiency and productivity for rental companies and contractors.

Powered by the latest Cummins diesel engines, the reduced tail swing HX130A LCR, conventional HX140A L and the reduced swing HX145A LCR feature improved hydraulic control, for enhanced productivity and increased uptime.

Features include a Cummins EU Stage V F3.8 diesel engine that produces a 3% increase in power and 12% more torque in the popular HX140A L versus its predecessor.

They offer particulate matter (PM) reduction of 60% with no requirement for AdBlue in HX130A LCR, with no exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) for larger models.

The Eco Report function assists the operator to achieve improved working efficiency and reduced fuel consumption.

The new lifting mode improves fine hydraulic control, through engine rpm reduction, power boost action and pump flow control.

The upgraded intelligent power control (IPC) optimises hydraulic pump flow rate and power to match the machine’s working conditions.

Though offering similar operating weights, the HX130A LCR, HX140A L and HX145A © AGGREGATES BUSINESS January/February 2022

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LOADING

The HX145A LCR is one of three new Hyundai excavators in the 13-15 tonne sector

LCR deliver very different performance operating envelopes, to suit a range of customer requirements. The reduced swing HX130A LCR is designed to appeal to rental customers, and is powered by a 55kW (74hp) version of the Cummins F3.8 engine. The engine meets the EU Stage V emissions standard without the need for an exhaust fluid such as AdBlue.

When using a CK-4 E/G engine oil, this engine offers service intervals of up to 1,000 hours, twice as long as for the previous machine. This reduces operating cost for the customer, boosting uptime on site. The HX130A L also benefits from Hyundai’s ECD engine-connected diagnostics, providing remote diagnostics and ensuring that technicians arrive at the machine with the required parts and tools.

In December Doosan Infracore Europe launched ten new models in its DX-7 Series excavator range, which the equipment manufacturer says feature numerous upgrades and improvements.

The manufacturer says that the new DX-7 models combine performance, smooth and intuitive controls, sustainable manufacturing and value for money for customers.

The launches include three new 23-25 tonne Stage V-compliant crawler excavators the DX235LC-7, DX235LCR-7 and DX255LC-7 models - that are suited to quarrying and mining applications.

Gilles Bendaoud, VP sales and marketing at Doosan Infracore Europe, says that the new models in the DX-7 range bring

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improvements in four key areas - safety, efficiency, comfort and sustainability.

In terms of safety, 360° cameras and ultrasonic object detection provide full visibility around the machine, allowing operators to focus on their job while minimising risks.

For comfort there is an all-new, spacious cab with premium seating equipped with heating and cooling controls. In addition, the operator has a large 8-inch user-friendly

touchscreen monitor through which they can input and change all settings needed during daily operation.

Bendaoud says efficiency is improved through a new smart hydraulic system that introduces a priority valve, providing optimal flow to the attachment when both the arm and attachment are working simultaneously.

This is claimed to result in 30% better work efficiency.

The latest Stage V-compliant engines boost fuel efficiency, while an improved combustion system improves sustainability and reduces particle emissions. This increases the lifetime of the diesel particulate filter (DPF), with no maintenance required until 8,000 hours.

Two other larger models - the DX490-7 and the DX530LC-7 - have previously been launched in the DX-7 range that are suited for quarrying and mining applications, offering higher digging force and high productivity.

In September 2021 Doosan launched the DX245NHD-7 25-tonne heavy-duty crawler excavator, a completely new model designed for the most abrasive of applications.

Whilst it is a real 25-tonne excavator, the DX245NHD-7 incorporates 30-tonne class undercarriage components - the chains, rollers, sprocket and the chassis itself are oversized to increase the working lifetime of the machine, even on the toughest jobs.

New features in the DX245NHD-7 include a heavy 5.0-tonne standard counterweight particularly suited for working with heavier attachments such as tiltrotators. The heavier counterweight also contributes to the higher lifting and digging capacities of the DX245NHD-7. The DX245NHD-7 also incorporates as standard a new lifting eye that forms part of the casting for the push link for the bucket attachment at the end of the arm. The new lifting eye has a maximum capacity of 5 tonnes and has a special bush insert to prevent deformation of the lifting hole. AB

Doosan Infracore Europe has launched ten new excavators in its DX-7 Series

www.AggBusiness.com

TYRES – PART 1

BKT’s new EARTHMAX SR 51 L-5 is designed for wheeled loaders in highly abrasive rock quarries

New launches and consolidation in global OTR sector The global off-the-road (OTR) tyre manufacturing industry is seeing new product launches as well as ongoing acquisition and consolidation activity. Liam McLoughlin reports

B

KT has launched the new 875/65 R 29 L-5 size for its EARTHMAX SR 51 OTR (off-the-road tyre) range.

The Indian-headquartered manufacturer says the new 65-series tyre line is specially designed for wheeled loaders working in aggressive applications, in highly abrasive rock quarries and landfills. It adds that this is possible thanks to the cut-resistant extra deep L-5 tread, that offers excellent cut and puncture protection and longer wear life.

EARTHMAX SR 51 also features an extra sidewall protection for exceptional traction and durability. Its strong all-steel structure and cut-resistant compounds are designed to help increase productivity and operating hours, preventing downtime due to tyre damage.

The low-profile design and reinforced beads provide stability and lead to a longer life while the square-shaped shoulder laterally ejects gravel and reduces the risk of punctures.

The new 875/65 R 29 L-5 size adds to existing 17.5 R 25, 20.5 R 25, 23.5 R 25, 29.5 R 29, 35/65 R 29 and 35/65 R 33. All of them feature the special L-5-class tread with cut-resistant compound and are very popular sizes for all loading applications, meeting

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the demanding needs of OTR equipment applications globally.

EARTHMAX SR 51 is one of the wide range of tyres in the EARTHMAX line specifically designed to promote a better distribution of loads for dump trucks, wheeled loaders, dozers, graders and some multi-purpose vehicles. BKT says the range brings together in a single line over 20 different tyres for the OTR sector that vary depending on the application, the surface and the machinery. They are also available in numerous sizes and compound variants.

BKT commented on the new range: “EARTHMAX is constantly expanding and evolving, and this is because every user has specific needs to which BKT intends to respond.”

Trelleborg has confirmed media stories that external parties have shown interest in acquiring its Trelleborg Wheel Systems OTR business.

The Swedish tyre manufacturer stated in December: “Discussions at an early stage are ongoing with external parties. At this stage, Trelleborg will not communicate any further on this matter. Should the discussions advance and develop into a situation where additional information is relevant, this will be communicated.”

In the same month Tyres & Accessories publication reported that Japan-based Yokohama Tire has made a bid worth approximately US$2bn for the Trelleborg Wheel Systems operation to further expand its growing off-highway tyre business.

The global OTR tyres sector is exhibiting ongoing acquisition and consolidation activity.

In December 2021 Bridgestone confirmed that it had completed its acquisition from Downer EDI of Otraco International, an Australian-based provider of OTR tyre management solutions. The acquisition was carried out through Bridgestone’s Mining Solutions Australia operation.

Bridgestone says the acquisition will accelerate the growth of its global mining solutions business and expand the company’s service network in key markets such as Australia, Chile and South Africa.

Otraco offers a portfolio of OTR tyre management solutions that track tyres across the full lifecycle, such as its computerised Otracom platform. Bridgestone says Otraco’s offering will complement its own OTR products and solutions, including Bridgestone MasterCore surface mining tyres and the tyre monitoring and management solution.

All business assets, including Otraco’s © AGGREGATES BUSINESS January/February 2022

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TYRES – PART 1

sales offices and training facilities, OTR customer relationships and the company’s approximately 860 employees are transferring to Bridgestone. The transaction is valued at A$79m (US$56.45m).

As outlined in the company’s mid-term business plan, Bridgestone says it is strengthening investments in its core tyre business while also pursuing M&A activities that expand and enhance its sustainable solutions offering.

Bridgestone adds that its mining tyre and solutions operation is an important business in which the group continuously and proactively injects its strategic resources.

Dutch OTR manufacturer Magna Tyres Group announced at the start of 2022 that it is to acquire Polish tyre dealer Industra.

Magna says that Industra has a very strong position in Poland as it is the biggest supplier of speciality tyre services. The company works with three product categories: industrial tyres (from forklifts to port handling machines), tyres for earthmoving machinery and the agricultural sector (tyres, wheels and tracks).

Magna adds: “In its 24 years of existence, Industra has achieved the position of firstchoice partner for the largest end users of specialty tyres in Poland due to the experienced staff, on-site services and the widest stock in specialty tyres.”

Magna says that with this acquisition and the existing Magna Tyres Poland operation, it appears to be “the strongest player on the market of industrial and OTR tyres in the region of Central and Eastern Europe”.

“An estimated one billion tyres around the world reach the end of their useful service life every year”

In December, Magna also bought Australian-based Fennell Tyres International for an undisclosed sum. Magna says that Fennell Tyres International is known for its competitively priced, high-quality OTR, mining and TBR (truck and bus radial) tyre solutions.

UK aggregates, recycling and skip hire business PSH Environmental says it has eliminated all instances of punctures across its fleet of Volvo wheeled loaders by utilising Michelin’s ultra-durable X Mine D2 Pro tyres.

PSH adds that it specifies all new machines with the Michelin fitments, having found them to be highly durable in addition to offering a much-improved level of comfort and performance over a solid waste tyre.

Nigel Parker, who runs PSH Environmental with his brother Martyn, says: “We fit the Michelin product because it is by far the best option for our wheeled loaders.

The Volvos are fantastic machines, working in a very tough environment and we use a premium tyre to ensure we get the best out of them and avoid costly downtime.

“Unless you are very, very careless you really cannot puncture these tyres. The only other option for us would be to run solid tyres, but we have avoided that as the ride quality is so poor and, working on concrete, you can end up damaging the machine.”

PSH Environmental currently runs three Volvo loading shovels – one older L60H and two new L90H machines, all supplied by SMT GB. The L90H is the latest addition to Volvo’s H-Series, offering a higher load capacity and greater lifting height than any of its predecessors.

Michelin and Bridgestone have set out their shared perspective regarding material circularity and the ambition to increase the utilisation of recovered carbon black material in tyres.

The OTR manufacturers made a joint presentation at the Smithers Recovered Carbon Black Conference in Amsterdam on November 22, 2021 An estimated one billion tyres around the world reach the end of their useful service life every year. Many of the technical

Bridgestone and Michelin plan to increase the use of recovered carbon black in tyres.

Image: Bridgestone

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challenges surrounding the use of recycled and recovered materials from end-of-life tyres are understood, but barriers remain towards achieving material circularity at the scale necessary to realise a more sustainable mobility ecosystem. Today, less than one percent of all carbon black material used globally in new tyre production comes from recycled end-of-life tyres due to a weak supply pipeline for the recovery and reuse of carbon black.

Recovered carbon black presents the opportunity to reduce the tyre industry’s reliance on petrochemicals by replacing a portion of traditional carbon black with a sustainable and circular alternative without introducing performance trade-offs.

Additionally, using recovered carbon black in new tyre production reduces CO2 emissions by up to 85% compared to virgin materials.

At the conference, the two companies outlined a path aimed at promoting and increasing the utilisation of recovered carbon black in new tyres and other rubber products.

Collaboration with stakeholders across all aspects of the tyre and rubber industry value chain will be needed to deliver this goal.

As such, Michelin and Bridgestone seek to establish a coalition of a diverse group of stakeholders, including tyre manufacturers, carbon black suppliers, pyrolysis partners and emerging technology startups to accelerate progress and increase supply of recovered carbon black.

“Increasing use of recovered carbon black in tyres is critical to achieving Bridgestone’s vision for sustainable mobility,” said Jake Rønsholt, vice president of strategy and transformation, Bridgestone Europe, Middle East, India and Africa. “Together with Michelin and other stakeholders, we can generate critical momentum on this important initiative and advance our efforts to reduce CO2 emissions and manufacture products from fully renewable and sustainable materials.”

As part of the joint initiative, Bridgestone and Michelin will lead the development of a position paper that will outline the tyre industry’s role in achieving a circular economy.

Bridgestone says that increasing the use of recovered carbon black in tyres is critical to achieving its vision for sustainable mobility. “Together with Michelin and other stakeholders, we can generate critical momentum on this important initiative and advance our efforts to reduce CO2 emissions and manufacture products from fully renewable and sustainable materials,” Bridgestone states.

The two manufacturers say their initiative is not centred on investment, but instead focuses on creating a needed dialogue about utilisation of recovered carbon black material across the tyre and rubber value chain.

Bridgestone has made a minority investment in Delta Energy Group, which specialises in material recovery from end-oflife tyres and is a supplier of recovered carbon black material to the company’s Americas business. AB

www.AggBusiness.com

A LONG WAY

TOGETHER

EARTHMAX SR 41 No matter how challenging your needs, EARTHMAX SR 41 is your best ally when it comes to operations that require extraordinary traction. Thanks to its All Steel radial structure and the special block pattern, EARTHMAX SR 41 provides excellent resistance against punctures and an extended service life. In addition to long working hours without downtime, the tyre ensures extraordinary comfort.

EARTHMAX SR 41 is BKT’s response to withstand the toughest operating conditions in haulage, loading and dozing applications.

For info: europe@bkt-tires.com

CONVEYORS – PART 1

Conveying progress A major bulk material handling systems company discusses how its environmental and social-minded approach to product development is helping to transform its sector.

Meanwhile, new conveyors and linked technology from other original equipment manufacturers promise to boost customers’ bottom lines. Guy Woodford reports

T

he quarrying and aggregates industry is rethinking its approach to environmental, social and governance responsibilities, and Telestack is among major manufacturers leading the transformation in the material handling sector. The Omagh, County Tyrone, Northern Irelandheadquartered company has supplied electric-powered conveyors for over three decades into static applications and the port industry, where electrically powered units are considered the norm. Telestack is using this experience to spearhead the move from a traditional track-mounted diesel-hydraulic model to one that promotes environmental responsibility using zero-emission technology.

The quarrying industry is an important element in pursuing a decarbonised world.

From April 2022, red diesel will be available only to agriculture and the rail sector. As a result, users of off-highway construction machinery, such as quarry operators, will have to pay an extra 46.81p per litre for their diesel, paying the standard tax rate of 57.95p per litre rather than the subsidised red diesel rate of 11.14p per litre. Given this, many companies are looking to manufacturers like Telestack to provide solutions that cut emissions via green technologies incorporated in the design of their equipment fleet. Utilising greener equipment also helps firms demonstrate that good corporate citizenship is a significant part of their business model.

Speaking to Aggregates Business during the magazine’s visit in December 2021, Telestack’s international sales manager, Padraig McDermott, said: “We are noticing a sizable shift in our customer base who recognise the value in moving towards a more sustainable energy source. The benefits are too many to ignore. We, as a manufacturer, are committed to leading the way in clean technology, lowering our collective carbon footprint and adopting a green manufacturing approach. It is proving an important factor in retaining customers and attracting new customers who share our vision of a cleaner and more sustainable future.

“We have a range of options dependent on the needs of the customer. These range from no engine, only using an engine for relocation and set-up, using electric hydraulic power packs to run the tracks in parallel with electric drives to run the conveyor section, or using battery technology for machine operation.”

The benefits of clean technology are many. The quick and easy set-up means that the conveying unit can be plugged into the onsite mains power supply, into an onboard or onsite generator or powered from other primary equipment such as the crusher or screen. The zero emissions ensure a muchreduced environmental impact, resulting in less noise, a safer site and a reduction in maintenance and downtime. Telestack notes that less fuel consumption ensures better

operational efficiency, ultimately using less kW to move more material. In addition, an all-electric machine has a much longer life cycle (estimated to be up to 5 x times longer) than a diesel machine, making for a better return on capital invested.

Telestack states that highly regulated engines are often complex in structure (sensors, after-treatment, complex panels and looms), with often hard-to-reach access and could potentially struggle with the high level of exposure of dust and vibration found in a typical quarrying application. The reduction in complexity and ease of running and maintaining Telestack’s Zero-range units have, says the manufacturer, led to a lot of positive feedback from dealers and customers alike.

“We see Europe as a big driver on electric units, in line with regulated engines getting more complicated,” continues McDermott.

“We’ve offered electric conveyors for almost 30 years, mainly in the ports, and they have proven very effective. Many countries are now offering sizable rebates on their capital expenditure for green technology, so we see the shift in other sectors.”

McDermott says 2022 is set to be another successful year for Telestack, with its comprehensive model range in big demand across a wide range of mobile bulk material handling industries.

A Telestack TC 621 Revolution tracked conveyor, part of the new Zero series range

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www.AggBusiness.com

CONVEYORS – PART 1

Telestack has expanded its manufacturing capacity by opening a new energy-efficient factory close to its current Omagh facility

“Telestack have around 30 trackmounted models on offer where our competitors offer four or five. Our sole focus is conveyors and their many applications.

The Zero range ties into the needs of our broad customer base from the crushing and screening contractor, the end-user quarry operator customers, mine, stockyard, recycling and port sectors.”

For Telestack, however, its corporate citizenship goes beyond its technology utilised by its product mix. The company makes a concerted effort to integrate a corporate consciousness into its facilities, supply chain, ethos, processes, logistics, energy efficiency, emissions reduction and water efficiency, and improved worker safety and community relations.

“We have a team of Telestack volunteers who meet monthly to drive our internal green initiatives forward,” explains McDermott, “and they are empowered to identify issues, seek resolutions and drive

green solutions internally. This spans from something as simple as getting involved in projects with local schools to replacing older halogen bulbs on the shop floor with highefficiency LED bulbs, increasing the number of E-charge points on site to investigating rain harvesting and alternative power solutions for the factories.

“Yes, we encourage key green initiatives because our blue-chip customers prioritise OEMs who are environmentally responsible, but more importantly, we encourage these improvements, small and large because it’s the right thing to do.”

Telestack recently finished expanding its manufacturing capacity by opening a new 45,000 sq ft energy-efficient factory on a greenfield site close to their current 105,000 sq ft facility in Omagh. The new phaseone facility incorporates state-of-the-art manufacturing premises, dedicated research and innovation development centre, and a modern office suite.

The new factory investment followed Telestack’s near £4 million investment in its Bankmore site between 2017-2019, creating a state-of-the-art shot-blasting facility, two paint booths and additional manufacturing capabilities.

Since the late 1960s, BEUMER Group has been developing and producing curved overland conveyors, making the company one of the pioneers in this industry. Nothing has fundamentally changed in the functional principles of this technology since then except for the feasible limits: With highly developed core components, precise calculation methods and own planning tools, the system provider continues to push the limits of what is technically feasible - while drastically reducing the time and costs involved both in the planning phase and in the handling of projects.

“Our belt conveyors are able to solve complex problems with regard to the transport of any bulk material whether in the mining or cement industry,” says Christoph Dorra, regional sales manager South America, Conveying and Loading Systems, at BEUMER Group. “While the basic task to transport bulk material from the material feed up to the final discharge point seems to be comparable, on closer inspection no system is similar to the other. The spectrum of

A 3D model of terrain and conveyor: Earthworks (cut & fill) or steelwork structures can be quickly and precisely balanced against each other in terms of drawings and calculations

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CONVEYORS – PART 1

potential conveyed materials alone requires individual consideration of the components to be used with regard to wear resistance or the maximum permissible gradients of a conveyor.”

In addition, the mass flow to be conveyed and the height to be overcome are the main factors determining the dimensioning of the drive unit of an overland conveyor. “A further challenge is posed by systems at high altitudes,” says Dorra. At altitudes exceeding 4,000 metres, as is often the case in the South American Andes, for example, it must be considered that the air pressure and thus the density of the air decreases with increasing altitude. This reduces both the cooling effect and the insulating capacity of the air. As a consequence, the drive units like frequency converters and electric motors do not achieve the specified rated power that applies for installation heights up to max. 1,000 metres above mean sea level. This is the so-called derating factor.

In addition to the pure material specification and the mass to be conveyed over a certain height, the topography along the conveying route is of particular importance in the project planning.

BEUMER Group implemented an overland conveyor in China that can curve on 85% of the 12.5km-long conveyor line

“In 2009, we implemented an overland conveyor in China that is able to curve on 85 percent of the 12.5km-long conveyor line between the quarry and the cement plant. The system literally winds its way to the destination, without any transfer point,” reports Dorra.

Potential obstacles appeared in the form of residential areas, roads and rivers that had to be crossed, larger bodies of water or mountains that could not be crossed. “Not everyone would automatically think of an

overland conveyor as the optimal solution when faced with these challenges,” says Dorra. “But for us, these projects are a special attraction. Our target is to have as few transfer points as possible along the entire conveyor line”. This reduces both wear and tear and the environmental impact of dust, for example, but also increases the availability of the overall system and significantly improves ease of maintenance.

How does the system provider manage to provide the appropriate solution for

MARTIN V-PLOW HD REDESIGNED Martin Engineering, a leading manufacturer of bulk handling conveyor accessories, has redesigned one of its most popular tail protection devices to be a lighter, modular unit delivered in a compact package for improved safety and convenience. The re-engineered Martin V-Plow HD is said to achieve the gains with no compromise in performance.

The Martin V-Plow HD prevents tail pulleys from becoming fouled and damaged by spillage travelling on the return side of the conveyor belt. Fugitive material commonly migrates from the cargo side to the return side during normal operation. If this spillage reaches the tail pulley, two things can happen. Firstly, lumps may get caught between the pulley and the belt, gouging and damaging both. Secondly, spillage may be crushed by the pressure between the pulley and the belt, adhering to the pulley face and the return side of the belt, causing pulley slippage and fouling of system idlers.

Engineered for belts as wide as 120 inches (3,048mm) with speeds up to 4.6m/sec, the Martin V-Plow HD redesign has made the equipment modular, segmented into a few pieces arranged in a box that fits almost any form

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of delivery transport. This also makes the equipment easier and safer to carry to the installation area.

With easy-to-understand instructions for the tongue and groove assembly, the rugged painted steel parts can be snapped and securely bolted together in minutes, creating a strong structure. The time saved on delivery to the facility and the work area more than makes up for the few minutes of assembly time.

Mounted to hanger bars by clamps or welding, the unit glides on the return side of the conveyor belt using a hinge system, deflecting any fugitive debris off of the belt. The assembly holds an easily replaceable four-inch (100mm) wide, one-inch (25mm) thick blade, which provides two inches (50mm) of wear life. Blades are available in 60 Shore A durometer nitrile rubber or long-wearing 90 Shore A durometer urethane and can be ordered with specialised blades that are chemical resistant or designed for high-temperature applications.

The Martin V-Plow HD mounting system and security cable assembly are safer, longer-lasting, and less damaging to the belt than competing units.

The V-Plow HD hub mounts can be welded or bolted to the hanger bars The V-Plow HD prevents tail pulleys from becoming damaged by spillage on the return side of the belt

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CONVEYORS – PART 1

each application? “We can draw on our comprehensive experience,” says Martin Rewer, team lead overland conveyor at BEUMER Group. BEUMER Group installed the first conveyor of this type with horizontal curves in 1969; the first downhill conveyor with regenerative drive in 1980. Since the 1990s, BEUMER Group has also developed into one of the leading suppliers of Pipe Conveyors. In 2019, two systems were commissioned in China that, with 5,500 tonnes of iron ore per hour, defined the current performance peak of the globally installed systems of this technology.

Since the first overland conveyor with horizontal curves was constructed in 1969, components such as idlers, belts and drives have continued to develop. In addition, the systems are becoming larger and longer and the routes more complex. This resulted in the necessity to constantly improve the calculation and the planning tools in order to not only withstand the requirements, but to be one step ahead.

In the first step of project planning, the systems must be dimensioned for the respective task. Using BEUMER calculation programs, a team of experts calculates the existing motion resistances and the related static and dynamic tractive forces of the system’s belt. These determine both the drive power to be installed and the belt strength, and are also considered in the dimensioning of the horizontal curves.

“The energy consumption of long, horizontal belt conveyors is determined by the main resistance in the upper and return strand in stationary operating conditions,” explains Rewer. The energy consumption consists of the running resistance of the idlers, the indentation rolling resistance and the flexing resistance of both the conveyed material and the belt when running over the idlers. The forces required for overcoming these resistances depend on various operational and design parameters. They can be determined with the so-called single resistance method. If components with low running resistances are considered, such as belts with reduced indentation rolling resistance or running-optimised idlers, the calculations of the systems nowadays show considerably lower tractive forces of the belt than a few years ago. This not only results in lower energy costs. Since the tractive forces of the belt are at a lower level, the radii of the horizontal curves can also be selected to be correspondingly smaller, because these forces are decisive for the design of these curves. Accordingly, the routing of overland conveyors can now be realised in a more flexible way and with smaller radii.

“In order to plan the conveyor for the individual application, we reach into our virtual tool box,” Rewer explains. “This way we can arrange the whole routing of the system and then discuss it with the customer as a 3D plan”. BOLT, the BEUMER Overland Layouting Tool developed specifically for this purpose, generates almost automatically a digital 3D model of the conveyor in the

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virtual landscape during the project planning.

The required topography data is available in the public domain or is provided by the customer. Often, drones are used. The aerial photographs include topographical information, which is then processed into digital terrain models.

Applying simulation techniques, the experts can recognise possible obstacles and consider them accordingly in the project planning process. Furthermore, the technicians are able to add the earthworks (cut & fill) and the steelwork structures in a simple and precise way and evaluate them. BOLT ensures a very fast initial project planning of the route. In particular, modifications or adaptations during the project can be taken into account within a short time frame. Project-critical data can be supplied quickly by BOLT. It includes an inventory of all equipment on the route. as well as the coordinates for the foundations and earthworks. Since this data is generated automatically and updated by BOLT in case of modifications, possible required adaptations of the route are no longer time-critical. All necessary data can be generated immediately after rescheduling.

“With this procedure we are able to considerably accelerate the project planning,” promises Christoph Dorra. “We have the possibility to provide the customer in advance with a concrete 3D project planning, which can be easily modified during the project life. This procedure allows us to

tighten the time frame for the project.”

Mike Schroeder, a product specialist with North Dakota, USA-headquartered WCCO Belting, a leading global supplier of custom rubber belting products, has spoken to Aggregates Business about how to secure the best return on your conveyor belt investment.

“With conveyor belting, price is generally the first indicator of the quality you can expect for belt performance, efficiency, and longevity or belt life – meaning, you get what you pay for,” he explains. “A conveyor belt’s price is primarily driven by the quality of the rubber compound and the technology engineered into the fabric and belt carcass.

Sourcing high-performance, energyefficient, long-lasting conveyor belting for aggregate applications or other industrial use sometimes demands more upfront investment. But what can you expect in return? Or, more importantly, what do you risk if you compromise quality for price?

“For example, a case study comparing a conveyor belt of superior design and quality versus an industry-standard option revealed a cost savings of more than four times the initial investment. The case study also uncovered new strategies for operators to get the most out of the conveyor system and the conveyor belt, such as understanding and limiting the costs of unplanned maintenance and the benefits of being able to schedule downtime.”

With a healthy bottom-line top of mind, Schroeder says: “The return on investment shouldn’t be recognised with the belt itself, but rather, how a high-quality solution could improve the areas of the conveyor system that are most critical to profitability.”

Schroeder says the conveyor belt and its conveyor system must perform the basic task of material movement. In case studies

WCCO Belting’s Direct X conveyor belt solution at work on an aggregates processing site

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CONVEYORS – PART 1

within a variety of applications, including aggregates and recycling, significant benefits to performance, longevity, and efficiency were said by Schroeder to be recognised by optimising the conveyor belt’s weight.

This, he says, was achieved by reducing unnecessary rubber cover thickness and fabric plies in exchange for increasing belt strength in areas where failure modes were most prevalent – puncture, tear, abrasion, impact, and top cover cuts and gouges.

“In fact, rarely does a belt fail due to lack of breaking or tensile strength. The low-profile belt construction manufactured with high-strength inputs was lighter weight even when meeting or exceeding industry-standard specifications. The return on investment, in addition to efficiency, is a reduction in the wear and replacement of conveyor system auxiliary components like rollers and bearings. Rethinking the typical remedy of added top cover rubber and carcass weight, a common misdiagnosis of belt failure can be a game-changer in the performance of your conveyor belt and improvement to the total cost of ownership of your equipment.”

Schroeder notes that the ratio of useful work performed to the total energy expended can be a huge asset to the conveyor system with an investment in a superior quality conveyor belt. “In a case study of aggregate belting applications, a high-performance belt design with an optimised overall gauge recorded a 26% decrease in energy consumption.

For sites with multiple conveyors, this results in immense cost savings for each piece of equipment over an extended period.

Furthermore, when multiple conveyors are feeding one another in series and, at times, running empty, a belt that reduces energy consumption justifies the operators’

investment by saving money even when running empty.”

Ultimately, Schroeder says the belt needs to last if the operator of a conveyor system expects to realise the benefits of higher performance and efficiencies. Reconsidering how a belt’s inputs can impact the life of the belt itself and the uptime of the conveyor system (going beyond belt cover and tensile strength) can, he believes, be the difference in huge gains or losses.

Schroeder continues: “Belt life shouldn’t be the only indicator of your return on investment for the product, but rather, life in conjunction with equipment efficiency. In the case study, not only did the high-quality conveyor belt designed with functionality specific to its application perform better than the industry-standard design, but belt life also increased an average of 70%, and equipment efficiency improved, justifying the initial investment.

“A conveyor belt will eventually wear and need to be repaired or replaced. Belt decline can vary from the point in time this is recognised to when the belt fails and the conveyor system is rendered inoperable.

One operator provided feedback that the industry-standard belt allowed no or only a short number of days before failure occurred after wear was recognised. With low-quality inputs, a small puncture or gouge rapidly leads to complete delamination and failure of the carcass resulting in emergency replacement. This provided little to no time to schedule equipment downtime and the service team to install a new belt, and each was dependent on the replacement belt’s availability or lead time.”

Schroeder says a significant return on investment was realised with a high-quality belt with increased upfront costs. It granted the operator several weeks from the first

signs of belt failure to a belt replacement.

WCCO’s product specialist says that with high-quality inputs, a conveyor belt can withstand a small puncture or gouge in the belt cover prior to becoming inoperable. The ability to schedule machine downtime led to significant cost savings, not to mention substantially reducing stress on those involved in the process.

“It was estimated by the operator in the situation above that the average cost to replace the belt ranged from US$5,500 to $6,500 in labour alone, in addition to the cost of the replacement belt. The estimated time to install was 10 hours. According to the USDA [U.S. Department of Agriculture], in this situation, the operating downtime is estimated at an average cost of $9.40/ minute, equalling an estimated cost of $5,640 in downtime costs for each belt replacement.

“Value equals function over cost, and in addition to eliminating emergency time due to rapid belt decline, the higher priced yet higher quality belting solution increased performance significantly, improved efficiency with a 26% decrease in energy costs, and lasted 70% longer than the industry-standard option. The improvements and savings far outweighed initial investment with the value the belt could provide to the whole operation.”

Schroeder concludes by highlighting key questions belting customers must ask. “Is your belt construction optimised for your conveyor system? Does it have the right mix of belt properties to give you the belt strength where you need it most? Speak with your belting supplier or a belting expert to discuss exactly what the investment in belt quality can mean for your bottom line.” AB

WCCO Belting’s Direct X cleat profile

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RANGE

Zero Emissions

Reduce Environmental Impact

Quick & Easy Set Up

Less Noise

Safer

Better Efficiency

Reduce Fuel Consumption

Reduced maintenance and downtime

www.telestack.com sales@telestack.com

THE POWER TO MOVE MATERIALS

CONCRETE PLANTS

The Eurotec MZP200 ready-mix concrete batching plant installed within an enclosed warehouse in Kuala Lumpar

Concrete plants meet the sustainability challenge Projects around the world demonstrate how concrete plant manufacturers are providing solutions to produce good-quality concrete while also delivering more sustainability-certified buildings. Liam McLoughlin reports

W

hile the concrete industry continues to support global infrastructure development, there is also pressure across the globe for it to demonstrate increasing sustainability and environmental care.

In the construction equipment segment, Lintec & Linnhoff says it is driving improved sustainability in construction materials supply with several innovative designs aimed at boosting productivity while also limiting adverse environmental impact.

One example in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, saw a Eurotec MZP200 ready-mix concrete batching plant installed within an enclosed warehouse in the Chan Sow Lin district as part of a sustainability drive in 2014. It was a design idea that proved so successful, other companies in the country adopted the design, leading to significant improvements in local air quality.

“Seven years ago, this was the only plant in Malaysia with the enclosed design, but it quickly caught the attention of the local construction industry who were all impressed with the reductions in noise and dust emission levels it delivered,” said R. Sakthi,

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CEO at Lintec & Linnhoff Concrete. “This greatly improved air quality and helped the Malaysian industry take another step towards more sustainable infrastructure development.”

Similar to the other ready-mix concrete plants in the MZ series, the Eurotec MZP200 features a modularised structure for easy and quick installation and maintenance. The project in Chan Sow Lin was completed inside an almost totally enclosed warehouse, with the plant’s six aggregate bins, multiple tall cement silos, centre-discharge conveying system and static aggregates ground-feeding conveying system all assembled within the giant structure. This way, dust and cement are contained within the compound, rather than polluting the external environment and nearby residential areas.

The cement batch plants worked for 10 hours per day, producing up to 4.5m³ per batch or up to 200 m³/hour of ready-mix concrete for construction and infrastructure projects in Kuala Lumpur and the Klang Valley. Despite this, the Eurotec MZP200 concrete batch plant was notable for the reduced noise and dust.

By March 2015, the plant achieved another milestone when it was awarded SIRIM QAS International’s ISO 14001:2004 certification in the Manufacturing of ReadyMix Concrete category.

“Our engineering detail allows the MZ batching plant model to fully reclaim returned concrete by separating the sand, aggregates and water, and then recycle them back into the batching process,” said Sakthi.

The combination of an enclosed warehouse for the concrete plant, plus an operational capacity to fully reclaim returned concrete is a perfect design for urban locations. Increasingly in Asia there is greater attention being paid to delivering better air quality, with the Asian Development Bank even launching a Clean Air for Liveable Cities series to support the initiative.

At the same time, demand for greener construction continues to rise, and interestingly this is being supported by end users, with recent research showing that most Asia-Pacific companies would pay higher rent to lease a building with stronger green credentials.

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CONCRETE PLANTS

As this trend continues, Lintec & Linnhoff says that contractors will increasingly look for innovative designs and advanced technology in their mission to produce good quality concrete that can help them deliver more sustainability-certified buildings.

With an extensive range of customisation options to suit the requirements of any major project, the Eurotec MZ series can be designed with one mixer and two discharge chutes to reduce the waiting time of mixer trucks, thereby increasing productivity and reducing fuel use. The energy consumption – along with wear and maintenance costs – of the batch plant is also reduced via the use of computer-controlled twin-shaft mixers that ensure high accuracy. Operating at

“It’s a growing challenge in many parts of the world, with municipal waste accumulating as authorities struggle to find effective answers” Carsten Riisberg Lund Cement industry president, FLSmidth

high torque, their three-dimensional mixing motions generate a higher consistency of concrete.

“This project showed that it is entirely possible for concrete batching plants and local residents to co-exist peacefully, as long as proper attention in detail is paid to the environmental impact,” concluded Sakthi.

In Indonesia, Denmark-based FLSmidth is helping cement manufacturer PT Indocement Tunggal Prakarsa move from coal to alternative fuels.

Heidelberg-owned Indocement has ordered a full alternative fuels solution to replace coal. Enabling the use of municipal waste and biofuels, FLSmidth is supplying a MissionZero flagship product, the FLSmidth HOTDISC-S and feeding systems.

The FLSmidth-Indocement contract was signed at a ceremony in Citeureup Plant, Indonesia, on 22 November in the presence of Minister of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, Jeppe Kofod.

As the cement industry transitions away from carbon-dioxide-intensive fuels such as coal, the introduction of waste-toenergy solutions is becoming increasingly attractive – environmentally and financially.

Particularly in Indonesia, challenges with landfilling and waste management have led the government to encourage the cement industry to be part of the solution.

Operating three cement plants with a total capacity of nearly 25 million tonnes per year, Indocement is one of Indonesia’s

leading cement producers. At its site on the outskirts of Jakarta, FLSmidth will deliver the new HOTDISC-S, which can turn a wide range of alternative fuels, including municipal waste and biofuels, into a reliable heat source for its SLC Calciner.

“It’s a growing challenge in many parts of the world, with municipal waste accumulating as authorities struggle to find effective answers,” says Carsten Riisberg Lund, cement industry president, FLSmidth.

“The cement industry is well-positioned to be part of the solution, and we see more and more cement producers successfully replacing fossil fuels with alternative solid fuels as an energy source.”

Christian Kartawijaya, president director of Indocement, states: “As a vertically integrated cement producer, Indocement has a huge responsibility to the community we operate in, and our customers expect us to do everything in our power to minimise the use of coal.

“The new, redesigned FLSmidth HOTDISC is a perfect match for our SLC Calciner, but, more importantly, it offers us flexibility as we increase the use of alternative fuels.”

The ability to replace most calciner fuel without compromising on energy efficiency or kiln performance makes the FLSmidth HOTDISC a flagship offering in FLSmidth’s MissionZero programme, which is the sustainability ambition to enable cement producers to operate plants at zero emissions by 2030.

Indocement signed an alternative fuels contract with Denmark-based FLSmidth at its Citeureup plant in Indonesia

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“Cement and concrete have been pivotal in building resilient, durable and sustainable communities that enable people to live safe, productive and healthy lives” Michael Ireland PCA president and CEO

The Portland Cement Association (PCA) has announced an ambitious roadmap to achieve carbon neutrality across the US cement and concrete industry’s value chain by 2050. Given the significant role of cement in society and anticipated infrastructure development, the PCA says it is a critical step that the industry acts now to further reduce greenhouse gases (GHGs) and create sustainable building solutions in the decades to come.

“Cement and concrete have been pivotal in building resilient, durable and sustainable communities that enable people to live safe, productive and healthy lives via structures that withstand natural and man-made disasters,” said PCA president and CEO Michael Ireland.

The PCA Roadmap outlines a portfolio of reduction strategies and immediate opportunities across the various phases

of the built environment: production at the cement plant, construction including designing and building, and everyday infrastructure in use. Across this full cement-concrete-construction value chain, the roadmap recognises five main areas of opportunity: clinker, cement, concrete, construction and carbonation (using concrete as a carbon sink). Each phase of the value chain is integral to reaching the goal and can unlock unique and specific pathways to carbon neutrality, including actions such as reducing CO2 from the manufacturing process, decreasing combustion emissions by changing fuel sources and shifting toward increased use of renewable electricity.

As Tensar International’s main precast concrete supplier, Anderton Concrete supports the manufacture of its marketleading TensarTech TW3 and TW1 wall systems for the UK and Ireland markets.

A recent example of the partnership’s work is the £1.5bn National Highways, A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon Improvement Scheme, which saw the supply of 10,000m² of TensarTech TW3 across 11 separate structures.

One of the most heavily used road sections is between Huntingdon and Cambridge, which links the A1(M) motorway to the North of England and the M11 Motorway to London. The A14 is a crucial national road link for the West Midlands and East Anglia. It is also a part of the TransEuropean Transport Network, connecting the M1 and M6 motorways to Felixstowe and other key ports and commercial locations.

This segment of road carries around 85,000 vehicles a day, a quarter of which is HGV traffic - a statistic that surpasses the HGV national average expectation on roads at just 10%.

The National Highways A14 project was developed to relieve congestion, increase capacity and make journey times more reliable while supporting regional and national economic growth.

In addition to widening and making improvements to 34km of the A14, the project included the construction of the new 20km Huntingdon Southern Bypass, which was designed to divert large volumes of traffic off the A14. This included implementing upgrades to the A1, Huntingdon town centre and local roads, with better connections for horse riders, cyclists and pedestrians.

The TensarTech TW3 reinforced soil retaining walls were built along key parts of the A14 to quickly and economically construct wing walls for new overbridges.

Anderton Concrete’s Keystone product was specified over conventional reinforced concrete due to its robust and flexible nature, which accommodated the predicted settlements expected during construction and for several years after completion.

Anderton Concrete says that, as part of its commitment to producing the highest standard in product quality and compliance, each concrete-faced modular block, and incremental-panel reinforced soil retaining walls are independently accredited in the form of complete BBA HAPAS certifications.

For the A14 project, the solutions also met the highly stringent technical approval (AIP)

by National Highways.

“Our joint-progressive approach to the design and manufacture of retaining wall systems has resulted in improved cost efficiencies and ease of construction for the entire infrastructure sector,” says Craig Roberts, team leader, reinforced soil structures, Tensar International. AB

Anderton & Tensar have worked on the £1.5bn A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon Improvement Scheme

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CONCRETE PLANTS

RAPID INTERNATIONAL EYES ANOTHER BIG YEAR IN 2022 Rapid International has had three of its best years trading over the last four years, says Jarlath Gilmore, the concrete plant manufacturer’s sales and marketing director. He spoke with Aggregates Business editor Guy Woodford at Rapid’s Craigavon, Country Armagh, Northern Ireland HQ in early December 2021.

“Growth in the British static concrete batching plant market has been particularly strong.

We’re currently building the biggest static concrete batching plant we’ve ever built for the UK’s largest group that specialises in paving, block and concrete paving,” highlights Gilmore.

“We’re also doing another static plant for the biggest precast concrete offsite solutions supplier [to the construction industry] in Europe. The client’s need for an additional plant is partly linked to its work on HS2, while the large plant order is more about meeting big homeowner demand for its products. We currently have three or four large static batching plant orders that are big-ticket value.”

The client’s existing 2020-installed state-of-the-art Rapid plant, which includes two Rapid planetary mixers, produces around 80m³ of concrete per hour. Featuring an integral Rapid Jetwash high-pressure (2000psi) mixer washout system, clean out is offered via auto-cleaning functionality.

Due to the England-based plant’s six 60-tonne aggregate bins, the number of ground bunkers has been restricted, as minimal product is stored at grade with more lifted to a high

level. This has virtually eliminated the need to use the loading shovel, increasing efficiency.

Since 1969, Rapid has pioneered game-changing concrete mixing technology.

Today, the company’s static and mobile (Transbatch, Rapidbatch) concrete batching plant, track (Trakmix) and wheel-mounted (Rapidmix) mobile continuous mixing plant, concrete mixers and concrete reclaimers are sold in more than 20 countries worldwide via a wide-reaching international dealer network.

In 2019, the Rapid family expanded to include Rapid Power Generation and Rapid Truck Mixers.

Formerly A1 Power Systems, Rapid Power Generation manufactures generating sets from 10Kva – 2500Kva, at Rapid’s state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Craigavon. With over 30 years of knowledge and experience in the world of dieselpower generation, Rapid Power Generation covers all aspects of the generator industry.

In Q4 2021, Rapid completed the new 14,000sq ft extension to the company’s existing 50,000sq ft Craigavon manufacturing facility.

Creating 30 additional jobs, the new state-of-theart extension is purpose-built to manufacture Rapid Power Generation’s range of diesel and natural gas generators. The facility includes a large workshop to produce electrical panels, a main factory floor for general fabrication and assembly and a comprehensive suite of offices and staff areas.

“The extended manufacturing facility project has gone really well. We’re also looking to procure additional off-site manufacturing capability,” explains Gilmore.

“We launched Rapid Truck Mixers side at the back end of 2019, and we have sold a number of truck mixers to some of the big players here, like Creagh Concrete, and Northstone. We want to kick that business on and have added people to the team.”

Asked about Rapid’s work to reduce the carbon footprint of its plant range and manufacturing, Gilmore responds: “Our Craigavon site is around 30% powered by a wind turbine. We are looking at adding solar power for the extended manufacturing facility. We are looking at how we can use more recycled materials in our operations.”

Gilmore says that Rapid, like every global off-highway equipment manufacturer, has been affected by coronavirus-impacted supply chain and human resource issues. “We haven’t seen too many people go and are still recruiting. It is important to get the right people that fit well in our business. We haven’t really been affected by Brexit [Britain’s 31 January 2020 departure from the European Union] and the issues around the Northern Ireland protocol.”

The United States is a key export market for Rapid’s concrete plant range, says Gilmore, with exciting new

commercial opportunities offered up by President Joe Biden’s US$1.2 trillion infrastructure bill.

“What I hear from a wellplaced ACPA (American Concrete Paving Association) source is that the next ten years will be really good. It’s the investment confidence that this bill gives: while there is work now, you know there will be more work coming later on.

“There are some dam-related projects coming up that we think we’ll get orders for. There will be new road projects, and we’ve completed an order related to the distribution centre currently being built in the US for a leading US discount retailer.”

Gilmore also believes there is strong growth potential for Rapid in supplying concrete plant for “other applications” projects in markets including the US, Australia, UK, and Ireland.

“Traditionally, our plants were being used in the concrete industry, road construction or dam projects, where the customer is using a lot of roller-compacted concrete [CRC] and CBM [cement bound material]. But a lot of our plants are being used in projects, such as HS2, where there is clay and gunk-like material that customers want to put through our track-mounted based mixing plant. They also want to use our mixing plants in soil stabilisation or contaminated land work, to bind and neutralise material for landfill or for a specific use.”

Rapid has added a 14,000sq ft extension to its existing 50,000sq ft Craigavon facility

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TEREX MP DIGITAL SOLUTIONS

Terex’s Dungannon Business Park parts facility

The digital dynamism supporting Terex MP businesses The last few years have seen the Terex Materials Processing (Terex MP) crushing and screening equipment businesses develop their digital capabilities across areas, including online inventory management, telematics, and eCommerce, to leverage the businesses’ work to date and ensure they stay ahead of competitors in a digital age. Now Terex MP has created a new Digital Solutions business unit to coordinate its work in this vital industry area. Guy Woodford reports

T

erex MP launched its Digital Solutions business unit in July 2021, the culmination of a sustained and savvy embrace of the world’s new digital age and the efficiency and productivity gains it can bring for crushing and screening equipment customers.

A business segment of the U.S.headquartered Terex Corporation, Dungannon, Northern Ireland-based Terex MP is making its Digital Solutions offer fully available to its dealers and customers across 12 of its brands: Powerscreen, Terex Finlay, EvoQuip, MDS International, ProStack, Terex Minerals Processing Systems (Terex MPS), Terex Washing Systems, Terex Ecotec, CBI, Fuchs, Franna Pick and Carry Cranes and Terex Tower and Rough Terrain Cranes.

Crucially, as Marco Piovano, director of Terex MP Digital Solutions, explains, the new Digital Solutions business unit brings all Terex MP’s customer-facing digital capabilities under a single focused team. Piovano says Digital Solutions will allow Terex MP to deploy its digital tools systematically to ensure that its channel partners and end-users are getting worldclass service when using Terex MP brand machines. Piovano stresses that its launch also enables Terex MP to press on with determining and developing new digital tools to help meet evolving customer needs.

“Today Digital Solutions includes the telematics platforms for our machines, which provide real-time performance data and assist with predictive maintenance.

There is also the online parts inventory

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management tool for our dealers, which integrates with Terex systems to support their and their customers’ forecasting and planning process,” says Piovano. “It helps dealers understand what parts need to be stocked in their warehouses and allows parts replenishment in a few [mouse button] clicks. It also allows for quick checks on inventory levels across many Terex MP dealer warehouse sites, creating a community of dealers and a common customer service platform.”

Speaking to Aggregates Business in September 2021, Piovano says this autumn is seeing the global rollout of Remote

Servicing: a wearable headset that allows Terex MP technicians and dealer technicians to remotely assist customers with repair and maintenance tasks.

Remote Servicing has been a great success in supporting Powerscreen crushing and screening equipment customers in the United States since 2018.

“Technical information can be shown on the lens of the headset to help with the task at hand. It allows real-time images and information to be exchanged between the individual working on the crusher and screener and Terex MP or dealer technicians.

It is like using Mission Impossible glasses! The

Some of the Terex Parts’ Customer Service Team, who manage dealers’ open order books and enquiries

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TEREX MP DIGITAL SOLUTIONS

A lean lift stores over 4,000 individual parts for quick and easy access at Terex Dungannon Business Park parts facility

“It is like using Mission Impossible glasses!”

Marco Piovano, director of Terex MP Digital Solutions

technology is hands-free, making it much safer to use when repairing or servicing the machine.”

Part of the Blue Group, a specialist provider of material processing and handling equipment into the quarrying & demolition, recycling, scrap, ports and energy segments throughout the UK and Ireland, Warrington, Cheshire-headquartered Blue Spares is a prominent Terex MP crushing and screening equipment dealer fully utilising Terex MP’s new technologies to enhance customer operations.

Blue Spares managing director Ian Webber says technological innovation like Remote Servicing will make it easier for his team to work with customers. “I think it makes it easier to do business with us, and that is our whole mantra. We are, of course, evolving but we try to keep things as simple as possible. As soon as you start getting complicated, you lose people. We are always looking at ways to grow our business and have a real obligation to our customers, who have a lot going on and need things done as easily as possible.

“On the digital solutions side, we’ve improved our internal processes by plugging ourselves into the CDI [Connected Dealer Inventory] system work by Terex MP. We’ve got much better visibility of the availability of critical parts. We hold multi-million pounds worth of parts across our UK sites to support our customers, and CDI also gives us realtime information about parts availability at the Terex Dungannon Business Park parts facility and dealer sites.”

Webber gives a good recent example of how dealers can benefit from Terex MP Digital Solutions. “One of our UK scrap material business customers urgently needed a replacement motor for their Fuchs material handler which had broken down. We didn’t

have it at our UK sites, and Terex MP didn’t have it at the Dungannon parts facility. But thanks to the Digital Solutions business, we were quickly able to source and buy the motor from a Terex MP dealer in Poland. It was then rapidly shipped to the customer, minimising their machine downtime. The customer did not know or care where the motor came from.

They just wanted it as soon as possible.”

Webber believes that the COVID-19 pandemic-induced disruption in the business world since the first quarter of 2020 has sped up the adoption of digital solutions by industry, including the crushing and screening business.

“If you look at our industry, a lot of our owner-operator customers are getting ready to hang their toolboxes up. There is a younger

A magnet lifting a wear plate. The use of a magnet to move certain wear parts is an example of the health and safety emphasis at Terex’s state-of-the-art parts facility

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TEREX MP DIGITAL SOLUTIONS

generation coming in who will have a different expectation of how to work with our dealers. A lot of them won’t have time to pick up the phone and talk to a guy in an office about a part and their availability.

“So, what we are working on with Terex MP is the creation of a portal. It will mean that in the future, a Blue Spares customer can log on and see what machines they are running, their telematics performance, when their equipment warranties are going to run out, and when their machine servicing is due.

It would show how much they are spending with Blue Parts, what invoices are still to be paid, and their queries. That’s a huge amount of easily available information.

“The portal will also allow customers to order some non-complex replacement parts, perhaps on their iPad at 9 pm on a weekday night, as they didn’t have time to do it earlier that day. This makes it even easier to do business with us.”

Webber says the Terex MP dealer and customer portal is earmarked to go live initially with Blue Spares and wider Blue Group key account customers at some stage in the first half of next year. It will follow the earmarked launch of the MyTerex Customer Fleet telematics mobile phone app in Q4 2021. The app will give customers easy access to key equipment performance data, such as production volume, fuel use and idling time, along with repair and servicing notifications. For Webber, another big advantage of Blue Spares’ close working relationship with Terex MP’s Digital Solutions business unit is in the company’s customer fleet management work.

“Our customers have businesses to run, and operating and maintaining some of their crushing and screening machines is just a small part of what their day job looks like. We can say, ‘Let us look after that for you,’ and take the hassle away. It is another example of using digital solutions to make business as easy as possible for our customers.”

Webber says that Blue Parts’ ability to digitally access wider Blue Group, Terex MP and fellow dealers’ parts warehouse

Two Terex parts facility employees at work inventories has also made it easier to keep its Warrington HQ and Blue Scotland parts facilities stocked with the parts required to meet the maintenance needs of Scottish customers working with Terex MP equipment.

Asked about what happens if Blue Parts’ digital access to Terex MP’s and fellow dealers’ inventory data was unavailable due

“The team is very loyal, and lots of the guys in senior positions have been with us for a long time” Ian Webber, Blue Spares managing director

Trays containing some of the thousands of individual parts stored at Terex’s Dungannon Business Park parts facility

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© AGGREGATES BUSINESS EUROPE January/February 2022

to a system glitch, Webber says: “We run two systems – the CDI system recommendation and our SAP inventory management system. So, if we don’t get the CDI system recommendation on parts replacement availability, we revert to what our SAP system says. We review the SAP system on a weekly basis anyway.”

I’m curious to know how easy it was for Blue Spares to switch to a more comprehensive digital approach to its day-today business. “The buy-in from our team has been easier than I thought. The team is very loyal, and lots of the guys in senior positions have been with us for a long time. Our sales director has got 15 years’ service, and our procurement manager has also been with us for 15 years. I think it helped that we got the staff that were going to be involved in this involved in the very early stages. They were part of the decision-making process.

Even Marco [Piovano] went back to his team saying, ‘That’s a really good input’.”

“I was coming from another industry and was used to creating something very much from just an OEM [original equipment manufacturer] perspective, so not having to convince dealers about this made life a lot easier in creating the Digital Solutions business unit,” adds Piovano.

Piovano says Terex Corporation is committed to significant multi-million euro long-term investment in Digital Solutions R&D, emphasising its importance. “A lot of OEMs are making digital solutions on their own without looking at how they integrate with dealers and customers’ solutions. This can lead to business process blocks, making it harder for dealers and customers. We are spending a lot of time and money making sure our processes are fully end-to-end integrated.”

Webber says that Blue Spares’ full use of the new Terex MP Digital Solutions business unit’s offer, coupled with an uplift in UK crusher and screener market demand, had led to the company taking on a few more sales staff. “You can speculate on which single factor is having the biggest impact, but we are continuing to grow as a company. I think the use of digital solutions generally will help the crushing and screening industry going forward. Machine uptime will be improved, and work will be done more efficiently, with more projects completed ahead of time.

“There’s also a link between digital solutions and green credentials. If we and our customers can work more efficiently, we will also be working more sustainably. For example, if we save the need for a couple of parts container ships to set sail from different part of the world, including India and China, that’s a good thing for the environment.”

Piovano adds: “I think in the future there will be even greater visibility of machine data, and a shift in workforce skills, with people able to do more in any given period of time. If customers are more efficient and profitable, we will all have opportunities to grow.” AB

www.AggBusiness.com

SCREENING BUCKETS & ATTACHMENTS An MB Crusher MB-S18 screening bucket attached to a Kobelco SK220SD excavator screening sandstone in an Indian quarry

Buckets of screening potential

Screening buckets and attachments can offer big returns for mineral processing efficiency.

Guy Woodford reports on some of the new and latest models and their onsite applications

I

talian company MB Crusher says it continues to see its high-quality screening buckets in big demand globally. An Indian sandstone quarry customer has seen big results in consistent final product quality and sizing after an MB-S18 screening bucket attached to a Kobelco SK220SD excavator processed extracted material.

Meanwhile, the operator of a large coal quarry in southern India opted for an MB-HDS320 shaft screener bucket to process material after its surface miner could not produce the required final product size. The operator installed the unit on its excavator and began producing 55-66 tonnes per hour of material ready to be used at a power plant.

The MB-HDS320’s deployment has reduced waste, increased profitability in the quarry, reduced operational expenses down to the bare minimum and consistently optimised productivity.

In a boron quarry around 4,000 metres above sea level in the Andes, Peru, an MB-S18 screening bucket is sifting coarse material from fines. This enables selected material to be processed easily and faster by the quarry plant.

In Iceland, among spectacular landscapes dominated by volcanoes and geysers, an MB-S23 screening bucket installed on a Caterpillar 345C excavator was seen as the best tool to rapidly process large quantities of basalt needed to help build a hydroelectric plant.

www.AggBusiness.com

Available in four models for excavators from eight to 45 tonnes, Simex VSE screening buckets are designed for separating differentsized materials directly onsite. The VSE product range from the Italian manufacturer features the rapid adjustment of output size via an instant control in the cabin.

This exclusive patent allows the shafts to be instantly distanced and closened, with maximum shaft travel of 40mm.

Simex recently introduced FIT – a new screening tool system that makes VSE

An MB-S23 screening bucket attached to a Cat 345C excavator, processing basalt in Iceland

screening buckets stand out even more in the competitive quarrying, construction and demolition application marketplace. Each FIT element comprises five independent parts, designed with no weldings to allow easy interlocking. Simex says the parts are easily replaceable, contributing to up to 75% lower maintenance costs as it is possible to replace even just one single disc or blade.

The FIT system allows multiple configurations depending on the screened materials.

Simex provides users with three different set-ups, but many others are possible thanks to screening elements that are 100% interchangeable. Adjustments in output size are controlled via FIT directly from the cabin, helping to reduce downtime.

A Simex VSE 30 screening bucket was recently used in the Italian province of Modena for the separation and recovery of materials resulting from the demolition of a private home.

As a result of the demolition, large quantities of concrete were crushed by a mobile crusher. However, the material resulting from this operation was still too coarse, making it unsuitable for reuse onsite.

The Simex VSE screening bucket separated the larger sized material (40-100mm) from the finer one (0-30mm), also sifting out the debris and soil.

The VSE 30 was equipped with the FIT tool system in the disgregation configuration, characterised by a central blade, more aggressive than the other configurations © AGGREGATES BUSINESS EUROPE January/February 2022

43

SCREENING BUCKETS & ATTACHMENTS

A close-up look at Simex’s VSE 30 screening bucket

A Simex VSE 30 screening bucket attached to a Liebherr excavator, screening demolition waste in Modena, Italy

available; this feature also allows a light crushing of the concrete during the screening phase, increasing the hourly production.

The reuse and remediation of the onsite material, thanks to the VSE 30 screening bucket, has significantly reduced the customer’s disposal costs and costs related to the purchase and transport of new raw materials.

A Simex VSE screening bucket customer in Lancashire, north-west England, needed to clean tonnes of topsoil from stones and gravel for landscaping purposes. Attaching a VSE 20 unit onto an excavator created

a mobile processing plant – resulting in a fine-sized aggregate ready to be transported and reused. Processed +55mm coarse aggregates were used directly on site. As well as producing quality end products, the deployment of the VSE 20 screening bucket is said to have saved the customer a great deal of time and money.

Swedish hydraulic attachments manufacturer Engcon says sales of its automatic quick hitch system with EC-Oil under the tiltrotator have increased by 76% in the last two years. The firm says that more and more excavator contractors are also

choosing EC-Oil on the top of the tiltrotator, enabling it to be connected or disconnected without having to leave the cab. Equivalent growth has also taken place for Engcon’s machine hitch with EC-Oil, where sales are said by the company to have increased significantly in recent years.

Martin Engström, Engcon’s product manager, says: “The figures speak for themselves. More and more people are realising the benefit of being able to quickly connect or disconnect their tiltrotator or other hydraulic tools without having to leave the cab. They also do not have to

www.aggbusiness.com The Aggregates Business website brings you the very latest in website functionality, with the most up-to-date content available relating to the quarrying and aggregates industry Untitled-1 1 © AGGREGATES BUSINESS EUROPE January/February 2022

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16/02/2022 13:11:01

www.AggBusiness.com

SCREENING BUCKETS & ATTACHMENTS

Engcon says demand for EC-Oil, which allows in-cab controlled connection of a tiltrotator or other hydraulic tools to an excavator, has grown significantly

bother with pressurised and dirty manual couplings.

“It’s incredibly gratifying to see these results because we know that this overall contributes to increased profitability plus comfort and safety.”

One of the customers outside the Nordic region who has realised the value of the quick hitch combined with EC-Oil is Sean Coghlan’s Shamrock Earthworks in Calgary, Canada.

Since 2017, Coghlan’s excavators have been equipped with a machine hitch and tiltrotator from Engcon.

“With Engcon’s tiltrotator, it does not

matter what position the machine is in; now I can easily rotate and tilt the stones into any position. You could say that the tiltrotator is the excavator’s wrist,” says Coghlan.

Early on, Coghlan equipped his tiltrotator with the automatic quick hitch system with EC-Oil, which allows him to connect and disconnect hydraulic tools without leaving the cab. In addition to the fact that it is easy to switch between hydraulic grippers, pallet forks, sweeper rollers, and buckets under the tiltrotator, it is just as easy to disconnect the tiltrotator itself from the excavator.

“Thanks to EC-Oil, I can disconnect the

tiltrotator in a few seconds and connect the bucket or other tool directly to the machine hitch. In this way, I increase the breakout force and save the weight for those times I do not need the tiltrotator in my work. It makes my excavator more efficient, and I save both fuel and time. In addition to time and efficiency, it is also very convenient to be able to connect hydraulic tools without having to leave the cab and get dirty,” says Coghlan.

Since 2020, EC-Oil has been included at no extra cost in the simultaneous purchase of Engcon’s machine hitch, tiltrotator and control system. AB

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© AGGREGATES BUSINESS EUROPE January/February 2022

45

QUARRY PROFILE

KLEEMANN DISPLAYS TRUE GRIT FOR BERGER ROHSTOFFE

A Kleemann PRO plant train is proving impressive at a highly productive German granite quarry by producing quality grit in just two stages. Guy Woodford reports

I

n Schlag, in Germany’s Bavarian Forest, Berger Rohstoffe has been operating a granite quarry for two-and-a-half years. This granite is crushed to road stone and grit in different fractions. The company was already working with a Kleemann plant train in a similarly structured quarry in the neighbouring Czech Republic. Due to this positive experience, a decision was also made in Schlag in favour of the mobile crushers, screens and stackers from the Göppingen, southern Germanyheadquartered manufacturer.

The robustness, stability and efficiency of Kleemann crushers were said to be of decisive importance. For Markus Penz, operating engineer and plant operator at

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© AGGREGATES BUSINESS EUROPE January/February 2022

Berger, Kleemann and the Wirtgen Group’s well-functioning maintenance and spare parts supply concept also played a role. This machine service ensures a high machine availability and trouble-free processes.

Kleemann mobile plants allow quarries to operate with a high rate of return because, even as extraction advances, the transport paths always remain short.

Berger Rohstoffe’s Schlag mobile PRO plant train has been in operation since August 2020. The core of the plant comprises the jaw crusher MOBICAT MC 120 Zi PRO and the cone crusher MOBICONE MCO 11i PRO. The screening plants MOBISCREEN MS 952i and MS 953i EVO and the stacker MOBIBELT MBT 20 supplement the plant train, which is impressive in its daily operation with its high

productivity and cost-effectiveness. Hard granite is turned into grit for high-quality concrete and mixed aggregates are produced for anti-frost layers.

The desired grit sizes are produced from the loaded granite in only two crushing stages. In the pre-crushing stage, the grain shape is only altered to a slight degree; the second stage consists of crushing to the specified size. “Normally, this is almost impossible. But, before starting work, for test purposes we had material from the quarries tested in Kleemann’s own laboratory. After fine-tuning of the plant according to these parameters, we produce continuously to this high-quality level,” explains Andreas Wagner, Kleemann special consultant from Wirtgen Germany.

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QUARRY PROFILE

“There’s not a lot you can do wrong during operation because the machine does not permit incorrect settings” Markus Penz, plant engineer and plant operator

The mobile Kleemann plant train in the Schlag quarry consists of one jaw and cone crusher respectively as well as two screening plants and one stacker

Markus Penz is extremely satisfied with the result. “Approximately half of the material is transferred to our concrete mixing plants. Their requirements are stricter than the applicable standards. This plant allows us to easily meet all our target specifications because it works even better than we thought.”

The complete plant train consists of five machines and operates as a line coupling. This means that automatic control stabilises the complete process. Each machine basically operates independently but forward signals to the upstream and downstream machines in the event of malfunctions or overfilling. The continuous feed system (CFS) also guarantees optimum utilisation of the crusher.

All components are loaded evenly. This is not taken for granted in stone processing where a natural product is to be turned into a standardised product.

The stone crushes differently and there are fluctuations in the structure of the deposits, due to the weather and the type of feeding. Output fluctuations are therefore normal.

It is precisely these fluctuations that are balanced out by the optimised process thanks to line coupling in combination with the machine control system, the correct selection of machines and, not least, through qualified personnel. The automated tuning relieves the burden on the operators and harmonises the process.

The connection of all machines also guarantees safety: if an emergency-stop button is pressed anywhere on the plant train, all machines are safely stopped.

This concept prevents damage or overload situations.

After delivery of the new plants, the three-man core crew in Schlag also had to familiarise itself with the operation of the mobile crushing and screening plants. It found this really easy because the crushing plants are equipped with SPECTIVE. SPECTIVE is an operating concept with an intuitive structure. It is started at the 12-inch touch panel. All data is displayed as values but also in image form. This means

The team from Berger Bau (from left to right: David Göttlich, manager of the quarry in Schlag, Markus Penz, plant engineer and plant operator and machinist Josef Dankesreiter) during the handover of the PRO plant by Andreas Wagner, Kleemann special consultant from Wirtgen Germany

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© AGGREGATES BUSINESS EUROPE January/February 2022

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QUARRY PROFILE

that the plant is also easy to operate by staff who are only deployed on rare occasions.

Furthermore, the clearly arranged user guidance contributes to safety. “There’s not a lot you can do wrong during operation because the machine does not permit incorrect settings,” says Penz.

After the first few months of using the plant and with the experience gained in the Czech Republic, the team in Schlag realised that machine availability was an additional plus point. Instructions are short and concise for everyday work but are very precise. A lot of tasks that go beyond the daily check can therefore be carried out single-handedly. This is guaranteed by the practical machine design that places the focal point on the needs of operators.

And if Berger Rohstoffe needs a service technician, the specialists from Wirtgen Group are easy to reach. “We have competent contact partners on every level: in sales, service and spare parts supply. We are already familiar with this good cooperation because we have other devices and products from the other brands in the Wirtgen Group.

Ownership of this plant train from Kleemann means that here in Germany we now have products in our fleet from all brands in the Wirtgen Group,” says Penz.

Kleemann machines with dual power have a module well along the path to sustainable stone extraction and processing.

Berger Rohstoffe wants to produce in an environmentally friendly manner. In the long-term, fossil fuels will not be acceptable - even in quarries. Berger Rohstoffe therefore ordered all components of the plant train equipped with the external power supply option. The screens can be driven, for example, either electrohydraulically or dieselhydraulically. At present, the purely electric drive is used in the Schlag quarry to operate the mobile screening plant MOBISCREEN MS 953i EVO using the power from the jaw crusher MOBICAT 120 Zi PRO. In the long term, the company wants to convert the complete structure of the quarry to electric drives. Apart from the machine selection, photovoltaic systems are also used in many of their plants. AB

Wide opening flaps and the practical arrangement of the relevant components reduce the complexity of the daily checks, maintenance and changing worn parts on the Kleemann machines

The SPECTIVE operating system from Kleemann displays all data as values, and also graphically.

This makes operation easier

Berger Rohstoffe has been operating a granite quarry in Schlag, in the Bavarian Forest, since 2020

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www.AggBusiness.com

EQUIPMENT UPDATE

New Doosan 21t excavators in three forms Doosan has launched its first 21-tonne crawler excavators - the new DX210-7, DX210NLC-7 and DX210LC-7 models, offering a choice of short, long and narrow or long and wide track configurations, respectively.

The new DX210-7 short track model is ideal for use on soft ground surfaces where lower ground pressure is required and is a compact unit offering advantages for working in confined spaces and for transportation.

The DX210NLC-7 narrow track excavator is aimed at countries such as Italy, where either regulations or customer preferences call for the narrow track configuration, providing Doosan with another highperforming option to offer customers in the 20-tonne sector. Perfect for rental companies, the new DX210LC-7 machine has a similar long track set-up to Doosan’s heavier DX235LC model.

All three new 21-tonne models are powered by the latest generation Doosan DL06V six-cylinder diesel engine, providing 124kW at 1800RPM. The DL06V engine offers a new solution to exceed Stage V regulations, without exhaust gas recirculation (EGR), that boosts the quantity of air available during combustion, increasing the temperature of the process and greatly reducing the number of particulates produced.

This is combined with super-efficient DOC/DPF+SCR aftertreatment technology to ensure minimal emissions. Thanks to the new technology, maintenance of the diesel particulate filter (DPF) has been greatly

A Doosan DX120-7 in action

reduced, with no maintenance required until the machine has operated for 8,000 hours.

The enhanced fuel efficiency of the DL06V engine in combination with a new hydraulic main valve and the new-generation SPC3 Smart Power Controls provides increased fuel saving. There are four power modes (P+, P, S or E) now available on the new models, which help to simplify the operation of the new excavators and can be set in both oneway and two-way working modes.

The new DX210-7, DX210NLC-7 and DX210LC-7 models utilise the hydraulic system used on Doosan’s heavier DX225LC-5

model, ensuring the operator has the fastest possible response, precision and hydraulic capacity to carry out their work. In addition to higher performance and cost savings, the new excavators are said by Doosan to offer more new features as standard than other machines on the market. Many of these features are common to the other new Doosan medium-sized excavators, offering major enhancements in machine controllability, versatility, operator comfort, uptime and return on investment, with a strong focus on increased productivity and robustness.

eu.doosanequipment.com

Cat IPUs ‘ready to be put to work’ Caterpillar has launched a range of drop-in engines, which are ready to get to work straight away, thanks to their ease of installation and dependable and robust design.

The new Cat C2.8 and C3.6 industrial power units (IPU) feature a highly integrated design that saves customers time on engineering and installation.

Common rail direct injection engines with a turbocharged or turbocharged aftercooled air system, the C2.8 and C3.6 meet EU Stage V, U.S. EPA Tier 4 Final and Japan 2014 (Tier 4 Final) emission standards. For ease of installation, the IPUs which are targeted at the construction and materialshandling industries, provide customers with full aftertreatment mounting, an integrated cooling system, a full wiring harness and mounting for the ECM and fuel filter.

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The new C2.8 and C3.6 IPU engines are cleverly engineered to provide the performance and efficiency customers expect from Caterpillar, all while saving equipment manufacturers time with a plug-in-and-go design, meaning minimal engineering or design work.

The new Cat 3.6 industrial power unit

The engines are offered in ratings ranging up to 55kW at 2400rpm for the C2.8 and up to 100kW at 2200rpm for the C3.6.

A flexible design makes these lightweight and compact engines ideal for use in construction and materials handling, and across

different environments, be it for a compressor in Dubai or a crusher in Norway.

“We’re really pleased to launch these new IPUs,” says Steve Ferguson, vice president Industrial Power Systems. “We know our customers will really value these compact and highly integrated engines, which thanks to the minimal engineering required, are ready to be put to work.”

Product support to keep the new C2.8 and C3.6 IPU engines operating at maximum efficiency is provided by the world-class global Cat dealer network. Cat dealers offer genuine Cat parts and a variety of services to optimize engine life and lower operating costs. In addition, dealer service technicians are trained to service the entire Cat industrial diesel engine range.

cat.com © AGGREGATES BUSINESS EUROPE January/February 2021

49

EVENTS | FOR A FULL LIST OF EVENTS VISIT WWW.AGGBUSINESS.COM/DIARY

2022

JULY 06-09: EIG 2022 Exeter, UK Organiser: EIG Conferences Email: marcus.dorey@hanson.biz www.eigconferences.com /future-conferences

MAY 05-07: RecyclingAKTIV & TiefbauLIVE Karlsruhe Trade Fair Centre, Germany Organiser: Messe Karlsruhe Tel: +49 (0) 721 3720 2300 Email: verena.schneider@ messe-karlsruhe.de www.recycling-aktiv.com

2023

MEET THE TEAM

JANUARY 19-20: CECE Congress 2023 Chamonix, France Organiser: CECE Tel: +32 2 706 82 26 Email: info@cece.eu www.cece.eu/

Aggregates Business travels the globe attending conferences, events and equipment shows, keeping you informed of the latest offerings. Come and join us for a chat at any of the events below.

AUGUST

17-21: Excon 2022 Bangalore, India Organiser: Confederation of Indian Industry Tel: +9144 42444555 Extn : 695 Email: excon@cii.in www.excon.in

JUNE 21-23: Hillhead Hillhead Quarry, Buxton, Derbyshire, England Organiser: The QMJ Group Tel: +44 (0) 115 945 4377 Email: Harvey.sugden@qmj.co.uk www.hillhead.com

30-02: M&T Expo 2022 São Paulo, Brazil Organiser: Messe Munchen Tel: +55 11 3868 6340 Email: info@mtexpo.com.br www.mtexpo.com.br/en/

31-03 Feb: bauma Conexpo India 2023 Greater Noida, India Organisers: AEM and Messe München Tel: +49 89 949 20251 Email: info@bcindia.com www.bcindia.com/

JUNE 2022 21-23: Hillhead 2022 Hillhead Quarry, Buxton, Derbyshire, England OCTOBER 2022 24-30: bauma Munich, Germany

OCTOBER 24-30: bauma Munich, Germany Organiser: Messe München Tel: +49 89 949 11348 Email: info@bauma.de www.bauma.de/en/

MARCH 03-07: SaMoTer 2023 Verona, Italy Organiser: Veronafiere S.p.A. Tel: +39 045 8298561 Email: customercare@samoter.com www.samoter.it/en

NOVEMBER 07-09: Trimble Dimensions Las Vegas, NV Organiser: Trimble https://dimensions.trimble.com /live

14-18: CONEXPO-CON/AGG Las Vegas, NV Organiser: AEM Tel: +1 (800) 867 6060 www.conexpoconagg.com

These dates were correct at the time of going to press, but please note that the COVID-19 pandemic means some events may be rescheduled with little advance notice

ADVERTISERS INDEX Advertisers in AGGREGATES BUSINESS can now be contacted via their websites - for instant links to all the websites listed below, by category, go to: www.AggBusiness.com COMPANY

PAGE NO

WEBSITE

Ammann

p23

www.ammann.com

BKT

p29

www.bkt-tires.com

Hitachi

OBC

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Komatsu

p7

www.komatsu.eu

Martin Eng

p17

www.martin-eng.com

MB Crusher

p45

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Telestack

p35

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Wirtgen

IFC

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TO EVENTS ON THE GO

www.constructiontv.tv Contact: Roger Adshead | radshead@ropl.com | +44 7768 178163

World of Asphalt

50

IBC

www.worldofasphalt.com

AGGREGATES BUSINESS EUROPE January/February 2022

www.AggBusiness.com

LEADING ASPHALT TRADE SHOW AND CONFERENCE “This was my first show and it was a great experience. Being able to see and talk with all of the vendors within our industry was a huge benefit for my current position and professional growth.

I now feel as though I have a better understanding of our industry and what vendors are available as well as technologies. This adds excellent value to our organization.” — Jamie Bailey, Lehigh Hanson

March 29-31, 2022 | Nashville, Tennessee Register for tickets at worldofasphalt.com

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