A Lafarge Tarmac quarry in county Bedfordshire, southern England, boasts the world’s first
Having moved two kilometres to its larger Broom South quarry from Broom quarry at the start of 2014,
“This was a new development site and we had a pretty good idea of what the deposit was like,” says Broom South quarry boss, Lafarge Tarmac regional operations director Andy Bate. ”At the previous site we had a fixed installation which was a myriad of conveyors and screens.”
Bate says certain planning conditions and constraints had to be met when Lafarge Tarmac switched to the Broom South quarry. “Part of the planning criteria was that we were limited on height and visual impact. We also have long-term supply agreements in place with a number of customers in the construction sector, who demand a tight specification and who come to us because they know we can supply the quality and volume they require.
Moving to the new quarry and installing this new equipment was part of our strategy for increasing our supply to them.
“As well as needing a low [height] level plant, we wanted a low cost, low ground pressure plant, with proven technology and flexibility.”
Combined with a TWS Finesmaster 120C static sand recovery unit, the AggreSand 206 at Broom South quarry is processing nearly double the capacity of the previous fixed plant.
Of the AggreSand 206’s production capacity compared to the previous fixed wash plant at Lafarge Tarmac’s former Broom quarry site, Bate says: “This plant is very innovative and compact, and gives us the ability, especially on sand production, to have ultimate flexibility, so we can make two sands at varying cuts. We have a 0-4mm concrete sand and a 0-2mm fine sand, which is the grade most in demand from our customers.”
Suitable for all construction, recycling, industrial, and mining applications and able to be fully containerised, the AggreSand 206’s innovative modular design, serviceability and functionality, offers rapid and easy assembly, as well as easy maintenance.
All AggreSand plants also come with prewired and pre-plumbed plug and play componentry, isolated spray bars and a simple automated control system, all of which have been delivering efficient, productive performance for current owners.
Bate says among the key reasons why Lafarge Tarmac opted for the AggreSand 206 wash plant was its ability to extract moisture from the final sand product. “Our customers demand very tight specification and we need to be able to manage this consistently to ensure that we’re delivering the highest possible quality aggregates, especially if the weather is inclement,” he explains.
Bate says demand for Lafarge Tarmac products is shifting. “Especially in the south-east, demand has increased,” he explains. “It’s fuelled by housing and road building. There’s the A14, A11, the M1 widening and the M25 ongoing upgrade works. We’ve invested heavily to meet the planned 15-20% growth in demand, and we want to guarantee the continued delivery of quality products and solutions to our customers.”
Of the alliance between Lafarge Tarmac at Broom and Broom South quarries and TWS dealer Duo, Bate says: “We’ve had a relationship with Duo for a number of years and it’s worked very well. If we’ve got an issue and need a problem resolution, not just with the plants we’ve got with Duo, they’ve got the technical expertise to help us out.”
Iain Walker, TWS global sales director, says that other AggreSand 206 wash plants would soon begin operating in other parts of the world, after being shipped to customers in, among other countries, the US, Canada and Poland.
