The world's largest limestone quarry, and why blow bars wear out early
This week features Brian Howard of Stevin Rock, Johnny McCloskey of Kilsaran Booth, Jarrod Adcock of Superior Industries, and Sam Tucker of 979 Trucking.
Here is what is important:
- The world's largest limestone quarry picks CDE for washing
- Superior: why your HSI crusher's blow bars never reach full wear life
- Watch: a bespoke McLanahan screen ends seven years of wear problems (2 minutes)
- Astec launches a thermal imaging electrical inspection service
- A Chieftain 2100X making four products in Texas
1. The world's largest limestone quarry picks CDE for washing
On Thursday CDE announced that Stevin Rock selected it for two wash plants at Al Ghail in Ras Al Khaimah, the world's largest limestone quarry: a 250 tonne per hour plant already running and a 1,000 tonne per hour plant commissioning in 2027. The site produces over 100 million tonnes a year against reserves of 3.5 billion tonnes. Group Projects Director Brian Howard called the project a significant milestone as Stevin Rock lifts capacity. A reference point for what washing at scale looks like.
2. Why your HSI crusher's blow bars never reach full wear life
On Wednesday Superior published a diagnosis of early blow bar wear by Jarrod Adcock, its crushing product manager. Oversized feed clips the bar instead of striking it, excess fines cushion the blow, the wrong rotor speed foul tips rock across the bar edge, and imbalanced apron settings force grinding instead of impact. Adcock recommends roughly a 2 to 1 ratio between primary and secondary aprons, and matching metallurgy to the feed: manganese for impact, high chrome ceramic for abrasion.
3. Watch: a bespoke McLanahan screen ends seven years of wear problems (2 minutes)
On Thursday McLanahan posted a 2 minute customer story with Johnny McCloskey, managing director of Kilsaran Booth Northern Ireland, which supplies polished stone value aggregate for road surfacing. Seven years of hard, abrasive feed had worn his screening plant into constant maintenance. McLanahan sat down with his engineers and designed a replacement screen around the material, and McCloskey's verdict is the one that matters for certified products: the changeover was seamless and the product stayed identical.
4. Astec launches a thermal imaging electrical inspection service
On Monday Astec introduced a thermal imaging electrical inspection service for asphalt plants. Certified technicians scan energized systems, motors, motor control centers, panels, transformers and cabling, and read abnormal heat patterns as early warnings of loose connections, corrosion or overloaded circuits. No shutdown is required, and each inspection returns thermal images, temperature data and severity ratings. Electrical faults announce themselves as heat long before they announce themselves as downtime.
5. A Chieftain 2100X making four products in Texas
On Wednesday Powerscreen Texas published a customer story on 979 Trucking of La Grange, running a rented Chieftain 2100X at up to 661 tons per hour. The screen splits 1.5 to 8 inch feed into four products, including a fines free decorative rock they sell as Texas Blend and a 2 to 4 inch product that leads their sales. CEO Sam Tucker's read after a season on the machine: solid, and nothing beyond routine maintenance. A clean look at how one screen can carry a materials business.
