Restoration of former gravel quarry
Originally a sheep farm, owned and run by the Behan family, from the 1970’s the site was leased by Ready Mix to excavate the sand and gravel that lay under the farmland. In 2002 the quarry was in the main fully excavated and the family took on the business of restoring the former Blackhall quarry. So began Behan’s Land Restoration, taking in construction and demolition (C&D) waste for restoration, backfilling and recovery purposes.
Initially there was a reasonable amount of C&D waste available, however following the severe downtown in the construction industry from 2009 until 2015 there was a corresponding drop in material available for restoration and recycling. The ability of Behan’s Land Restoration to invest in recycling was also hampered by the failure of the Irish State since 2011 to determine End of Waste status for recycled materials. However, a decision on this issue is understood to be due in 2017. Meanwhile the availability of construction waste is growing. The quantity of C&D waste in the whole of Ireland in 2013 was approximately 2.9 million tons, but, since then it has started to grow and in recent years it is reaching some 5.1 million tons per year.
With approximately 400 000 tonnes of waste per year to deal with, Behan needs robust machines to create the various grades of stone required to most efficiently deal with backfilling the site. The company based its decision to invest in Terex Finlay on its past experience of working with the brand, having previously used a 393 Finlay which proved a great workhorse for them. The latest additions to Behan’s machinery portfolio are a Terex Finlay J 960 Jaw Crusher and 863 tracked mobile heavy duty screener supplied by Ormonde Machinery (Fig. 1).
Jason Griffith, site manager at Behan, remarked: “We were looking for a jaw crusher that could pack a punch but which fitted with our budgets, the J960 has proven to be an aggressive crusher with high throughputs. We are seeing throughput of approximately 130 – 140 t/h of minus 100 mm materials. This is then fed into the 863 screener (Fig. 2), which with its versatility works well with the J960.” Fuel efficiency has proven to be a real positive for the company, with unexpectedly low running costs. “The telematics system indicated we are doing about 17 l of diesel per hour, from both an economic and environmental perspective this is positive for us,” states Griffith.
The compact size, excellent mobility and high crushing capacity even at tight settings in recycling and hard rock operations make the Finlay J-960 ideal for small to medium sized operators. Jason Griffith outlined why he selected this screener (Fig. 3): “The 863 is fitted with a 45 mm top deck and 20 mm bottom deck mesh, it splits the material off the crusher to give the specified products required. In our case 20 mm to 45 mm for drainage, and 45 mm to 90 mm for roads and finally the fines which is treated as waste product.”
As with all Terex Finlay jaw crushers, it comes with the T-Link remote monitoring and fleet management telematics system installed. This system enables owners remotely manage and stay connected to; keep track of their equipment, monitor work progress, manage logistics, access critical machine information, optimise machine performance and perform remote operator support.
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