Description of works
RJT Excavations conducted a three-year crushing campaign at Shap Blue Quarry, Penrith. The contract involved loading and hauling of blasted material from the quarry to the processing area, primary, secondary and screening operations and loading and hauling processed material to a fixed plant.
The process involved a 75 t excavator loading truck and two 40 t articulated dumpers from the working faces; the trucks hauled blasted rock to the processing area, where a 40 t excavator loaded a Powerscreen PT600 jaw crusher crushing at a closed side setting (CSS) of 125 mm. This discharged directly into a Powerscreen Maxtrak 1150 cone crusher with a CSS of 50 mm and was conveyed onto a Powerscreen Warrior 1400X screener producing railway ballast, type 1 sub-base and a clean 125 mm. Railway ballast and type 1 was loaded onto articulated dump trucks and hauled across the main A66 to the stocking yard. The clean 125 mm was loaded onto a land conveyor, which passed under the A66 to Breedon fixed plant to produce single sized-aggregates.
The railway ballast was removed from site by rail with one train per day leaving site. RJT Excavations plant processed in the region of 70,000 t per month to fulfil the site’s demands.
Works included
- Provision of all plant and labour
- Provision of secondary breaking of oversized material
- Strip and preparation of blast areas for drillers
- Minimising environmental impact by means of dust suppression
- Achieving specific material technical gradings and monitoring throughout production
- Correct environmental licensing for crushing equipment
- Supervisor to hold geotechnical level 3 qualification
- All personnel to hold Mineral Products Qualifications Council (MPQC) quarry passport
- Wheeled loading shovels fitted with VMS auto-braking system
- Articulated dump trucks fitted with in-cab audio reversing radar alarms
- Working to programmed timescales and achieving key production targets by a collaborative approach to works – collaborative working workshops, planning and progress meetings
- Positive relationships with client and project progress meetings
- Forward planning and identification of potential risks to the project and programme timescales