by Diana Barnum
Clients' trucks head to the scale house but first approach Olen
Corporation's wheel wash system, rigged up with old piping.
Photos by
Diana Barnum
HILLIARD, OH - Need help stretching that budget? Check with your
employees. That is how Olen Corporation found economic dust control
solutions. Some crew members created their own equipment and designed
their own wash system.
“We converted an old Mack dump truck into a
water truck by adding our own tank,” said Jerry Bennet, quarry foreman at
Olen Corporation’s facilities on Amity Road in Hilliard, OH. “And we
rigged up our wheel wash system from old piping.”
Before clients’
trucks reach the scale house, they pass through Olen’s wheel wash system,
where a continual spray of water cleans off debris.
Meanwhile, Olen’s
old blue Mack water truck makes a complete round, watering down limestone
dust from the long entrance, around the operations area, and down into the
pit about every 45 minutes; less during busy times. Two man-made lakes
supply plenty of water; one waters the limestone mounds and operations’
area, the other waters the pit area below. A network of pumps, hoses and
filters eventually recycle the water, pumping it back into the lakes and
also into the Big Darby Creek nearby.
Originally, the Olen Corporation
in Hilliard was acquired by Kokosing Materials, Inc., in 1983. Olen’s
first site is now Antrim Park on route 315. In 1989, they began
construction of their Columbus sand and gravel operations at Hartman Farms
Plant #3. Today, Olen’s maintains six facilities in Ohio, including a new
one just getting ready to begin operations in Chillicothe; McCarthy
Concrete Division in Harpster, Olen Corporation in Stewart, in Saint
Louisville, and two in the Columbus area.
Equipment Design
Help
Olen Coporation workers added a tank to this old blue Mack truck
converting it into a water truck. It's spraying the path coming up out of
the pit in Hilliard, just outside of Columbus, Ohio.
Designing your own equipment sounds simple, right? There are resources
out there for help turning your dinosaurs into working Flintstone
machines. Mack-man Gary Williams, sales and leasing manager of Columbus
Truck and Equipment Company on East Fifth Avenue has been in the business
30 years and offers his expertise:
• First get a chassis with the right
CA dimension or cable axle – from front to back of cab to center of
axle.
• Then check with a tank manufacturer. He can help you select a
tank with this CA information.
• Make sure you have components to carry
the weight – have your Mack Man or tank representative go over
calculations with / for you. On average you need about 2,800 gallons of
water for quarries. Multiply 8.6 pounds per gallon of water X 2,800
gallons = 24, 080 pounds you’ll need to carry. Check your vehicle- it
might haul 12,000 pounds on the front axle, 23,000 pounds on the rear
axle, or 35,000 pounds, plus the truck weight.
For help with tank
specs, Shane Newson, sales manager of Valew Welding in Adelanto, CA offers
his expertise.
“The standard tank size for a quarry is 2,500 gallons,”
said Shane Newson. “We have tanks, complete kits, complete installation,
and can help.”
Water wash system designs were not readily available,
but Olen’s has offered to help anyone who would like to call.
Results
So what are the results of these economizing efforts?
Olen’s boasts good community relations. Their clean sites bring in
tours.
“We go out and talk to principals in schools – 3rd and 4th grade
are best,” said Bennet. “That’s when they have lessons in their curriculum
on geology, and they like tours.”
Teachers enjoy tours, too. Visitors
find fossilized arrowheads and shell imprints. They also discover answers
to questions like: What mineral resources are there in Ohio? How does
geology affect our land? What is the importance of mining? For example, a
group from the Ohio's Mineral Industries & the Environment Teachers
Workshop spent a half-day field trip was at the Olen Corporation Columbus
Plant #3 in Franklin County. Educators examined one of the latest dredgers
and a computer-managed sand and gravel operation.
Many Ohioans do not
realize that materials like sand, gravel and sandstone are produced in
their state. So Olen’s reaches out and helps teach them. There is
economizing on dust control solutions at Olen Corporation, but not on
education.
For help setting up a wheel wash system, contact Chris
Wagner or Leroy Walls at Olen Corporation, 4755 S. High Street, Columbus,
Oh 43207, 614- 491-1515 (ph). For vehicle conversion calculations, contact
Mack Man Gary Williams at Columbus Truck and Equipment Company, 1688 E.
5th Avenue, Columbus, OH 43219, 614-252-3111 (ph). For tank help, contact
Valew Welding at 12522 Violet Road, Adelanto, CA 92301, 760-249-4878 (ph);
760-246-4088 (fax); sales@valew.com (email) |