Articles

Many asphalt plants suffer from trunnion and tire problems relating to misalignment and poor adjustment procedures. In past articles I have talked about various methods of repairs such as trunnion/tire grinding. When a plant is operated continually with its trunnions poorly adjusted the results can be devastating, requiring major repairs. Trunnion adjustment is a difficult […]

Take a 5’ drum plant and put it into operation at 6500 feet elevation, feed it aggregate with 6% moisture and you will soon discover that your production rate is down around 40 tph. Add a couple of decades of wear and tear and the production rate can get as low as 20 tph. This

In PART 1 we discussed lockout-tag out accidents, burner safety issues and the dangers of poor maintenance practices. In PART 2 we will address some of the other areas of potential hazards and the consequences of taking them lightly. Numerous other dangers lurk around a plant, awaiting the unwary. Electrical shock injury is common, as

Asphalt plants can be very dangerous places. Accidents, sometimes fatal, happen far too often. Most can be traced to the same root cause: the need for production superseding common sense and normal safety practices. The incidents that follow occurred in the western U.S. in a five year period. Sadly, they were not the only ones.

I’m often asked what the future holds in the way of asphalt plant design. Orson Wells’ vision of the future holds the view that cars will travel through the air. We all hope that’s a few decades off because it doesn’t bode well for our industry: I don’t see a need for roads in mid-air.

So, after years of buying hot mix from the local supplier you’ve decided to purchase an asphalt plant and start producing it for yourself, and perhaps sell it commercially. Congratulations, you’ve made an important decision, one that, with planning and a modicum of luck, should make you money over the coming years. Now you are

Published in ASPHALT CONTRACTOR MAGAZINE, September 1997 This is Cliff in Red Square, Moscow Russia Through my business, I was fortunate enough to find myself in Russia this last summer, and I’d like to share some of my experiences and, perhaps, dispel some myths about the Russian people and their construction practices. I was called