international
construction
july-august 2013
QUARRYING
34
The big payback
Quarry operators around the world are
finding that investing in new equipment
can deliver significant productivity and
efficiency gains.
Chris Sleight
reports.
T
erex has supplied ten 100 ton (91 tonne) capacity TR100
rigid dump trucks to work at the Ras Al Khaimah quarry,
in the UAE, believed to be the largest limestone quarry
in the Middle East.
Operated by a state-owned enterprise since it was opened
in 1975, the quarry has a fleet of more than 250 machines,
including 38 TR100s, plus 20 of the previous 3311 and 33100
models.
“We’ve got a big fleet of Terex trucks and that was a
major factor in the decision to buy the new TR100s,” said
technical and operations manager Simon
Turner. “The equipment was partly fleet
expansion, along with an element of fleet
renewal. We work 24/7, 365 days a
year here and working hours
on a machine can easily reach
7,000 hours per year.”
The quarry reaches 800 m into
the mountains behind Ras Al Khaimah,
with more than 20 active benches and up to 30
km of quarry face. The lowest working area is 40 m
above sea level and the highest is some 450 m above
that. Using computer-aided design, geophysical drilling and
laser profiling, the quarry team carries out blasting six days
a week, with more than 120,000 tonnes of material being
excavated each day.
Mr Turner took over running of the site last summer and has
overhauled the working operation, with impressive results. The
company has seen a +15% rise in efficiency and an even more
The big payback
The Ras Al Khaimah facility in UAE
is believed to be the biggest quarry
in the Middle East. It has just taken
delivery of ten 100 ton (91 tonne)
capacity Terex TR100 rigid haulers as
part of a fleet renewal and expansion
programme.
impressive +30% rise in productivity, with hardly any additional
machinery or personnel. Health and safety at the quarry has
improved significantly.
“It is a continuous course of improvement. We’ve seen some
big wins in terms of productivity, now the smaller things need
to be assessed. This site is primarily about logistics, it’s a load
and haul site. We have put the plan in place, now we need to
prove it.
“We’ve done a lot of time cycle analysis to see where
improvements can be made. We’re also looking at excessive
truck idling and correct positioning for better efficiency. We
look at everything from an efficiency point of view now,” said
Mr Turner.
Meanwhile Vancouver-based Vertex Excavating, a
subcontractor to Lafarge on a 90 ha quarry in the heart of
Canada’s Pacific Northwest rain forest, has different challenges
to contend with. With annual rainfall of 1.3 m or more, and
even more water to deal with from melting snow on the area’s
Vertex Excavating took delivery of one of the first Volvo EC380D excavators in North
America to help it tackle demanding site conditions on a quarry in Canada’s Pacific
Northwest rain forest
An imminent launch promised from Terex Washing Systems
(TWS) is the Aggresand, an all-in-one aggregate washing and
screening plant, with sand processing capabilities, all on a
modular chassis.
