Posted on February 4, 2019
Super Aggregates’ Marengo Materials dredging operation, which lies just to the west of Chicago, is stockpiling material for future growth.
Super Aggregates, co-owned by Dan Plote of Plote Construction and Jack Pease, has been a sand and gravel producer in northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin since 1970, offering a wide variety of products. Its Marengo Materials LLC dredging operation lies just west of Chicago in the small town of Marengo, Ill.
“This facility was previously owned by Prairie,” says Chris Alby, sales representative for Super Aggregates. “They operated it for quite a while, and they started to update the plant, but stopped. It had been dormant for a while when we purchased it in 2016.”
“When we bought the property a few years ago, there was a 100-acre lake,” says Tory Pease, president, Super Aggregates. “We stripped around 8 acres — about 2 feet of black dirt on top. We’ve just about got that mined, so we’re stripping another 8 acres heading north this winter.”
The water table is close to the surface in the area, so the black dirt being stripped off sometimes falls into the water, requiring the stripping crew to use berms to help keep the water back. Once it is stripped off, the black dirt is stockpiled on the other side of the pond, where it is eventually pulverized and sold for top soil.
Upgrading the operation
After purchasing the operation in 2016, Super Aggregates set about doubling the size of the processing plant by adding a crusher and a second wash screen.
Super Aggregates had big plans for the future of the operation, which included being ready to supply materials as the Chicago suburbs expanded in that direction. Immediately after purchasing the operation, the company set about doubling the size of the processing plant by adding a crusher and a second wash screen. It also greatly increased its stockpiling capabilities by building a high-volume radial stacking conveyor for stockpiling its concrete sand and 3/4-inch gravel, which are the main products produced at the facility.
“One of the big things we did different from everybody else was to build massive stockpiles,” says Alby. “You’ve seen elevated conveyors, but nothing this high. We were trying to get the conveyors elevated as much as possible to stop the wheel loaders from driving on the stockpiles, creating contamination and fines.”
The massive stockpiling system includes a 125-foot-long, 270-degree radial stacker set on top of a concrete track elevated 55 feet above the ground. This makes it possible to create a 95-foot-high stockpile capable of holding as much as 350,000 tons of material. The concrete track for the conveyor was poured on the ground and then lifted into place with a crane.
The stockpiling system also features large metal pipes with holes cut into the sides all the way down to allow the material to run out without having to fall more than 15 feet (which is the limit in Illinois) from the stacker conveyors. Each pipe is welded to a massive concrete foundation for stability.
The system’s concrete arch not only allows the creation of a huge stockpile, it decreases the amount of time spent double handling the material and reduces the number of employees needed to run the operation. Only two employees are required to be on site when the plant is in operation — one on the dredge and one in the loader.
“Tory himself built that system with his father’s engineering,” Alby notes. “He did all the construction in house. Tory is so innovative. He always finds a way.”
“My dad dreamed all this up and got it built, and I put it together,” Pease says, adding that his father sketched it out by hand. “He said, “Let’s see how good you are, if you can make it all line up when you start at one end and get to the other end.’ He made everything ahead of time, and I had to make the pieces fit. I moved it around a little bit to make it line up, but it fit.”
The improvements were completed by March 2018, increasing the operation’s production capacity to 450 tons per hour. The focus then shifted to stockpiling enough material to get through the winter, because the dredge and processing plant shut down from December to March because of freezing conditions. Once temperatures drop below about 28 degrees Fahrenheit, the ice builds up on the pulleys and belt rollers, making it impossible to continue operation.
“We’re just trying to give ourselves a large enough surge pile to, hopefully, get those big landfill jobs that take 300,000 to 400,000 tons,” Pease explains. “We try not to have to move the material twice. We want to take it from the water, put it in the stockpile, load it in a truck, and send it out the gate, and, hopefully, not move it in between.”
Dredging and processing
All the action at the operation begins with an electric dredge, which was redesigned by Custom Dredge Works. The dredge’s chain ladder drive just drops down into the water, chain saws the ground to 100 feet down, then lifts back up and moves over a bit. The dredge, which is powered by a 7,000 volt extension cord, requires only one operator.
“This dredge was 20 years old when we bought it,” Pease notes. “We completely dismantled and refurbished it. It has all new electric components and was repainted.”
All the water and material sucked up by the dredge goes through a pipeline to the top of the dredge box in the processing plant. Weirs inside the dredge box help to knock down the power and force of the water. The material is then separated from the water and fed through the plant for sizing, crushing, screening, and washing before being placed into the appropriate stockpile.
Everything is shipped out of the plant by truck. The company owns approximately 80 trucks, and during busy times, has 100 or so brokers who come in and haul the product out. In addition, some customers haul product with their own trucks. Alby says an average of 100 truckloads of product goes out every day, but during the busy season, it can be as much as 300 truckloads a day.
There’s no one in the scale house at the operation. All the transactions are done through cameras and an automated system. The truck drivers who frequent the facility call on their cell phones as they pull up to the scale. They’ll give their truck number, say what company they want, and state what product they’re after. They pull up on the scale to check their weight, and the cameras verify the material. They then pull over and go up to the scale house to sign a copy of their ticket. The same system is at every Super Aggregates operation.
“The facility has the capability of doing sales anywhere from 500,000 to 600,000 tons per year,” Alby explains. “Right now, our sales are about half that. We have three different contracts, one is a very large ready-mix producer. That’s why we built all this, to show those guys that we are ready and capable.”
Employees currently work 8 to 10 hours a day, but if the operation needs to ramp up production, it will do whatever it takes to meet those needs. Alby says the company would add an extra shift and hire more people, if necessary.
The recycling plant
There is a concrete recycling plant on site that the company owns and operates. The concrete comes from roads, construction jobs, foundations, curb. etc. The concrete is run through a processing plant that consists of a jaw crusher with a magnet to remove rebar and other metals, one or two transfer conveyors, and a stacker. The material is made into a CSO 1 product, which is basically a 4-inch minus. The Illinois Department of Transportation requires 12 inches of that product prior to the 6- to 8-inch road base on every road in the state.
“When you’re out this way where there’s no rock, the recycled product fills some of the need,” Alby explains. “Typically, we have a guy here with a breaker breaking at the same time the loader is grabbing the rock. When we get an order, it goes out by bulk. It’s not hard for us to bring in two guys and quickly put down 4,000 or 5,000 tons a day. It’s a real simple, self-contained Lippmann plant.”
Safety and training
All the employees at Super Aggregates go through MSHA (Mine Safety and Health Administration) training prior to beginning work. One person is designated to be in charge of the safety program, including tool box talks and such, for all of the company’s operations in the area. The safety coordinator goes by each operation to check things and make sure everyone is up to date on training.
“He just walks through each operation double checking everything — fire extinguishers are on the towers, log books are in the loader, etc.,” Pease explains. “He’s there to supply the guys with anything they need, and he does all the books to make sure everyone is up to par on training.”
“Other than that, we have eight hours of refresher training every year, as well as CPR training,” Alby adds. “We try to do our refresher training in increments. We want the employees to take it all in. We do it on site rather than in a classroom, so it’s specific to the individual plant.”
Because it is a dredging operation, all employees on the water or within a few feet of the water are required to wear a flotation device. Two boats are also required on site, so when the dredge operator takes one boat out to the dredge, another boat is available for someone to go out to rescue him, if there’s an emergency.
The operation is also kept neat, clean, and free of possible hazards. The signs at the front entrance were updated to look nice and provide contact information.
Looking to the future
Super Aggregates is a growing company. In 2007, it had three pits and one recycle yard. By 2018, it had increased the number of pits to nine.
“We’ve gone through a wonderful expansion,” Alby says. “We’ve got two more in the holster that we’re working on, also.”
“They’ll eventually be putting in on and off ramps on Highway 90, which is just a couple miles down the road,” Pease notes. “We’re hoping to get some of that business. Chicago will be growing out this way, too, so we hope to get some of that business as well.”
The Marengo Materials site has at least another 30 to 40 years of reserves, depending on demand. When the reserves are all used up, there won’t be much reclamation involved. The dredged out area will become a 350-acre lake. Pease’s father is a land developer in the area and has turned previous quarries into residential subdivisions.
“There’s not a more beautiful spot to live in,” Pease says, adding that he and his brother have built their homes in one of their old 60 quarries. “It’s finished, and the water is beautiful and clean.”
Equipment List
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- Twinkle 800-horsepower all electric dredge with 40-foot chain and 100-foot ladder
- Deister 8×20 triple-deck screen
- Deister 5×16 double-deck screen
- Kolberg 40-foot classifiers (2)
- Kolberg 54-inch sand screws (2)
- Kolberg 48-inch sand screw
- KPI 42×33 impact crusher
- TCI & Kafka conveyors
Source: Aggregates Manager
