The construction of the £9m project will commence in June this year and is due to be completed and commissioned in October 2000. The Quarry will have an operational life of twenty years upon which the site will be flooded to create a picturesque lake.
The product is crushed at the quarry face by an Impit Loco-track Crusher method. The product is then conveyed into a diverter valve that feeds the primary and secondary stockpiles. From the primary stockpile, three vibratory feeders located in an underground tunnel, extract the stone at a rate of 900 tonnes per hour, it is then conveyed into a CA1060 secondary crusher. The product is reduced from nominally -350mm to -100mm. The crushed product is screened at a rate of 1350 tonnes per hour through an acceptance-screening regime. The product is stored in nine bunkers holding 8000 tonnes of sized material ranging from -4mm to +40mm.
The quarry then has three options for distributing the crushed product; Toast Rack ground storage, rail outloading and lorry loading. The surplus stone sizes can also be re-fed into a CA1544 tertiary crusher. Fairport and Tilcon have invested heavily in information technology to ensure the project is managed as efficiently and as smoothly as possible. A dedicated server network has been established between the two offices to process and transfer documents such as drawings, correspondence, and specifications via the Internet.
Fairport Managing Director Paul Fitton said, "We are delighted to be involved in the largest new quarry project in the UK. This further underlines Fairport's strength in the heavy materials handling market." He added, "Never has a quarry of this size been constructed around the principle of 'impit' crushing. The method and approach is also revolutionary since the project is being carried out under the NEC contract….If we carry on in the same spirit we have conducted matters with Tilcon, this indeed will be a truly successful project for both parties."