Fraser Valley Aggregates Increases Production with EIW Wash Plant Upgrade
Fraser Valley Aggregates is a multi-generational family-operated company headquartered in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada. They are one of British Columbia’s premier aggregate producers and suppliers. With pits throughout the Fraser Valley, Fraser Valley Aggregate mines, processes and sells a variety of stone, sand and specialty products, as well as several crushed aggregate and fill products used for landscape and construction purposes.
BACKGROUND
At one of their pits in Abbotsford, Fraser Valley Aggregates was operating an Eagle Iron Works wash plant to produce their concrete aggregate products. It performed reliably for many years, but the high demand for aggregate products meant Fraser Valley Aggregates was selling their material as fast as they produced it. They needed to get more material on the ground to keep up with their sales.
“That wash plant has done an absolute phenomenal job over the decades, and it was time for it to be upgraded,” said Meghan Trca, an operations manager with Fraser Valley Aggregates. “Eagle products happen to last a significant period of time, so might as well go with them again.”
APPROACH
Fraser Valley Aggregates contacted Mormak Equipment, Eagle Iron Works’ dealer in the British Columbia and Alberta provinces of Canada about upgrading their wash plant to increase their productivity.
“They wanted to up their production from their old Eagle spread and have the new advancements in technology to make everything run smoother,” explained Mormak Equipment’s Jason Berg.
The plant upgrade included an Eagle Iron Works 10’ x 40’ Water Scalping Sand Classifying Tank with the latest in the Mark series of control software, a 44” x 32’ Double Shaft Coarse Material Washer and a 36” x 25’ Single Shaft Fine Material Washer.
On the coarse aggregate side of the plant, the EIW Coarse Material Washer scrubs and cleans the rock before it is sized and separated into product piles.
On the sand side of the plant, the EIW Classifying Tank separates the sand particles in successively smaller sizes down the length of the tank. Valves release the sand in each station into collecting-blending flumes, where the fractions are automatically reblended to meet Fraser Valley Aggregates’ product specifications using computer software that features an easy-to-use touchscreen interface. This is an improvement over manually controlling the blending process in the tank as had been done previously.
The material discharged from the Classifying Tank is dewatered for stockpiling via the EIW Fine Material Washer, which features a curved plate and drainage trough in the dry deck area for a drier final product.
IMPACT
With the new Eagle Iron Works wash plant, Fraser Valley Aggregates has been able to increase their production to approximately 500 tons per hour.
“We can do almost double the production that we were off our current updated plant than we could off our old plant, with less waste,” Trca said.
“It’s actually exceeding their goals,” Berg added. “They’re very happy. We’ve been dialing it in to run more efficiently, and they’re very happy with what they’re getting out of it.”
In addition to maintaining a quality, in-spec product at high capacity, Fraser Valley Aggregates’ new EIW plant offers unmatched reliability.
“The equipment is very heavy duty. It’s built to last, and it runs trouble-free for many, many years,” said Berg. “We have equipment that’s been in the industry working for 40-plus years, and that’s commonplace with Eagle equipment.”
“We haven’t had any issues, and we don’t plan on having any issues with Eagle,” Trca shared.
Another benefit is Fraser Valley Aggregates’ relationship with Mormak. The two companies have been working together for over a decade.
“Mormak’s been a great outlet for us here,” Trca said. “They’re able to provide a really good service on any of the parts and materials that we need, and they were instrumental in the building and acquiring of the components for this new wash plant.”
Berg said he loves selling EIW equipment because of its quality.
“Eagle is the number one brand in the industry,” Berg said. “They’ve been around a long time, and they make equipment that lasts.”
Trca added that EIW’s commitment to improving their products along with the advancements in technology over the years have given Fraser Valley Aggregates the ability to produce a better quality product in the same or least amount of time.
“We’re a production-based company, so the more that we see coming off of our belt, maintaining the quality of our product, the happier we are,” she said.
