Silvi Materials Enjoys Continued Success with EIW Sand Plant that Spans 25 Years

Silvi’s Sahara Sand division operates three sand mining sites in South Jersey: one in Eagleswood, one in Port Norris and one in Franklin. The oldest of these, the Franklin location, has been owned by Silvi since 1993, when Sahara Sand opened a greenfield sand and gravel plant there.

Silvi’s second sand plant, at the Eagleswood location, was built from the ground up in 1997. With about 1,500 mineable acres and nearly 200 years of reserves, the Eagleswood facility produces concrete sand and mason sand for Silvi’s ready-mix facilities, as well as some gravel and road base products.

The Eagleswood site features a sand washing plant that is composed of two 12’x48’ EIW Classifying Tanks and two twin 66” EIW Fine Material Washers. The plant was supplied by Dibble Equipment, EIW’s equipment dealer in New Jersey.

The Classifying Tanks accept a pre-screened dredge feed, classify the material into various sizes and discharge the particles in the percentages required to meet construction sand specifications. The sand is then dewatered by the Fine Material Washers before being stockpiled.

The Eagleswood plant also features two EIW Log Washers that were installed several years after the plant’s initial commissioning. They are used to transform what would be a waste byproduct into a salable product for Silvi. The Log Washers process the oversize that is screened off ahead of the sand plant and produce a finished white/yellow gravel that is popular for decorating driveways and beachfront homes along the Jersey shore.

“Eagle has been very reliable,” said Brian Adams, Area Manager of Sand Mining and Exports. “It’s one of the best, well-built products out there.”

The Eagleswood plant has proven to be a triumph over the years.

“We’ve gotten great life and tonnage out of everything here,” said Adams. “The efficiency has been fantastic.”

In fact, the Eagleswood plant has performed so well that when Silvi was building its Port Norris location in 2021, the company designed the new plant after Eagleswood to replicate the success it had there.

“We looked around at other suppliers, but at the end of the day, we had such good success with the Eagle Iron Works equipment,” said Adams. “It was reliable. We went back to what we were comfortable with, and we stuck with what worked.”

Like the Eagleswood site, the Port Norris plant also features dual 12’x48’ Classifying Tanks and two twin 66” Fine Material Washers, manufactured by EIW and supplied by Dibble.

“What I like best about Eagle Iron Works is the reliability and longevity of the equipment,” Adams shared. “They’ve been in business for a very long time. The designs have not changed much over the years, and it’s because it was designed right the first time and it’s meant to last.”

One example of the durability and longevity of Eagle Iron Works equipment that Adams indicated were the gear reducers on the Fine Material Washers.

“The gearboxes on our 66” screws are pretty much indestructible. We’ve had zero problems with them,” he said. “Across the three facilities, we have a total of 14 gearboxes running, and we’ve only had an issue with one over the last 25 years and it was just a seal issue.”

The reliability and longevity of the equipment are one of the reasons that Silvi has continued to trust EIW for its aggregate washing equipment needs. Soon, Silvi will be upgrading the 15-year-old Log Washers at the Eagleswood site to one larger EIW Sol-Clay Washer that will not only handle the dredge feed, but also allow Silvi to dry feed material into the circuit to increase production.

The company will also be upgrading its Franklin plant with two EIW 10’x40’ Classifying Tanks.

“Eagle Iron Works has treated us well, and the longevity of the product is there,” explained Adams. “The support’s been great, and it’s been easy to work on, so why do you mess with success? We went back to Eagle Iron Works again.”