Grupo Cementos de Chihuahua (GCC) is a global producer of cement, ready-mixed concrete, aggregates and related products to construction industries in Mexico, the United States and Bolivia. Like most cement manufacturing sites, GCC Dakotah employs an extensive conveyor system to handle raw materials and move finished product. GCC determined that significant upgrades could be made on conveyor transfer points to reduce spillage and dust emissions in the South Dakota facility.

The upgrade included six transfer points on four conveyors. “Most of the material handling system at this plant was fairly standard issue for its time, but some of the components were nearing the end of their life,” commented GCC Maintenance Manager Ralph Denoski. “We were also aware that significant advancements had been made in some areas of bulk handling.”

On each conveyor, Trac-Mount™ Idlers were installed. With new idlers in place, each transfer point received new Impact Cradles and Support Cradles. Working in conjunction with the Impact Cradles are a pair of Slider Cradles. Skirt boards were installed on each transfer point. Each system also included internal skirt board wear liners and a new tail box assembly. Each transfer point was outfitted with ApronSeal™ Skirting. Each conveyor was then fitted with a Tracker™ for the return side. Finally, each belt received a QC1™Cleaner and SQC2S™ Cleaner.

The entire upgrade operation was completed in just 11 days during the scheduled outage, with crews working 12-hour days to accommodate the planned shutdown. “Our experience with Martin Engineering has been very positive,” Denoski concluded. “The company’s greatest strengths are its knowledge of bulk material handling problems and the best solutions for addressing them. The no excuses guarantee gives us the confidence of knowing that Martin will stand behind their products.”