Lesson 1/Learning Event 5
Drainage is of prime importance in constructing the facility. You should construct adequate drainage channels
during the initial earthworking stage of construction and constantly improve them as the plant is built. This is
most significant in that most of the rock crushing plants have electrical components inherent to their operation.
PREVAILING WINDS
You should orient equipment in such a manner that prevailing winds carry the rock dust generated by the
processing machines away from the facility. You should take care to locate supporting equipment such as
generators and water pumps and permanent facilities, such as latrine, office, and maintenance shops out of the
path of winds carrying the rock dust.
ORGANIZATION OF SPACE
Your plant design should include adequate space around the equipment. This is needed to provide access areas
for maintenance personnel to perform repairs on the equipment, space to move cranes in to lift out and replace
worn jaw plates and roll shells, space for fuel trucks to move in and fuel the equipment, and space to remove and
replace complete processing units.
MATERIALS HANDLING AND STORAGE
Your plans for the plant should include adequate materials handling devices to expedite the flow of material
through the plant and eliminate double handling of the material.
You should use gravity flow through chutes where possible to eliminate the need for haul units. A headwall-ramp
should be constructed to allow haul units to back up to the apron feeder of the primary unit and discharge their
loads. If a problem with oversize rock is anticipated you should have a prescreening grizzly built in the quarry or
over the apron feeder to remove the oversize rock.
When possible, you should store quality product size aggregate in bins rather than in open stockpiles. This is
most important when the aggregate is crushed to specification sizes or has been washed. Open stockpiling of
aggregate can cause contamination of the product by windblown sand, fines, and trash. Also the use of bins
allows the complete use of all the product that is produced. Trucks drive under the bins and load the vehicles
through trap doors in the bottoms of the bins.
If the bins are not available for aggregate storage, headwalls should be built for stockpiles to ensure separation of
the different sizes of aggregate being processed. The area separating headwalls should be large enough to
stockpile
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