20 • ROCK products • July 2017 www.rockproducts.com
The route selected included 2,500 ft. of on-grade conveyor
and 1,400 ft. of elevated conveyor mounted on structure, one
highway crossing and three wetland crossings that could not
be disturbed.
The overland conveyor transports 1,800 tph of material at
500 ft. per minute. The conveyor is driven by a dual pulley
drive on the return belt run using 700 hp in total. The
high-tensile fabric belt is rated at 1,250 piw. The horizontal
take-up provides 38 ft. of travel.
Using the preliminary design report to define the scope of
the project, Allegheny Mineral solicited bids to purchase
the structural and mechanical engineering, steel fabrica-
tion, equipment procurement and field installation as one
contract.
Contracting Strategy
This design-build contracting strategy has significant ben-
efits as compared to buying each of these items separately.
It eliminates much of the owner's risks during construc-
tion that can occur with multiple contracts, and rather than
buying the individual components, guaranteed performance
can be secured from a single source with full responsibility
for all details.
In May 2016, Allegheny Minerals awarded the contract to
Industrial Resources to provide the final design, equip-
ment procurement, steel fabrication and construction of
the conveyor. By early July, field construction began on the
foundations, and by early August steel erection began.
This work did not include the electrical installation, which
was provided under a separate Allegheny Mineral contract.
Construction of the mechanical and structural installation
was completed by January 2017. As with any project of this
magnitude, there were small changes, but none of signifi-
cance as compared with the initial design report.
Allegheny Mineral has been very happy with the Industrial
Resource's engineering and on-site construction team. "Both
groups have been detail-oriented and the conveyor was
designed for long-term use without the short cuts so often
found in modern-day fabrication," Kolb said. "Overall, Allegh-
eny Mineral is very pleased with the performance of the
Industrial Resource team. This project provides an example
of how a large capital project can be procured using design-
build contracts."
Information for this article courtesy of Raymond A. Perr, P.E.,
marketing director and J. Boyd Rankin, P.E., manager of engi-
neering. They can be reached via the company website, www.
indres.com.
ALLEGHENY MINERALS
Drive tower.
Setting truss.