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Safety Innovations Awards
Quarry | Milling/Grinding | Pyroprocessing | Distribution | General Facility
Distribution
Lafarge North America Inc.
Joppa Plant
Grand Chain, Illinois
The Lafarge Joppa plant receives 95% of its raw material via barges on the Ohio River. The raw materials are unloaded onto a conveyor system using a recently installed Equilibrium Crane (E-Crane) with an 8-cu-yd clamshell bucket. The E-Crane is mounted on a pedestal above a "captive barge" positioned between two cofferdam type cells. The pedestal acts as a lever arm that amplifies the force exerted on the captive barge by the E-Crane. When the E-Crane was first installed, the captive barge rocked back and forth violently, at times shifting more than 36 in., creating very hazardous conditions.
Besides the hazard concerns, the
guides, which were designed to capture and control
the rocking of the barge, wore quickly and had
to be replaced every two to three months at considerable
cost. Plant personnel working on the captive barge
designed, fabricated, and installed a stabilizer
using the air suspension from a road truck and
common steel. The stabilizer reduced the barge's
motion 75% and eliminated the violent rocking.
The captive barge now rocks slower, providing
a safer environment for employees to work. Also,
the guides for the captive barge now last 9 to
12 months, roughly four times their original life.
The total cost for the stabilizer was approximately
$2,500.
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Grand Chain, Illinois
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