Turkish Delight

CDE mobile washing plant proves successful on major canal project in Turkey

Eren Construction have taken delivery of a new mobile washing plant for use on a major canal construction project in Turkey. The company is the principal contractor for the final 63km section of a 221km canal which will take water from the Ataturk reservoir for the irrigation of agricultural land in the east of Turkey during the hot summer months.

On winning the project Eren Construction ventured into aggregate production for the first time in an effort to reduce costs and increase control over the supply chain. The initial investment involved the purchase of two mobile crushing and screening plants, supplied by Borusan Makina.

As the project developed it became clear that the material being blasted and excavated on site, to be reintroduced to the canal construction project, needed washing in order to be able to deliver the quality of sand and aggregates required for use in the civils.

‘The dry crushing and screening process served our purpose adequately in the early stages of the project, but as time went by we realized that washing was needed due to the volume of silt and unwanted fines in the excavated material,’ explained Deniz Eren of Eren Construction. ‘The nature of the project required that the washing plant be mobile, because it would need to be moved every few months as the project progresses towards completion.’

It was at this stage that Borusan Makina suggested the M2500 mobile washing plant from CDE as the best solution for Eren Construction. ‘The M2500 offers the mobility that we need while also ensuring that the sand and aggregates we produce are of the highest possible quality, due to the very efficient removal of silts from the feed material,’ said Deniz Eren.

Eren Construction are one of the leading multi-disciplinary construction companies in Turkey and have a portfolio of many large civil engineering projects, including roads, viaducts, underpasses and sewage pipelines, as well as experience in residential and commercial construction.

The canal project represents the first time that the company has been involved in the production of its own sand and aggregate for use on a project. Prior to this the company would have used large quantities of river-won aggregates, but new legislation in Turkey required that they explore other avenues of supply. ‘Carrying out the washing and screening in house has been a big learning experience, but the new legislation means other aggregates projects are now inevitable, so it has been a positive step for the company,’ explained Yasar Eren, chairman of Eren Construction.

The construction of the canal requires the blasting and excavation of both limestone and basalt, and Eren Construction estimate that approximately 13 million cubic metres of material will be removed. The limestone will be used as backfill to create the canal’s graded slopes, while the basalt will be used in construction of the civils. ‘We needed to excavate the basalt to create the canal, so it made sense, logistically, to use it for aggregates,’ said Yasar Eren.

When complete, the canal will measure 10m in width at the bottom with graded 12m banks on each side allowing for a water depth of 6m.

In addition to the two mobile dry crushing and screening plants, and the M2500 mobile washing plant, there are a number of mobile concrete plants on site with a fleet of 10 truckmixers to deliver material to the construction sites. The M2500, which is being fed at a rate of 125 tonnes per hour from the dry crushing and screening plant, is producing four products: a –4mm sand and –15mm +4mm, –22mm +15mm and +22mm aggregates.

Once material has been delivered to the M2500 E4X the feed conveyor discharges the material on to a double-deck ProGrade P275 rinsing screen fitted with wire mesh on both decks. The +22mm material is removed by the top deck while the bottom deck removes the –22mm +15mm; both of these products are stockpiled by the integrated 9m wing conveyors.

Meanwhile, the –15mm material is sent to the integrated EvoWash sand washing plant where a split screen produces a –15mm +4mm aggregate and –4mm sand. Once again, both products are discharged to stockpiles via integrated conveyors. The CDE hydrocyclone technology employed on the EvoWash ensures effective removal of the silts from within the feed material, while the high-frequency dewatering of the sand ensures that it is discharged at 12% moisture content and can therefore be used in the production of concrete soon after production.

In addition to processing the newly excavated material, the M2500 will also be used to process some 60,000 tonnes of material that was stockpiled on site pending the arrival of the new washing plant.

‘The M2500 has been a very good solution for us,’ explained Deniz Eren. ‘Not only has it allowed us effectively to deal with the issue of excess fines in the dry screened material, but the mobility of the unit fits in with the requirements of the project perfectly. The whole installation and commissioning of the new washing plant was completed very professionally by CDE and, given the quality of the final products, this is a process that we will be using in future on other large civil projects that we are involved with.’

Commenting on the project, Iain Walker, CDE’s sales manager for Turkey, said: ‘The application of the M2500 on this project provides evidence of its mobility as well as demonstrating the ability of the unit to be employed by contractors on large civil engineering projects for the production of their own sand and aggregates on site.’

Eren Construction have also purchased an EvoWash 71 sand washing plant and two EvoScreen C-series dewatering screens, which will be put to work when the project moves on to the next location.

For further information visit: www.cdeglobal.com