Mobile washing employed on major canal project in Turkey

Eren Construction has taken delivery of a new mobile washing plant for use on a major canal construction project in Turkey. Eren Construction are the principal contractors for the final 63km section of the 221km canal which will take water from the Attuturk 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.

As the project developed in became clear that the material being blasted and excavated on site to be reintroduced to the canal construction project required a washing process 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 soon realised that washing was needed due to the volume of silt and unwanted fines in the excavated material" explains Mr. Yasar Eren, Chairman of Eren Construction. "The nature of the project required that the washing plant be mobile as it would be moved every few months as the project progresses towards completion."

It was at this stage that the M2500 mobile washing plant from CDE was introduced to Eren Construction. "The M2500 offered the mobility that we needed 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" says Mr Yasar 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.

This canal project is the first time that Eren Construction have been involved with the production of their own sand and aggregates for use on a project. Previous 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 experience with a lot of learning in the process but other aggregates projects are inevitable now with the new legislation so it has been a positive step for the company" explains Mr Yasar Eren.

The construction of the canal requires the blasting and excavating of both limestone and basalt with an estimate that approximately 13m cubic metres of earth will be removed. The limestone will be used as backfill to create the graded slopes for the canal while the basalt is being 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" says Mr Yasar Eren. When complete the canal will measure 10 metres wide at the bottom with graded 12 metre banks on each side allowing for a water depth of 6 metres,

In addition to the two mobile dry crushing and screening plants and the M2500 mobile washing plant there are also mobile concrete plants on site with a fleet of ten mixer trucks to deliver material to the construction sites. The M2500 is being fed a rate of 125 tons per hour from the dry crushing and screening plant and is producing four products — 0-4mm sand and 4-15mm, 15-22mm and +22mm aggregates.

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

The -15mm material is sent to the integrated EvoWash sand washing plant where a split screen allows for production of a 4-15mm aggregate and 0-4mm sand, once again discharged to stockpiles via the integrated conveyors. It is the hydrocyclone technology employed on the EvoWash that allows for the effective removal of silts from within the feed material while the high frequency dewatering of the sand ensures that it is discharged at 12% moisture, ensuring it can be used in the production of concrete very 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 has been stockpiled on site awaiting the arrival of the new washing plant. "The M2500 has been a very good solution for us" explains Mr Yasar Eren. "Not only has it allowed us to effectively deal with the issue or 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 sales manager for Turkey said "The application of the M2500 on this project provides evidence of its mobility as well as demonstrating the capability 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 and 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.