Bardon Asphalt at Coalville cleans up with a BagVAC system

Aggregate Industries has been using a Gotland BagVAC for several years, exploiting its dust removing capabilities to minimise manual handling issues and dust exposure risks at its Bardon Hill asphalt plant at Coalville, Leicestershire.

Bardon Asphalt, part of Aggregate Industries UK Limited, is one of the leading asphalt suppliers in the United Kingdom, and supplies a full range of both British and European Standard products and proprietary products for the transport and construction industry. Its asphalt plant at Bardon Hill is one the largest in the UK, and was installed by Benninghoven, a leading name in asphalt plant design.

Benninghoven asphalt plant and the BagVAC system
A key feature of the Benninghoven-designed asphalt plant at Bardon Hill resulted from the decision to equip it with a centralised vacuum system, designed and supplied by Gotland, with inlet valves around each of the six levels of the asphalt plant for attaching a length of flexible suction hose. The suction power is then supplied by a Gotland BagVAC, so that all the dust and build up that inevitably results from asphalt production is sucked away into a large one tonne IBC containers.

The beauty of the Gotland system lies in its numerous benefits, from minimising dust through its fully enclosed system from nozzle to bag, and the avoidance of manual handling risks, along with improving Bardon Asphalt's own H&S and general housekeeping standards.

The asphalt plant manager's perspective
The best person to describe the BagVAC experience is Jason Broughton, the asphalt plant manager at Bardon Hill: "The BagVAC dust removal system is used for the internal cleaning and dust removal of our Benninghoven Asphalt plant. This means working around and ups on seven levels internally, via the connectors we have on all levels for sucking all the dust away into the BagVAC system."

"Prior to commissioning and installing the BagVAC system, there was a serious manual handling issue. Bags were filled and removed by hoist on level six – using internal stairways. As a direct result of this laborious and unpopular chore, the housekeeping of the plant interior was left to become one of the last things anyone had or wanted to do."

How much dust and how often is the BagVAC used?
"We use it weekly to maintain housekeeping standards with the plant internals."

How easy is the BagVAC to use, and does it save time?
"The BagVAC's very user-friendly, which is another good point, as introducing new technology and equipment is always easier when the operatives find it simple to use and can immediately see the benefits to their working environment. It greatly reduces the time spent on the cleaning and housekeeping tasks compared to manual removal, based on volumes found and spillages – as many as four levels of the asphalt plant can be completely cleaned in a day."

So how was the BagVAC for Bardon Asphalt?
Jason's happy to have the last word on the BagVAC: "The BagVAC has made a big difference to achieving higher onsite environmental standards and it has improved our general house keeping standards."

"All in all, the BagVAC system is an excellent piece of kit that has effectively removed other critical issues like manual handling of bags with filler fines. It has made house keeping easy and enables us to maintain the high standards expected on site."