Pioneer Mines with new DSC Marlin Dredge

Pioneer Materials,Inc.
mines with new DSC
Marlin class dredge
Volume 18
No. 2
April/May 2013
Sandd & Gravell / Dredging
Wearr Partss / Portablee Plants
by Jon M. Casey
F
Pioneer's DSC Marlin class dredge is idle today as the crew awaits the midday temperatures to rise above the freezing mark.
or the folks at Pioneer Materials (a member overall history of reliability throughout the industry. spring, it was completed and commissioned into
of the Oldcastle Materials Mid-Atlantic After site visits to other sand plant dredging opera- service. Since then, it has performed without any
Group), the decision to acquire a new tions, using a variety of brands of dredging equip- unexpected problems, producing nearly 650,000 tons
dredge for their sand and gravel mining ment, we agreed that the DSC Marlin class unit was of material in 2012. He said that they have met their
operation at the Tarburton facility near the one for us. A year later, we are extremely pleased production without delay and because of the mild
Dover, DE, turned to finding the right with our decision.”
winter this year, production has continued for most
equipment for the job based on production capability
Pioneer’s Tarburton plant is one of the largest of the winter. Ironically, on the sunny day that we
and more importantly, reliability. After working for producers of sand on the Delmarva Peninsula. visited the facility, the dredge was not in operation
more than a decade with a custom designed catama- Pioneer Materials, formerly Tilcon Delaware, has because outdoor temperatures were remaining below
ran style cutterhead suction dredge of a foreign ori- been serving the area for more than 25 years and is freezing.
“We like for the temperatures to be above freezing
gin, the management team at Pioneer looked for a one of the area’s largest construction materials supU.S. company for a replacement when it was time to pliers. Along with the operation at Tarburton, near to keep the processing plant from icing up,” said
make the change. Dredging Supply Company, LLC Little Creek, DE, they have a second sand and gravel Plant Supervisor Jay Clendaniel. “The dredge could
(DSC) proved to be the company of choice.
plant in Dover, DE. Additionally, Pioneer Materials keep operating, but the belts ice up and it makes for
“We looked at several U.S. manufacturers before has stone yards in Dover, Felton, Dagsboro, DE and a real mess. Since we operate an electric dredge, we
want to have as much uptime as possible to cover the
deciding to go with a Marlin class dredge from DSC,” Delmar, MD.
electric costs. On days like today, we provide materisaid Jeff Dawson, general manager for Pioneer
The new Marlin class dredge
Materials. “We were looking for a dredge that could
Dawson said that the crew began assembling the al for our customers from the stockpiles that we build
meet our production tonnage requirements, with an new unit at their site in January 2012. By early for this purpose.”
“The dredge supplies most of the water for the wash
plant since the sand and gravel is pumped to the
plant in a slurry,” he said. “We are pumping at about
7,200 gallons per minute when we are operating.
That gives us a production rate of about 400 to 450
tons per hour.”
Material processing
Clendaniel said that the slurry moves about 4,000
feet in total, from the dredge to a booster pump and
up to the top of the plant where it passes over a new
stationary screen before going through a 6 X 20
Deister screen. From there it moves into a Kohlberg
10 X 40 classifying tank. Twin EIW (McLanahan) log
washers finish the job with the result being a clean,
light masonry or concrete sand with a third, white,
golf course sand as the remaining sand product from
this plant. Slurry water is returned to the pit.
On the gravel side of the plant, the gravel that is
removed from the slurry, passes over a Deister 4 X 10
screen and through a twin McLanahan log washer
coming out as 3/8-inch pea gravel, 3/4-inch concrete
gravel and a 1 to 2-inch stone that can be used
primarily for landscaping and drainage applications.
“We also see a lot of this used as base material for
storage tanks at gas stations,” said Clendaniel.
The dredge's high visibility cab gives the operator a clear view of the entire pit and dredging equipment.
Pioneer 13
Page 3 • North American Quarry News • April-May 2013
Pioneer Materials mines with new
DSC Marlin class dredge
April-May 2013 • North American Quarry News • Page 4
Pioneer
from 12
With plenty of reserves still in place for future
mining, Dawson and Clendaniel both see a bright
future for this operation. “Most of our material goes
north into Pennsylvania for asphalt, concrete and
other applications within Pioneer Materials, Pennsy
Supply and other Oldcastle companies,” said
Dawson. “With this dredge begin able to mine down to
74-feet; we have the capability of mining well into the
future with this dredge. We have two sites here that
are available to us and we move the unit between the
two pits when we have need for the material that is in
either of the pits.”
To learn more about Pioneer Materials, visit their
website at www.pioneermaterials.biz. For more information on DSC Dredges, visit the DSC website at
www.dscdredge.com.
From the back side of the plant, stockpiles of differing materials display the contrast of the white sand on the right with
the darker material on the left. The plant was not in operation at this time due to temperatures below 30 degrees
Fahrenheit.
From time to time, a large stone or two will get caught in
the drill bit and need individual attention to be removed.
Washed 1to 2-inch gravel is one of the products available at this Pioneer plant.
John Lang loads 3/4-inch gravel into a dump truck headed
for a nearby concrete plant.
On the aggregates side of the plant, material is washed
and screened into three sizes.
A truck crosses the scales at the Pioneer Materials plant near Dover, DE.