Gypsum Plant Conveyor Installation

Yoe was hired to install a 30 in. by 470 ft. long conveyor at a gypsum plant in Nashville, AK, requiring extensive assembly, steel fabrication for access platforms and building modification, as well as concrete construction for multiple conveyor support foundations.

Challenges for this mining and material processing conveyor installation project were plentiful, but Yoe was up to the task. In advance of Yoe’s arrival, the engineering team for the client discovered that the building itself required modifications and steel reinforcements to support the overall installation and developed a corresponding design plan for Yoe to utilize throughout construction. Yoe worked closely with the client to identify an assembly area where the 76 in. deep truss sections were offloaded, then assembled with dual walkways, idlers, skirt boards, pulley assemblies, pull cord, etc. Coordinating the heavy crane work for setting the conveyor sections included three “critical picks,” involving multiple cranes, and required portions of the plant to be shut down to production personnel to accomplish. The main conveyor support was a 98 ft. tall “V-type” support, the main towers of which were set on 80 anchors on the first try. Project complexity was further compounded near the middle of the approximately seven-month project when an unusual and major snowstorm presented weather-related challenges. Additionally, throughout the course of the project, 21 requests for information (RFI) were submitted to clarify issues with the design details and offer suggested alternatives.

To tackle the challenges presented by the mining and material processing conveyor installation, the Yoe team meticulously prepared materials and a strategy well in advance of arriving onsite in Arkansas. Yoe tasked their in-house steel fabrication team to build the needed building reinforcements, and access platforms at Yoe’s PA shop and delivered them to the AK site. The Yoe field team was then tasked with handling all the concrete work for the foundations, installing the items built at the steel fab shop, and assembling and installing the conveyor. To do the heavy crane work needed to set the conveyor sections, the plant temporarily shut down and the team worked on the weekends to ensure minimal production disruptions. Yoe also lost multiple days during the rare winter storm but made up the time due to their overall efficiency handling the many aspects of the complicated project. To minimize the impact of the 21 RFIs to the engineers, Yoe was able to work closely and quickly with them to clarify and modify designs to suit the job. Finally, the steel fabrication team was able to create the template needed to properly reposition the anchor bolts for the new conveyor. Because both the Yoe team and the client spent several weeks in advance planning, and each used a single point of contact for high-level communication, they were able to streamline the many facets of production to skillfully tackle a difficult job.

With careful pre-planning, constant communication, in-house capabilities, and collaboration, Yoe was able to install a new conveyor along with the necessary concrete foundations, steel building reinforcements, access platforms and chutes on time and on budget despite an unforeseen weather disruption, and design modifications.