Total Control Over Production - Hot-Mix Magazine

CONTINUING
TO BUILD A FAMILY
TRADITION
HOT-MIX MAGAZINE 24 VOLUME 11, NUMBER 1

With a 200-tph rating, King George Asphalt’s
new HMA facility with the Astec Double Barrel ® dryer/mixer
gives this entrepreneur control over his own product.
HAVING TOTAL CONTROL
over the hot-mix asphalt (HMA)
product can be a key element
for a young paving company. This
was especially true for Michael
Edgerton, owner and founder of a
Fredericksburg, Virginia paving
company called Driveways By Us.
For 23 years, his company enjoyed
success based on customer loyalty
and word-of-mouth advertising.
But Edgerton saw the prospects
of additiional growth: By owning
and operating his own HMA plant,
his paving crews could get exactly
the product they needed, precisely
when they needed it.
The original company—Driveways
By Us—is a family-operated firm
that specializes in smaller paving
jobs, such as shopping plazas,
subdivision roads, parking lots,
and, of course, driveways. When
the company first started, their
paving crews used materials that
were purchased from local HMA
producers. But as they grew, they
began to see the importance of the
Number One Rule in this industry:
Time is money. Edgerton began to
consider if their paving crews
could save time and be more efficient
with their own company
supplying the HMA product.
Edgerton said there are times when
they need product on a weekend or
late in the afternoon. By having their
own production facility, product
availability would not be a problem.
In addition, they would be able to
make their own special mixes.
“A lot of the facilities around here
are making Superpave and using
recycled asphalt in the mixes. I’m
not saying that there’s anything
wrong with those mixes—but what
you use on a highway is different
from what you use on the driveway
in front of a million-dollar home
where the owner wants the asphalt
to look like glass.”
Edgerton realized that he obvious
solution was to take production of
HMA into his own hands—and
that meant purchasing his first
HMA production facility.
A family tradition continues
You could say that asphalt runs in
the blood of the Edgerton family.
When Michael Edgerton’s grandfather
immigrated to the United
States from England in the late
1930s, he began a paving business
in the Boston area. Michael’s father
entered the same line of work and,
eventually, Michael also began
working in the paving business.
Edgerton started Driveways By Us
in 1982 in the Boston area, but in
1984 he moved the company to
Fredericksburg. “We moved mainly
because the winters up north can
kill you, businesswise. When we
shut down there, it was for the
duration of winter. Plus, up in the
Boston area, the big construction
and industrial boom happened
back in the 1950s and ‘60s.
“When we moved to Fredricksburg,
the area was just starting to
come to life,” continued Edgerton.
“We were able to grow with the
area. Well, we’ve been here for
more than 20 years now. We are
well known and most of our work
comes from recommendations.”
As the business grows, Edgerton
can envision this becoming the
continuation of a family tradition.
“I am married, have ten kids, and
five grandkids,” he said. “I’m very
lucky. My two oldest sons, Richard
and William, each have an 11-man
crew that goes out with them
every day. So that keeps my eyes
and ears and nose in the quality
controls. My other crew leader is
William Harrison. He’s been with
me for 19 years. So, I have the
right people in the right areas.”
That concern for quality is what
led Edgerton to get his first HMA
production facility and start an
entirely new company: King George
Asphalt. The new company was
to use its own production facility
to produce HMA primarily for the
paving crews of Driveways By Us
so they could keep pace with the
steady demand from customers.
To do this, they ordered a new
HMA plant. The new equipment—
an Astec relocatable Double Barrel ®
dryer/mixer facility—was delivered
and erected in October 2005.
It’s all about storage
One of the first things you might
notice about the new King George
Aphalt HMA facility is the fact that
it is a bit smaller than most Astec
plants, with a production rating of
200 tph (181 tonnes per hour).
But for Edgerton, size really is not
his primary concern. The most
important thing to his paving crews
is high-quality production and the
availability of dependable storage.
“We installed two 200-ton (181
tonne) Astec storage silos this fall.
That gives us a total of 400 tons
(363 tonnes) of storage capacity,”
explained Edgerton. “So my guys
can get in there at 4:30 or 5:00 in
King George Asphalt’s new hot-mix
asphalt plant is constructed around
this relocatable Astec Double Barrel ®
dryer/mixer. This unit is one of Astec’s
smaller units, with a structure that
measures 6 ft. (1.8 m) in diameter and
34 ft. (10.4 m) long. It has a production
rating of 200 tph (181 tonnes per
hour) when processing aggregate
wih a moisture content of 5 percent.
According to Michael Edgerton, this
plant is ideal for his purposes,
including the on-demand production
of made-to-order hot-mix asphalt for
his paving company, Driveways By Us.
HOT-MIX MAGAZINE 25 VOLUME 11, NUMBER 1

“Going from never having a plant
to having this one is unbelieveable.
Having complete control
over your product is the
most awesome thing in the world.”
the morning and fire up the plant.
By 7:30, they can have up to 400
tons (363 tonnes) of hot-mix
stored up in the air—and that’s
before my crews even start paving.
Then, all they have to do is keep
the plant running at a slow pace all
day long in order to keep all of
my projects supplied.”
Edgerton considers this method
ideal for the moderate needs of his
paving crews. “I know folks who
have bigger plants—350 or 400
tph (318 or 369 tonnes per hour)
—but they’ll fill the silo up and,
unless the trucks are getting right
back there quickly, the plant is
stopping and going, stopping and
going, all day long. It just seems
to me that adequate storage is the
most important thing.”
The plant is equipped with a 400-
ton (363-tonne) New Generation
Storage System which includes,
in addition to the two 200-ton
(181-tonne) storage silos, such
features as electric-blanket heat on
cones and hot-oil heat on the drag
conveyor, full 0.5-in. (1.27-cm)
ceramic liners on the silo cones and
0.5-in. (1.27-cm) ceramic liners on
the batchers. The storage system
has met all of Edgerton’s expectations
when it comes to performance.
“I have had nights where
the outside temperature was 30°F
(-1°C) when we made the hot-mix
asphalt and stored it—and the mix
was still hot the next day,” said
Edgerton. “So the New Generation
Storage System seems like it is
going to be a very beneficial tool
for our company.”
The 6 x 34-ft. (1.8 x 10.4-m) Astec
Double Barrel dryer/mixer is heated
with a Phoenix burner that can
handle natural gas or No. 2 fuel oil.
The aggregate-handling system
consists of a four-compartment
cold-feed system with 10 x 14-ft.
(3.1 x 4.3-m) bins and a 4 x 12-ft.
(1.2 x 3.7-m) scalping screen. All of
the production is controlled from
an Astec Pilot I Control Center.
According to Edgerton, the Astec
TC-2000 control system makes
the plant so easy to operate that it
is not much more complicated
than pushing a button on the
control console.
“The whole plant is run with the
computer,” said Edgerton. “Our
plant superintendent, Shaun Byram,
gets some serious production out
of the plant. It’s amazing. You just
FOR MORE INFORMATION
about Astec’s hot-mix plants, please call Diane Hunt at Astec:
423 - 867-4210
Fax: 423-867-3570
E-mail: dhunt@astecinc.com
click the buttons and it’s all automated.
Astec has a great product!”
The modern value of
an old-fashioned handshake
When it came to installing the new
facility, Edgerton didn’t hesitate to
pay the extra money to have Astec
do the installation. To him, the time
that it would have taken him to
oversee setting up the plant was
better spent with his paving crews.
“I’d rather keep my people doing
what we know best, and let Astec
do what they know best,” he said.
“It worked out perfectly.”
Edgerton added that working with
Astec was a positive experience.
“The service people who came out
to help us get the plant up and
running were fantastic,” he said.
“They helped me learn to work the
computer—and I’m not really that
computer literate. I’m more of a
pencil and notebook kind of person.
But they took the time to walk me
through it and show me how to
adjust things. They gave me a lot
more knowledge than I would have
gotten just from a book.”
Astec’s service philosophy also
caught his attention. “Whenever
you call Astec, you’re going to get
a real person on the phone. The
Michael Edgerton’s two companies—
Driveways By Us and King George
Asphalt—are family-oriented ventures
that follow the HMA-industry tradition
of his father and grandfather. Some
of the members the immediate family
are shown in this photo (left to right):
Michael Edgerton, Jr.; Grace Kelly
Edgerton; Jesse Edgerton; Linda
Edgerton; William Edgerton; Andrew
Edgerton; Richard Edgerton; and
Maggie Mae Edgerton.
HOT-MIX MAGAZINE 26 VOLUME 7, NUMBER 2

service people give you all of their
phone and pager numbers. You
don’t see that in this day and age.
They’re like the Old School—and
that’s how I was raised. That was
one of the things that attracted
me to them. My grandfather did
paving for years in New England—
and never had a contract: Your
handshake was your word. And
that’s how it is working with Astec.
I mean, it was all done legally
with contracts, of course. But it
still feels like you’re dealing with
the Old School.”
Edgerton said that since the new
plant started up, it has done an
excellent job of keeping his paving
crews supplied with the HMA they
need. He said the ability to control
the timing of production and
delivery is ultimately the most significant
gain from the acquisition.
“The equipment works flawlessly,”
Edgerton said. “Going from never
having a plant before to having this
one is almost unbelievable. In the
morning, I just say, ‘Run me up
1,000 tons.’ There’s no waiting.”
Edgerton paused and then added
another enthusiastic comment:
“Having complete control over your
product is the most awesome
thing in the world!” ▼▲▼
King George Asphalt’s new 200-tph
(181-tonne-per-hour) plant contains
Astec’s state-of-the-art components:
❏ Top left—Liquid-AC management
includes a Heatec 20,000-gal. (75,700-
L) vertical asphalt tank; a Heatec
13,000-gal. (49,200-L) vertical fuel-oil
tank; and a helical-coil hot-oil heater.
❏ Top right—The finished mix moves
to the 400-ton (363-tonne) Astec
New Generation storage system that
consists of two storage silos.
❏ Bottom—Air-quality standards are
maintained with the help of this Astec
pulse-jet baghouse. All components of
this facility are relocatable.
HOT-MIX MAGAZINE 27 VOLUME 11, NUMBER 1