Astec Turbo Six Pack Plant - Hot-Mix Magazine

THE SUBJECT OF THIS STUDYis Diamond B Construction, Inc.,a member of The Bossier Group—which is one of Louisiana’s oldestprivately owned highway constructioncompanies. With headquarters atAlexandria in Central Louisiana, thecompany has five hot-mix asphaltplants and paving operations throughoutthe state. In addition, Diamond BConstruction offers material production(aggregate, dirt, sand, and gravel);municipal and public works construction;piling equipment and supplies;and traffic-control products.The company’s chief executive officeris Bryan Bossier, who has been withthe company most of his life. “Myfather—Leonard Bossier—started thebusiness in 1950,” recalled BryanHOT-MIX: Tell us a little bit aboutthis plant in Mermentau.BOSSIER: We bought this plant in1999 and put it down on Interstate12 near Livingston, east of BatonRouge. I’d guess that we had itdown there about nine months,running a big Interstate rehab job.They’re going to rehab all of thatInterstate through there. It’s beenneeding it for years.HOT-MIX: When did you move it?BOSSIER: We moved it up thereto Mermentau this past summer.We’re working Interstate 10 atCrowley. They’re rubbleizing theconcrete and overlaying it withhot-mix. We do love rubbleizers.The only good concrete is deadconcrete! (Laughs) Anyway, we’rejust a little south of the Interstate,so we only have a 20-mile (32-km)haul to the current project. We’reable to reach the I-10 and whateverother work we can find inthe surrounding area.HOT-MIX: What do you consideryour market area to be?BOSSIER: I suppose we couldreach out to a 40- or 50-mile (64-or 80-km) radius. We have LakeCharles to the west and Lafayetteto the east—and we’re abouthalfway between the two. So bothof those are within our market.HOT-MIX: How is the market?BOSSIER: Well, I’ll tell you. It’sreally competitive. Everybody inLouisiana does both productionand laydown. I know that someBossier during this interview. “Thenhe started Diamond B Constructionin 1975. The name of the company?Well, he loved his grandchildren andhe affectionately called them his ‘littleDiamondbacks’—or little rattlesnakes.And that’s where the name ‘DiamondB’ came from.”Diamond B Construction currentlyoperates five hot-mix plants. “Theyare all the same kind,” said Bossier.“They are all Astec Double Barrelplants. We’ve purchased five plants infour years. Our oldest plant is a 1996model. And our newest one is an AstecDouble Barrel that was delivered thefirst week of October. We put that onedown in Baywood.”The plant featured in this article hasbeen in operation a little more than ayear. It is a portable Astec Turbo 400Six Pack plant that was delivered toDiamond B Construction in the lasthalf of 1999.In addition to the Astec Turbo 400Double Barrel drum mixer, the plantincludes a five-compartment coldfeedsystem; a separate RAP (reclaimedasphalt pavement) feeder; a scalpingscreen with inclined conveyor; a baghouse;a cyclone; and two 200-ton(181-tonne) New Generation storagesilos. The company recently addedanother 200-ton (181-tonne) silo whenthe plant was relocated.The plant has a Command I controlcenter that is equipped with a ProcessMate 96 control system. Other equipmentincludes a 2,000-gal. (7,570-L)Bossier’s advice on purchasing:“I’d say when you are speccing a new plant,you should get all of the bells and whistles.If you get the best stuff going in,it’s going to save you in the long run.”places, they split it up—and I findthat fascinating. But there is noneof that here in Louisiana. There are58 asphalt plants in Louisiana—and it is dog eat dog, I’ll tell youthat! This stuff is always on sale.Every so often, somebody goesbroke just because they can’t standthe competition. It’s a clearancesale that never goes away. The taxpayershere are really getting agood deal!HOT-MIX: Let’s get back to thisplant. Do you remember whenyou first become interested inAstec equipment?BOSSIER: I bought my first Astecplant in the early 1980s. I think itwas a 1982 Double Barrel plant.You know, I think that DoubleBarrel is the cat’s meow. I mean,you do your drying on the insideof the drum and then you doyour mixing on the outside... Why,liquid-additive tank and metering system;a Heatec 35,000-gal. (132,500-L) Helitank that combines a hot-oilheater with insulated storage for liquidasphalt cement. The tank has asplit compartment so it can hold20,000 gal. (75,700 L) on one side and15,000 gal. (56,800 L) on the otherside. Another Heatec 30,000-gal.(113,600-L) tank was added later.The plant began its field operations inLivingston, Louisiana—but it wasmoved this year to be closer to a newjobsite in the vicinity of Mermentau,Louisiana, about midway betweenLafayette and Lake Charles.We began the interview by askingBossier to fill us in on the history ofthis particular plant:that’s just perfect! You need tokeep that flame away from thatasphalt. And the Double Barreldoes exactly that.HOT-MIX: What do you like bestabout Astec?BOSSIER: I can’t remember whyI first got interested in Astec. Iwas a young punk and I didn’tknow anything of real value. So Idid a lot of studying. I studiedCedarapids and I studied Barber-Greene and I studied all of thoseother companies. I got to lookinginto how thick the metal was anda lot of other details like that. Andthe Astec plant just seemed to bea sturdy, well-built plant. Thepeople at Astec seemed to knowwhat they were talking about.Why, even the salesmen seemedto know the answers. I’d reallydig into the details—and it turnedout that they could answer everyone of my questions. Some ofthese cats come in here and theydon’t know what they’re talkingabout. But not Astec.HOT-MIX: I understand you justtook delivery on another AstecDouble Barrel plant...BOSSIER: Yes. With that DoubleBarrel, you just can’t beat it. Thoseguys at Astec are innovators. Theyare always trying to improve it. I’mguessing that they look at what’son the market and they say, “Well,if we’d do this way, it would be alittle better.” They don’t buildplants a certain way just because(Continued to Page 26)HOT-MIX MAGAZINE 25 VOLUME 5, NUMBER 3