The Feed - Quarter 1, 2019 - 24

we decided that the 205 multifrequency, along with the 5260,
were the best options for them."
This unique operation, dealing
with both concrete and asphalt,
creates fine and coarse FRAP. "On
the job, they're grinding, loading
trucks and bringing it here. Our
loader pulls the grindings from
the pile, places them in the hopper
where they go through the impactor
and get screened into our course
and fine FRAP materials using the
multi-frequency," explains Dickson.
"The majority of what they're
doing is recycled asphalt here, so
it's any kind of mix of product. The
piles here have been accumulating
for years, so sometimes you don't
know what's in that pile, so having
that 5260, gives them the flexibility
to take large pieces and be able to
handle them and then at the same
time, if you have millings, you
can just process those through
the screening side of it," explains
Bazan.

PAVING THE WAY
Builders Asphalt has a legacy
that spans over 120 years. As
descendants of the Palumbo family
construction business, the team
works together to manage, operate
and grow Builders Asphalt and
Builders Paving.
"We're an asphalt plant and we
do asphalt crushing to produce hot
mix...we do paving as well," said
Dickson. The first crushing site, in
Elburn, was in operation for ten
short years before expanding to
become a multi-plant company and
opening its Skokie location.
Builders Paving was acquired

24

THE FEED

in 2010. The million-dollar
paving company is pre-qualified
by the Illinois Department of
Transportation and has a team
of dedicated, knowledgeable and
hard-working experts.
The crew at the Skokie site is
comprised of eight workers who
operate the loader, impactor,
screen and other components. "We
have two or three guys [operating
the crusher] depending on the
material we're running. You have
to be a little bit more vigilant when
you're running concrete because
there's steel involved and you
don't want it to get caught up in
any of your elements of the plant,
so we generally have three guys on
concrete and two guys on asphalt,"
explains Dickson.
The small union team at Builders
Asphalt trained extensively on
safety and general procedures,
but Bazan and Dickson explain
that operational and maintenance
procedures are on-the-job training.
"These guys basically learn on the

job. When you buy a new crusher,
most of the time, nobody's run
it before so we have to learn. The
team has been around them maybe,
but hasn't learned that specific
crusher, every [machine] has its
own intricacies," says Dickson,
"It's been great. We've had a lot of
help from Finkbiner coming out,
showing our guys, getting them
familiar with the plant, the crusher,
and procedures like changing the
screens out, changing belts, telling
us what to look for, and so on."
The biggest operational challenge
for the team at Builders Asphalt,
as Dickson explains, is keeping
up with maintenance with a small
team and long hours of operation.
"Being able to crush for nine hours
a day and doing one hour a day of
maintenance is a process. You're
adjusting belts, you're adjusting
blow bars, you're lubricating
bearings, all of those things need
to be addressed on a daily basis to
keep you up and running and make
the products you want to do. We've
The Feed - Quarter 1, 2019

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