Tilcon New York upgrades quarry to boost production capabilities to meet demand from the Big Apple.

As the closest quarry to New York City, Tilcon New York’s West Nyack facility is in a good position due to steady construction growth and expansion in the greater New York area, according to Bernardo Bulnes, plant manager at the West Nyack quarry. And Tilcon is certainly aware that with privilege comes responsibility. “We are responsible for providing quality aggregate at a reasonable price for the market,” he says.

That said, business is good for West Nyack and its two sister sites – the Tomkins Cove and Haverstraw quarries – located in Rockland County, N.Y., just north of and across the Hudson River from Yonkers. In fact, while aggregate producers in some parts of the country have had to cut back production goals, the West Nyack Quarry is slowly working toward a projected increase in production of more than 35 percent.

“There are a lot of big infrastructure projects going on in New York City, as well as work on the Freedom Tower and building sports complexes for the Yankees and the Mets, work on high-rises, etc. Having a source of aggregate nearby is a great benefit for these contractors,” Bulnes says. “And at this location, we produce trap rock, which is very abrasive. So it’s also excellent for high-friction applications and specialty paving projects such as airport tarmacs and Superpave.”

The West Nyack location was originally owned by the Trap Rock Co., which started operations in 1911. But Bulnes says the quarry can actually trace its roots back as far as the mid-1800s as a source for providing stone to the area. “This site received one upgrade in 1958. Then in 1999, it was upgraded again to produce 2.5 million tons per year,” Bulnes says. “And now we are in the process of another upgrade, with the eventual goal of producing 3.2 million tons per year.”

A vast venture

The West Nyack Quarry has several working benches. But in order to increase production, Tilcon New York has been working to open new areas for mining and also taking other areas from mining to processing as it moves its crushing and screening stages to make best use of the 150-acre property for future production. And the company has invested in some equipment upgrades, as well.

At the end of 2007, the facility’s crushing process included an Allis Chalmers 42-inch by 65-inch primary gyratory, a 7-foot Symons secondary crusher, a 5-1/2-foot Symons tertiary crusher, a Raptor XL400 quaternary cone crusher from FLSmidth Excel, and a Svedala H4000 quaternary cone crusher.