As one of the largest and oldest producers in the western United States, CalPortland Company has irrevocably woven itself into American history with its rich, storied past.
Established in 1891, CalPortland Company’s first operations began in Colton, Calif., with a cement plant that supplied cement for the erection of the Hoover Dam. The company is also famous for the “Colton Liberty Flag” on top of Mount Slover, which was first raised in 1917 and at the time was one of only three locations in the U.S. permitted to fly the flag at night (the other two places that were permitted to fly the American flag from sunrise to sunrise were over the National Capital and in Frederick, Md., over the grave of Francis Scott Key, composer of the National Anthem). The 38-by-24-foot flag served as a landmark for decades on Interstate 10 until 2013, when the flag was permanently retired due to new mining activities on the mountain. The flag now resides at the San Bernardino County Museum.
Today, CalPortland Company is a major diversified building materials and construction solutions provider to the western United States and Canada, but its roots remain at the Colton site. Although the cement plant operations in Colton were idled after the economic downturn in 2009, the aggregate operations have significantly increased in recent years in response to a pickup in the marketplace, according to Chad Warren, regional aggregates manager for southern California. And with that increase in market activity came the need to invest in quality equipment that could meet the company’s demands for flexibility, mobility and high production.
CalPortland’s Colton site is comprised of three primary materials, which include limestone, schist and a granitic-type rock, Warren said, as well as varying amounts of fines that come with the natural materials on site. The diversity in material made it necessary to select equipment that was not only highly productive, but flexible in application as well.
Already familiar with KPI-JCI and Astec Mobile Screens thanks to a successful wash plant purchase in 2007, CalPortland chose to consider the manufacturer once again as it sought to invest in a spread of equipment that could meet their production goals of up to two million tons per year of material for local ready-mix operations and the local construction market.
Not only did KPI-JCI and Astec Mobile Screens provide a complete line of equipment to choose from, but the equipment also proved capable in processing the diverse material on site, Warren said.
“The limestone typically is not as hard to crush as the granite or the schist, but with the durability and robust nature of KPI-JCI and Astec Mobile Screens’ jaw crusher and the K400+ cone crushers, we are able to process these materials as we need to, rather than allowing the materials to dictate what we’re able to do,” he said.
Ryan Dahlke, sales representative for Goodfellow Corporation, worked with CalPortland to select the proper spread of equipment, and said flexibility was the main concern for the setup.
Today, CalPortland utilizes an extensive spread of equipment, including a CS3055 portable jaw plant, 6203 scalping screen, two 8203LP screens, two Kodiak® Plus K400+ Cone Crushers, six 36” x 100’ radial stackers, a 42” x 12’ VGF Feeder, an FT4250CC Horizontal Shaft Impact Crusher, FT300DF cone crushing plant and an FT3055 jaw crushing plant.
Although the first equipment CalPortland’s Colton operation purchased was stationary, the company quickly followed up with track-mounted equipment that could be moved around the site. CalPortland chose to remain with the same manufacturer it had previously found success with to save time and money in stocking parts, training crew members and hauling material.
By investing in the same track-mounted version of the new primary plant, CalPortland was also capable of moving the crusher around the site and save a “tremendous amount of money on hauling,” Warren said. The company also saw up to a 30 percent increase in production by replacing its old equipment with the new crushing plant and were able to process larger rocks in the crusher.
In addition to its FT3055, the company is also utilizing an FT4250CC horizontal shaft impactor to crush asphalt grindings for the asphalt plant on site at the Colton facility. By recycling the asphalt grindings, the company is able to recapture a product that otherwise would be thrown away and incorporate that back into the asphalt mix, ultimately saving money, producing a superior product and helping the environment.
CalPortland also saw significant improvement when it replaced its older equipment with an FT300DF cone crusher to make base material. By introducing the FT300DF cone crusher to the site along with the FT3055 jaw crusher, the company saw an instant increase in production, Warren said.
Although Warren had never used a roller bearing crusher before his purchase of the K400+ cone crushers and the FT300DF, he says he’s been “very pleased” with the experience so far.
With this plant design, with whatever types of material they get into, they’re able to make adjustments, either by swinging off a radial stacker to make base, or shoot material up to make product for asphalt as well.
When CalPortland first began evaluating its options for its Colton operation, it wanted to find an established equipment line as well as an established local dealer to take advantage of dealer knowledge and support they would need. After meeting with Goodfellow Corporation, an authorized KPI-JCI and Astec Mobile Screens dealer with a location just minutes away from the Colton site, “everything just seemed to click,” Warren said.
Factory training and support was also an important factor in the purchase decision. Warren and his employees visited both the South Dakota and Oregon manufacturing facilities, and were able to see how the equipment is manufactured and attend the manufacturing facility’s PRO Training school.