Twin State Sand and Gravel, a construction aggregate materials supplier for the upper Connecticut River Valley region of New Hampshire and Vermont, was established in 1947 to supply the concrete and aggregates that would be needed for the construction of the Wilder dam. Since 1947 Twin State Sand and Gravel has continued to provide aggregate materials for use in asphalt paving, concrete, utility construction, municipal road maintenance and any other applicable uses.
Twin State gravel and ledge products come from its Hartland quarry in North Hartland, Vt. A wide variety of aggregate materials also are available at its West Lebanon, N.H., facility. The Lebanon facility is 92-acres and is set up for the processing of stone and asphalt production. All of the material originates from the Hartland quarry, which is permitted for 500-acres.
Hurricane Damage
Brings Opportunity
In the fall of 2011, Hurricane Irene brought widespread devastation to Vermont and New Hampshire. According to Bud Ames, Twins State Sand and Gravel president and co-owner, the demand for aggregate products in their area after the hurricane was unbelievable. In order to meet the need for material Twin State needed to dramatically increase its production levels. The demand was particularly high for 7-in. minus, which was being spec’d heavily by DOT. In reality, the demand for all sized materials was up significantly.
“Our plant superintendent, Jim Benjamin, recommended that we move in the direction of getting a scalping screener,” said Ames. “To accomplish this we rented a Keestrack Frontier portable tracked scalping screen from Equipment East and their representative, Richard Zibell. The Keestrack was taking product directly from our primary jaw. It was separating out the 7-inch stone then separating out the mid-size stone 4-inch to 1-1/2-inch to be sent back to be processed by the cone crusher. The plant also separated the 1-1/2 inch minus product, which was to be sent to the finishing screen.”
“The most impressive feature of the Keestrack was its chain feeder versus the traditional belt feeder,” Benjamin said. “With the volume that we needed to produce and in the time frame that we needed to produce it we could not afford any down time. Obviously, the life expectancy of a chain feeder versus a belt feeder is going to be significantly longer. The Keestrack machine tackled this project and we had no trouble with it whatsoever, which is saying a lot when you smash rocks for a living. During this period the Keestrack was a critical aspect of dramatically increasing our production and satisfying the large need for 7-inch stone, which we had not previously experienced. Richard Zibell and the Equipment East staff supported the product very well and were quite knowledgeable when it came to questions about the product.”
All in the Family
Twin State Sand and Gravel’s sister company, Blaktop Inc., is an asphalt paving company, that was founded in 1950 and is headquartered in West Lebanon, N.H., where it built the area’s first asphalt plant. Its market area is a 50 mi. radius of the plant. The company now supports three paving crews and specializes in residential, municipal and commercial paving. Its asphalt plant supplies asphalt to the other area paving contractors and local municipalities.
For more information about Twin State, call 603/298-8705 or visit twinstatesandandgravel.com.
Equipment East
As a full service dealer, Equipment East handles a complete line of heavy construction equipment and attachments. It offers a wide range of equipment such as skid steers, wheel loaders, excavators, mini-excavators, and crushing and screening plants. It also offers attachments such as quick couplers and hammers.
For more information about Equipment East, call 978/454-3320 or visit
www.equipmenteast.com.
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