Pit & Quarry, May 2012

OPERATIONS Rock solid stability A Tennessee producer reaps the benefits of city growth and looks to capitalize on a recently approved barge port project W inn Materials is a versatile aggregates producer with a prime location in the growing city of Clarksville Tenn Positioned in the northern part of the Volunteer state and only about 10 miles from the Kentucky border and 50 miles northwest of Nashville Tenn the company has weathered a skittish economy with several stable projects that have required a steady stream of construction materials Hemlock Semiconductor invested 12 billion in a new plant in Clarksville that will make polysilicon a key raw material used to manufacture solar cells and semiconductor devices with future expansion anticipated Fort Campbell an Army base on the Kentucky Tennessee border has continued to grow its infrastructure And the Tennessee and Kentucky departments of transportation consume a portion of the companys near 2 million annual tons of aggregates production Considering the economy this is a very stable market for us says Chad Swallows vice president and general manager of Winn Materials Between the Fort Campbell investment and Hemlock and some ongoing projects with TDOT were very fortunate to be in Clarksville Winn Materials has pushed forward on these projects with help from its owner VantaCore Partners a private company that acquires aggregate operations and related businesses in the United States VantaCore has invested in the required capital to keep material moving out of the quarry Swallows says The company utilizes a Lippmann 5062 primary crushing station which averages more than 1000 tph and a pug mill system that follows suit at 1000 tph The timing of the pug mill system installation in 2009 with design and construction by Bramco MPS was directly tied to the Hemlock project The company also added a Caterpillar 385 material handler last year VantaCore is definitely willing to invest to provide a return spreading our footprint to reach markets we didnt reach before and actively looking to grow the business says Swallows an aggregates industry veteran who formerly worked for Rinker Materials and joined Winn Materials in 2007 when VantaCore acquired the company Barge port Another key element of Winn Materials business is its 600 ft barge terminal on the Cumberland River that allows it to expand into other markets When Jerry Winn founded the company in 1996 he wanted to develop the barge port in association with the quarry Swallows says That side of the company is known as Winn Marine BY BRIAN RICHESSON In dealing with community opposition to increasing the size of its barge port Winn Materials welcomed community members to its office and escorted them on site 30 PIT QUARRY May 2012 www pitandquarry com