From all us here at Redding Crushing we would like thank all of our customers and suppliers for their support throughout 2017. We would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a safe, happy and successful new year.

During the 2014 State Election the labor government promised grants for recreational fishers. This included the construction of an artificial reef.

In 2016 Rogues Point a few kilometers south of Ardrossan was chosen as the location for the reef. A mixture of concrete structures and rows of limestone would be used to make the reef. Limestone was chosen because it has similar properties to native oyster shells in terms of calcium. An initial tender processes followed this in mid 2016. A trial reef of approx 4 hectares would be constructed with an expansion of 20 hectares expected to follow.

In mid 2016 we were contacted by a marine construction company to supply limestone rock for the project which we submitted a price however the project didn't take off as early as predicted.

In early 2017 we were contacted again by a second construction company to supply rock for the project. However after reviewing the criteria and desired time frame we declined the offer as we already had many work commitments for that period.

A few weeks later I was contacted by a couple of representatives from PIRSA http://www.pir.sa.gov.au/ who were in the area and were interested on visiting us to have a look at our product and discuss the project. After meeting with PIRSA and talking about our product and process for collecting and processing limestone they were quite interested in our product and I felt more comfortable about supplying it.

After the PIRSA visit we were then contacted by Maritime Constructions and agreed on the specified size of material and price delivered either locally or to Port Adelaide.

Maritime Construction won the tender for the project using limestone mainly supplied by Redding Crushing with a trial of dolomitic limestone supplied by Arrium at Ardrossan also being used. For the reef trail project the rock needed to be delivered to Port Adelaide as local boat loading facilities could not be arranged in time for the project. We had suggested that sizing approximately 100mm - 250mm product would be an achievable sizing within their time frame.

While discussions were taking place about the project and the tender process continued, we started stockpiling raw material in our yard at Mt Rat. This would have taken place regardless of the reef project as we are always sourcing product to crush for our local market.

The limestone material we collect has been picked off of farming land over the years and been stockpiled in paddocks or along fence lines. Today we still have a number of farmers willing to let us come in and remove their rock piles as they are in the way of larger farming machinery, havens for pests and weeds or are in the way of fences in need of repair.

For this project we sourced the rock from the Wauraltee area through to Port Rickaby, as the closer you get to the coast the harder the surface limestone is.

To size material it is usually dropped onto a vibrating screen with woven steel screen mesh with the holes being set at the desired size of material. The smaller material is shaken through the screen mesh and the larger material shaken across the top.

To size 100-250m creates some problems as generally most of our material is graded less than 50mm.

We could easily grade the less than 100mm product out but to grade the larger than 250mm would be more difficult.

We purchased and placed a 100mm screen into our vibrating scalper screen. This allows anything less than 100mm to fall through, it then ends up on a discharge conveyor belt which puts it on the ground away from the plant where a front end loader can pick it up and stockpile it for reprocessing later.

The material over 100mm is then shaken onto a conveyor belt which runs through our picking station allowing an operator to remove any foreign objects.

We do not have a machine capable of vibrating and sizing 250mm and because that size rock is quite heavy it would be very hard to get enough vibration to make it jump over screen mesh.

The only other option was a grid, with long straight bars set on a steep angle to get the rock to either fall through or slide along the bars. While this doesn't achieve an accurate size as large flat rocks will slip between the bars it will achieve a basic grading.

So we constructed a grid to be placed underneath of our picking station belt. With the bars set at 250mm this meant that the product that fell through the grid would be used for the reef and the larger rocks that rolled over the top would be stockpiled for crushing at a later date.

While we were setup we processed all of the raw material we had stockpiled. This resulted in over 100o tonnes of 100mm-250mm, approx 2000 tonnes of less than 100mm and 100 tonnes of larger than 250mm rocks. The sizing of the material was done over a two week period.

The limestone rock that was graded for the reef was stockpiled in our yard until construction of the reef started.

In early June Maritime Constructions had an area at the Port Adelaide wharf to stockpile the rock. We then sub contracted the delivery of rock to Yorke Peninsula Earthworks at Minlaton. 100 tonnes of rock was needed to be delivered every two to three days. All of the rock contracted for the project was delivered by July.

This project attracted a lot of media attention as it is the first of its kind to be built in South Australia.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1Nr6XL0Gv4

Our local paper the Country Times also featured a story on our rock supply.

If you are looking for some more background on the project the links below may be of some interest.

http://pir.sa.gov.au/fishing/recreational_fishing/yorke_peninsula_shellfish_reef/shellfish_reef_construction

Value for money is always important to us at Redding Crushing by taking a little extra time to achieve the best results for our customers.

If you are looking for a top dressing of gravel for your yard or driveway we can save you from the hassle of doing it yourself or having to pay a contractor to do it for you.

At no extra cost than our standard delivery fee we can do it for you. As long as you have adequate room and its relatively level our tippers are fitted with chains on the tailgates that can can be set to control the flow of material as it falls out the back of the tipper. By driving at the same time this allows us to spread an even layer of gravel.

Most of the time we aim for approximately 50mm depth of material however by adjusting our chains or ground speed it can be thicker or thinner based on the customers request.

Once we have finished if a smooth finish is desired a light raking is all that is required. In larger areas we will suggest that a sheet of steel mesh or an old steel framed gate dragged behind a vehicle will level the top finish perfectly.

Spreading gravel straight from the truck is one reason why we choose to deliver our products in a rigid tipper truck with a trailer rather than semi tippers as the bodies are much shorter making them more stable when the tipper is in the air. Also by unhooking the trailer it makes the truck much more maneuverable getting into those smaller areas.

With farming equipment and operations in our area expanding many farmers are needing bigger sheds to house their equipment. With the height of their equipment expanding the clearance height of the sheds have too allowing us to spread gravel straight from the truck onto the floor of a few newly constructed sheds.

Even if we are leveling a yard or driveway ourselves we will prefer to level the area first by machine then spread straight from the truck as it gives a very even and consistent layer of gravel.

From the beginning when Clive had the crusher built it has always required an operator. This is to keep an eye on the running of the machine and control the flow of material, but also because we are crushing surface limestone there are a lot of foreign objects in amongst the rock.

The limestone rock that we collect and process has been picked by farmers off of cleared land where sticks and stumps have also been collected with the rock and then was quite often stockpiled in and around scrubs and fence lines where the trees have grown through and over the pile. Also we find horse shoes, fencing materials, tools and anything that as fallen into a paddock or been tossed into a stone heap.

These objects have always been picked out by hand on our Primary Crusher. The operators station (picking station) was positioned over our vibrating scalper screen were the dirt is being sifted out and then the larger rocks fall into the Jaw crusher.

This has never been ideal as we were exposed to the elements, dust and the rock constantly moving. There has always been lots of discussions over time between ourselves and operators on how to improve it. However, time, money and never coming up with a suitable solution meant we kept it running, putting up with the challenges.

During 2015 it was really bothering me and I was constantly searching for a solution and determined to make a change. Together we agreed that the solution was a picking station, we decided that after the dirt was sifted from the rock, we needed it to end up on a flat conveyor belt so it could run through a sealed, air conditioned shed where an operator could remove any foreign objects before the rock continues to the crusher.

It was decided that we would construct a picking station however we didn't know exactly how, all we knew that it would be a costly and time consuming exercise. We concentrated on stockpiling throughout 2015 to keep our gravel supplies up while the construction took place.

Our next challenge was to come up with a way of fitting it into our existing mobile crusher.

We consulted with Rick Hasting from Hasting Engineering as we wanted him to undertake the modification. After many different ideas and configurations it was decided that the most effective way we could see was to cut our existing primary crusher in half making two trailers. A screening and picking trailer and a primary crushing trailer.

In Early 2016 construction took place.

Hastings started by setting up two second hand truck steer axles under our primary crushing trailer. Once firmly in place they then cut the main chassis in half leaving only the rock hopper with existing trailer axles behind. It was decided to leave the existing vibrating scalper screen with the jaw crusher, as we felt it would be beneficial for the rock to be fed into the jaw by vibration. We would then build a larger primary scalping screen to assist with cleaning the dirt from the rock before processing.

Once the crushing trailer was finished off work then begun on our new picking station. Firstly a new chassis from the axles to the front of the trailer was required to give the new scalper, picking belt and shed a base to sit on.

We were lucky enough to acquire a second hand screen box of the right width and twice the length of our old scalper which was adapted perfectly as a new scalper.

The shed was lined with insulation, glazed with laminated windscreen glass and then cladded with corrugated iron giving us some protection from the elements and providing some noise reduction from the working equipment.

In mid 2016 construction was complete and we brought the two trailers home to our own workshop to have a complete over haul of the electrical wiring which provides the power to drive the conveyor belts, vibrating screens and crushers.

We experienced further delays with the electrical wiring as we had to wait for circuit breaker and connection boxes to be built. We took advantage of this time by going through our existing equipment, fixing and modifying any areas that we thought needed attention. Also we took some time to re spray paint any areas that were looking a little aged.

Finally in later October everything was complete and ready for action. It was a very nervous test run as we did not not how well our modifications were going to work together. However we were soon relieved of any doubts as everything worked surprising well. With just a few minor modifications we were back in business.

After construction was completed at Hasting Engineering they set out to find a solution to air condition and pressurize our picking station. This is to improve operator comfort but also by forcing filtered air into the shed it would then stop dust from entering.

A second hand evaporate air conditioner out of an old warehouse was found and mounted on a trailer. With an extra tank of water, dust filtering cloth draped over the entire trailer and then ducted into our picking station we now have a very comfortable work station to improve operator comfort and safety therefore improving productivity.

After all of the challenges and down time with this project the results exceeded our expectations. Crushing is no longer the chore it had become. We are still looking at our equipment for ways to improve and make ourselves more efficient. One way we have done this is by installing two security cameras and monitors to be able to monitor areas of the crusher that cannot be seen from the operators station.

In early 2014 Redding Crushing undertook a restructure making myself (Shane Redding) and wife Belynda the main directors from previously Clive and Tracy Redding.

During the restructure we decided it was important to make some improvements to the business in the form of purchasing two new/secondhand pieces of equipment.

The first a Volvo FM rigged tipper truck with aluminium body and a three axle dog trailer to suit. This is to be our main product delivery truck with a light tare weight and retractable tarps.

The next piece of equipment we purchased is a second Komatsu WA380-5 articulated wheel loader with loadrite trade approved hydraulic weighing scales. This machine is intended as a backup for our first but more importantly giving us the option of having a machine with weighing scales out in the field.