PREFACE

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ROCK QUARRYING - Transport
REPORT 12E-08

The report is one of five reports concerning rock quarrying:

12A-08 ROCK QUARRYING Quarry Design
12B-08 ROCK QUARRYING Blast Design
12C-08 ROCK QUARRYING Bench Drilling
12D-08 ROCK QUARRYING Loading
12E-08 ROCK QUARRYING Transport

A considerable amount of information on surface blasting and earth moving has been
brought up to date and systematized through these reports, to be used for:

Placement and design of rock quarrying
Blast design
Estimation of production capacities and costs
Cost analysis, tender, budgeting and cost control
Choice of method and equipment

The present report is mainly a tool for production planning, choice of equipment and
prediction of time consumption and costs in rock quarry transport. The report is also used
as a textbook and contains detailed parts concerning transport mechanics.

The report contains experience data concerning capacities and costs from field research
since the 1970s. The transport mechanics and its estimations are closely related to models
described in actual literature.

The report is prepared by Vegard Olsen as a part of his PhD thesis entitled Rock
Quarrying Prediction Models and Blasting Safety and it contains updated capacities and
prices for new technology and equipment

Economic support for field data collection has been provided by partners presented in
Appendix A.


PREFACE
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For reference, registration and similar, we ask for the following:

NTNU Department of Civil and Transport Engineering (2008): Report 12E-08 ROCK
QUARRYING Transport.



Trondheim, December 2008



Amund Bruland
Professor

1. INTRODUCTION
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General
The report is meant to be a tool for transport of rock in quarries and surface mines.
Transport fleet planning, choice of equipment and estimation of transport capacity and
costs, is the issue of the report. Combined with the other reports in the Rock Quarrying
series, a toolbox for improvements and optimization of the total quarry production line is
available.

Combined with report 12D-08 ROCK QUARRYING Loading, this report represents a
complete model for earth moving projects.

The reports prediction model treats construction and mining trucks operating with
payloads larger than 25 tons. This includes articulated dump trucks and rigid chassis
dump trucks. A comparison with load and haul by wheel loaders is made. Transport by
highway trucks and semi trailers is treated extensively in [3] and [6]. A general overview
of most transport vehicles and systems are mentioned.

Transport mechanics, concerning: Travelling resistance, traction and brake power and
road conditions are treated extensively in the report. This gives knowledge about the
basics of the transport capacity and cost estimations, as well as an expanded
understanding of the quarry design principles described in report 12A-ROCK
QUARRYING Quarry Design.

The price level of this report is December 2008.

Adjustment of prices can be done by using the Construction Machinery Index which is
updated every month by the Department of Civil and Transport Engineering at NTNU.
Subscription can be arranged by contacting amund.bruland@ntnu.no.

Products
There are many manufacturers of dump trucks in the market. The manufacturers will
continuously be developing their products and new names and models will occur. The
report database embraces most manufacturers in the Norwegian market. There are made
no difference between equipment with equal performance specifications. The data
resembles equipment currently used in the industry (2005-2007).



2. TRANSPORT EQUIPMENT 2.1 Transport methods
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2.1 TRANSPORT METHODS
2.11 General
Mass transport in relation to quarries takes place with different kinds of means of
transport vehicles and systems:

Dump trucks
Articulated trucks
Commercial trucks and semi trailers
Load and haul
Tractor scrapers
Track-bound wagons
Bulldozers
Conveyor belts

The trucks in the two first bullet points will be extensively treated in the report. Load and
haul will be treated as a special case. The other will be described shortly in the following
sections.

2.12 Commercial Trucks and Semi Trailers
Commercial trucks and semi trailers have a low axel weight and can be used on public
roads. Lately, the payload capacity and engine power for these vehicles have increased to
the point where they in special cases can compete with the smallest dump trucks off-
highway also. The payload range is from 15 to 50 t. Highway trucks and semi trailers are
extensively treated in [2] and [6].

The advantages of the commercial trucks compared to dump trucks are:

Versatility - applicable on public roads
Low deadweight - high relative payload - good CO
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accounts
Narrow chassis - avoid meeting stops - reduced road and tunnel costs
Low purchase price - high second hand value

The disadvantages in construction work are:
High repair and maintenance costs - limited economic life
Vulnerable to road surface - low tyre life
Low flywheel power - limited road grading
Low maximum payload - limited maximum capacity
2. TRANSPORT EQUIPMENT 2.1 Transport methods
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2.13 Scrapers
A wheel tractor-scraper is a self-loading hauling system without the need for any
auxiliary machine in either end of the process. It is mainly used for moving of
homogeneous masses lying in an even plane, mostly sand, soils and clays. The largest
machines can do board materials and can be used in general construction, heavy
construction, mining and waste.

The front (tractor) looks like the front of an articulated dump truck. The rear part has a
vertically moveable bowl with a sharp horizontal front edge. The bowl can be lowered
and raised. When the front edge is lowered, it cuts into the ground like a cheese slicer and
fills the bowl. The maximum cut depth is about 40 cm for the largest machines. When
loaded the blade is raised, and the bowl closed.

The wheel scraper transports its load to the fill area. The back panel of the bowl is
opened and the load tumbles out. Maximum spread height is up to 70 cm, depending
upon size of the machine.

Scrapers can be very efficient on short hauls where the cut and fill areas are close
together and have sufficient length to fill the bowl. The payload range is from 15 tons to
50 tons.


Figure 2.1 Wheel tractor scarper (35 t)
2. TRANSPORT EQUIPMENT 2.1 Transport methods
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2.14 Bulldozers
Moving of masses by bulldozers is only applicable over short distances, no more than
200 m. The dozers are normally used in construction work and landfill operations. The
working principle is to push the material in front of the blade. The capacity varies by the
size of the machine, size of the blade and the material. The largest dozers can push up to
70 tons of material.

In construction of rock fill dams and rubble mound structures, the dozers normally place
and level the quarry run at its final destination, after it has been dumped by trucks.

The dozers may also be used in loading operation from stockpiles. Figure 2.2 shows the
machine used to load coal from a stockpile into a crusher.


Figure 2.2 Dozer (105 t) used to push coal into the crusher. Mass moving capacity 60-70 t.


2. TRANSPORT EQUIPMENT 2.1 Transport methods
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2.15 Rail Cars
In open cast works, hauling by rail cars is mostly applicable when the large quantity of
masses must be transported over long distances.

Typical applications in open cast works are:
Hauling of waste when deposits close to the open-cast is getting full.
Hauling of raw material between the quarry and the processing plant
Hauling of raw material from distant excavation locations

In tunnelling and underground mines, rail transport is advantageous due to the working
environment (i.e. air pollutions) and the reduced haul tunnels.

Earlier (more than 50 years ago), rail transport within the opencast was more common,
with direct loading into the rail cars. This rarely happens today due to high productivity
and relative fast moving of the loading points, hence the costs for building the rails
becomes too big. Today the loading happens beside the pit from stockpiles (wheel
loader) or directly from silos (fine material).

2.16 Conveyor Belts
Conveyor belts are mainly used to transport crushed material from a quarry or mine to a
nearby stocking area or a harbour. Conveyors belts require large investments, however
the running costs are low and they can compete with trucks under special conditions.

Combined with silos, conveyors can work all day around, which is advantageous e.g. in
loading ships to keep the loading time as low as possible.

In some large distant mines, conveyors are conducted all the way into the loading area.
The end conveyors are transportable and may be moved during blasting and as the
loading point changes. Due to limitations of the fragment sizes loadable on the conveyor
a transportable crusher is needed in this system.

Many types of conveyor solutions are available, however not mentioned further here.



2. TRANSPORT EQUIPMENT 2.2 Construction and Mining Trucks
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2.2 CONSTRUCTION AND MINING TRUCKS
2.21 Rigid Dump Trucks
The rigid dump trucks are used where major transport of rock masses takes place. The
trucks are front wheel drive with a medium to very large payload capacity (40 to 300 t).
Mass transport usually demands a road system of its own.

Rigid dump trucks are by far the leading transport vehicle used in quarries today. Most of
the trucks used in Norway are so called diesel-mechanics. The power is supplied by a
diesel engine which transfers the power to the wheels via a gear box. Usually a converter
is mounted between the engine and gear box. This will attain smoother shifting and
reduced mechanical wear.


Figure 2.3 Rigid dump truck (90 t) loaded by wheel loader (73 t).

The challenge for the largest trucks has been to obtain a satisfactory transfer of power to
the wheels and an adequate braking capacity. With this in mind, diesel-electrical trucks
have been developed. They operate as follows:

A diesel engine drives an AC generator giving power to a DC motor mounted in each
of the wheels. All transmissions are electrical and operate without moving parts.

2. TRANSPORT EQUIPMENT 2.2 Construction and Mining Trucks
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The electrical engine functions as a generator when it comes to braking. The electricity
produced leads to an adjustable resistance which causes the actual braking force.

The diesel-electric system has several advantages:

The engine operates with constant revolution, reducing the engine wear.
Due to constant revolution of the engine, the hydraulic system always operates at
full capacity.
No mechanical transmission to the wheels. Reduced mechanical wear and
increased lifetime for the machine.
The machine is equipped with an anti-spinning mechanism. This gives reduced
wear of tyres.

Nevertheless, diesel-electric trucks have not gained a large market in Norway. This is
mainly due to their complexity, which requires higher competence both for service and
operation, compared to the mechanical trucks. Due to this, the second hand value (sale-
value) is lower compared to the diesel-mechanical trucks.

Diesel-electric trucks will not be covered in detail in this report.
The sizes of rigid dump trucks span from 40 to 300 tons payload, however the diesel-
electrical trucks are only applicable from approx. 90 tons and up.

2.22 Articulated Dump Trucks
The articulated dump trucks are often used in construction projects where the access or
transport roads may not be optimal at all times. The articulated trucks are cross-country
transport vehicles with a small to medium payload capacity (20 to 45 tons). In quarries
they are often used to transport waste rock to a deposit where both the loading area and
the tipping area may have unprepared ground conditions.

The articulated trucks have permanent 6-wheel drive, which is a significant advantage in
rugged terrain. The 6 wheel-drive makes the vehicle applicable in soft and slippery
ground conditions. Independent front suspension ensures good ground contact and
stability.

The rear boogie may have rigid or oscillating boogie. The latter gives ground contact on
all wheels at any time. All wheel ground contact ensures equal weight distribution and
less wear on bearing parts. It is essential in rough terrain.

2. TRANSPORT EQUIPMENT 2.2 Construction and Mining Trucks
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Figure 2.4 Articulated, six-wheel drive dump truck (37 t).
Good manoeuvrability due to oscillation in the boogie..



2. TRANSPORT EQUIPMENT 2.3 Load and Haul
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2.3 LOAD AND HAUL
Load and haul by wheel loaders are applicable in situations where the distance from the
rock pile to the crusher or a shaft is very short (less than approx. 100 m). In small
quarries with low annual production, the cost optimal length may be increased a bit due
to increased investment and labour costs when using an extra machine.

In block stone production the wheel loader is applicable for sorting and transporting the
largest blocks (larger than 3.0 t) between the blasted rock pile, stock piles and the final
construction. The wheel loader handles the blocks more gently than dumping from
trucks.



Figure 2.5 Load and haul of block stone (~8 t) by wheel loader (126 t).