Skip to main content

Canadian air

Compressors from Atlas Copco are proving highly useful in highly diverse applications, on a bridge project and a quarry in Canada. Water ingress over 30 years has damaged a road bridge in Quebec City, Canada, deteriorating the concrete and breaking down the rubber expansion joints at both ends of the 150m long structure. City highway authority, Transportes Quebec, awarded local contracting company Inter-Structures the contract to replace the deteriorated concrete and fit new membrane seals. The bridge, clos
February 8, 2012 Read time: 3 mins
Compressors from 161 Atlas Copco are proving highly useful in highly diverse applications, on a bridge project and a quarry in Canada. Water ingress over 30 years has damaged a road bridge in Quebec City, Canada, deteriorating the concrete and breaking down the rubber expansion joints at both ends of the 150m long structure. City highway authority, Transportes Quebec, awarded local contracting company Inter-Structures the contract to replace the deteriorated concrete and fit new membrane seals. The bridge, close to the St Lawrence river and Quebec City, links highway 440 West and the Boulevard de Chutes to provide access to a residential area and the renown Montmorency park and waterfall.

To ensure access to the damaged seals across the full width of the bridge, the contractor has removed more than 300mm x 200mm x 200mm on each of the nine beams at both ends of the bridge and the 200mm thick concrete slab; relying on two Atlas Copco XAS185 air compressors, including a recently delivered unit on rental from Equipment LAV.

On the Inter-Structures project, both XAS 185 portable air compressors are supplying a free air delivery of 89litres/s at 7bars to each provide compressed air for three breakers.

Meanwhile a newly formed Canadian quarry drill and blast contractor, Forexplo, has taken delivery of a second Atlas Copco XRVS 1000 CD6 air compressor.

Formed at the beginning of the year, 2455 Forexplo has established itself as a drill and blast specialist in Canada's Quebec Province. A key factor in meeting the production targets, is the on-demand high pressure air provided by the two Atlas Copco compressors for two large drill rigs. The firm now has drill and blast contracts with Beauval for the quarries in Valleyfield, Ange Gardien, some 55km south of Montreal and Herbertville on Lac St Jean. The XRVS 1000, rated at 25bars, is powered by a 178 Caterpillar C13 diesel and is said to be highly economical on fuel.

The Ange Gardien quarry was acquired by Beauval in in 1981 and has reserves for at least another 25 years, featuring micritic limestone and a black argillaceous slate. The site has three bench levels along the lkm long quarry andis Forexplo are drilling and blasting 8-12m deep bench heights. Depending on Beauval's requirements, Forexplo is typically drilling 56 holes for a blast to provide some 20,000tonnes. Using Atlas Copco standard or Speedbit 140mm bits, Forexplo is drilling up to 30m/h.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • PERI fills gap in Greek market
    February 19, 2013
    A team of Greek and German PERI engineers have developed a comprehensive formwork and scaffolding solution for the T4 bridge on the A7 motorway in Greece. The 160km long A7 connects Kalamata in the south to Corinth in the northwest of the Peloponnese peninsula. On one stretch of the motorway a 390m long arched bridge – known as T4 – is being used to close the gap between Paradisia and Tsakona. Set for completion in early 2014, two-thirds of the 22m wide bridge superstructure will be suspended on a steel arc
  • Concrete dowel drilling systems can face tough construction challenges
    November 13, 2014
    Nebraska Highway 92 in the US stretches from Nebraska’s western border with Wyoming to Omaha where the highway leaves Nebraska and enters Iowa, taking motorists through farmland and several towns and counties across the state. It’s also a major roadway that branches off from Interstate 80 and leads motorists through Polk County, Nebraska, where a recently completed road project is enhancing safety for motorists.
  • Reducing plant noise
    February 7, 2012
    German quarrying firm Oetelshofen Kalk has cut noise emissions by half and tripled machine service life, by installing dual hardness rubber liners in its crushing plant. Based in Wuppertal, the Oetelshofen quarry company produces 2 million tonnes of limestone products/year, and has a turnover of €35 million/year.
  • 'Blinding success' at Welsh quarry
    February 14, 2012
    Wales is renowned for many things but dry weather is not one of them. A combination of being close to the Atlantic and having lots of mountains means that it rains a lot and this is bad news when fine screening limestone using conventional steel wire mesh, which tends to clog and blind over in damp weather.