It means that three different sources of material can now be exploited, rather than just one: the first, on the site, and the second, 30 km from the quarry, are for the production of sand, gravel, ballast and mine run materials, intended primarily for roadworks (road base and subgrade layers), but also for industry, and particularly for removing sulphur emissions from the Gardanne power station. The third comes from a recycling facility, to recover materials from public works demolition rubble. The conveyors pro-vide the link between the point of arrival of the raw material, the recovery equipment, and the point where it leaves the quarry.

Six to eight months were needed to get the whole system with its 25 belt conveyors up and running. Pre-assembly was carried out in the workshop to fit the geared motors to the conveyor heads. Universal type motors with IEC flanges were chosen. In the case of a break-down, other makes can be fitted as an emergency replacement. “We asked for universal fittings, so that the customer would be able to carry out quick repairs in the case of a breakdown, but Nord is also highly committed to after-sales service, with a fast on-site response within 2 days. In the preliminary study stages we also received good technical support from Nord’s teams, who helped us to select the equipment best suited to this application,” added Mr Herry.

Alongside this, and for a different plant, a further dozen Nord Drivesystems geared motors have been chosen for 7 or 8 more con-veyors, again for Durance Granulats. “Nord will be one of our part-ners in our forthcoming projects,” concludes Mr Herry.