Gerken Materials, Inc. is excited to announce its latest innovation leap: the upgrade of its central testing laboratory in Napoleon with the state-of-the-art SmarTracker Hamburg Wheel Tracker. This cutting-edge technology marks a significant enhancement in our ability to ensure the integrity and durability of asphalt pavements.

Why the SmarTracker?

The SmarTracker device simulates real road traffic conditions by applying repeated, concentrated rolling loads to asphalt pavement samples. That is crucial for analyzing how vehicle tires impact road surfaces, particularly in terms of stress, wear, and the formation of rutting due to heavy traffic.

According to Jim Shoemaker, Director of Quality Paving and Materials, “The new device can simulate traffic equivalent to 20,000 passes and can test four samples of a mix simultaneously.” As a result, the SmarTracker represents a significant advancement over our existing asphalt pavement analyzer, enabling us to conduct more comprehensive assessments than ever before.

Benefits of the New Technology

Equipped to provide precise and reliable results, the SmarTracker is an essential tool in our commitment to maintaining high-quality standards. It allows for concurrent testing of wet and dry conditions, which is vital in assessing moisture sensitivity—an essential factor in the longevity of asphalt. The device’s innovative retractable wheel system minimizes the need for heavy lifting, thereby reducing the likelihood of back injuries and physical strain when handling samples.

Not only does the SmarTracker streamline our testing processes, but it also incorporates a water circulation system and air heaters, which maintain consistent temperatures and safeguard electrical components. The result is a reliable testing environment that is crucial for obtaining accurate data.

Continuous Learning and Development

At Gerken Materials, we understand that cutting-edge technology alone isn’t enough; a skilled workforce is essential to making it work effectively. Our lab technicians play a crucial role in quality control testing for construction materials, ensuring that every project meets stringent specifications and industry standards.

While formal education is not a prerequisite for our lab technicians, we invest in their development by providing comprehensive training at the National Center for Asphalt Technology (NCAT) at Auburn University. Additionally, technicians earn certifications from the Ohio and Michigan Departments of Transportation, with the entire training process typically taking more than three years to complete. Our commitment to skill development ensures that our team stays current with industry knowledge and best practices.

Conclusion

The integration of the SmarTracker into our testing laboratory is more than just a technological upgrade; it signifies our ongoing commitment to excellence in quality assurance for construction materials. By emphasizing advanced testing methods and continuous training, Gerken Materials maintains its promise to deliver safe and durable structures to our communities. As we move forward, we remain dedicated to innovation, quality, and safety.

The Gerken Companies takes pride in delivering excellent customer service and efficient logistics, all made possible by our dedicated team of dispatchers in the ready-mix dispatch office. With over 100 years of collective experience, our dispatchers are the backbone of our concrete operations, deploying a fleet of 60 ready-mix trucks across more than 2,500 square miles of Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan.

Dispatchers at Kuhlman Corporation do more than take ready-mix orders; they manage the logistics that fulfill customer needs. They juggle driver schedules, optimize delivery routes, and maintain open lines of communication with both customers and drivers.

Our dispatch team, located in the Maumee office, exemplifies professionalism and dedication. They demonstrate daily that the heart of the dispatch operation beats strongest in this collaborative environment.

Next time you see one of our ready-mix concrete trucks on the road, remember the dedicated team working tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure every project runs smoothly. Without them, delivering concrete to our customers and jobsites would be a much more challenging task.

Let’s take a closer look at the team that ensures concrete flows smoothly to our customers.

Gerken Materials, Inc. is thrilled to announce a significant upgrade to asphalt production capabilities at the Bluffton facility: a state-of-the-art Astec Double Barrel^® 300 TPH Drum Mixer asphalt plant. This innovative equipment will enhance our operational efficiency and product quality, ensuring we continue to meet the needs of our community and clients.

Our new Astec Double Barrel drum mixer comes equipped with six cold feed bins, two vertical liquid asphalt storage tanks, and three 200-ton storage silos. Designed to optimize our production processes, the advanced setup will significantly improve our capacity to deliver high-quality asphalt products.

The Astec Double Barrel replaces an older 1970s Barber Greene batch plant, which, although reliable in its time, could not match the efficiency and capabilities of modern drum plants.

The new asphalt plant enables us to continue serving our customers with improved capabilities and commitment to quality and sustainability.

The Astec Double Barrel drum mixer stands out for several compelling reasons:

High Production Rates: The new system allows us to produce asphalt at a faster rate, ensuring we can meet demand efficiently.

Enhanced Mix Quality: The long mixing chamber and proprietary V-flights of the drum mixer facilitate longer, more thorough mixing, resulting in better incorporation of materials and a more consistent final product.

Cost Efficiency: The upgraded technology translates to lower operating costs, which benefits our pricing and overall business competitiveness.

Environmental Performance: The new plant strengthens our commitment to eco-friendly practices. Its design effectively utilizes recycled asphalt pavement (RAP), contributing to reduced waste and a smaller carbon footprint.

Safety and efficiency are paramount in road construction. At The Gerken Companies, we’ve adopted innovative methods to streamline our operations, one of the most effective of which is the use of pusher trucks.

A pusher truck is a specialized vehicle designed to aid in the placement and retrieval of traffic cones, barrels, and other traffic control devices. Essential during lane closures and maintenance operations, the trucks ensure that safety is always the top priority for both workers and motorists.

Safety First

“By utilizing pusher trucks, we can eliminate the need to put team members in close proximity to live traffic, dramatically reducing the risk of accidents and injuries,” says Rob Myers, Traffic Supervisor for Roadway Services, Inc.

With pusher trucks, workers can deploy and retrieve cones and barrels from a safe distance, letting them focus on the task without the constant threat of oncoming traffic.

Efficiency is another key benefit of incorporating pusher trucks into our workflow. Deploying a two-mile zone traditionally takes about an hour if workers manually walk out the cones. However, with a pusher truck, Roadway Services can accomplish the same task in roughly 20 minutes. That lightning-fast speed not only conserves labor costs but also minimizes traffic disruptions, providing a smoother experience for drivers on the road.

Today’s pusher trucks come equipped with advanced cone placement and retrieval systems. Crews can automatically deploy cones at regular intervals as the truck moves through a work zone and retrieve them with ease later. Features such as flashing lights and arrow boards alert motorists of upcoming work zones, further enhancing safety.

“We now have three trucks with varying capabilities,” reports Rob. “They make setting up work zones much safer for our teams. The efficiency is just an added benefit.”

The integration of pusher trucks into our road construction practices demonstrates Gerken’s commitment to safety and efficiency. By embracing innovative technologies to reduce risks and streamline operations, we can conduct highway maintenance with the utmost care for both our workers and the driving public.

To provide some context, the Damon Dredge system features a massive 90,000-pound, 85-foot ladder with a cutter chain resembling an oversized chainsaw. Once the cutter chain dislodges material, a 14-inch suction pipe and pump, powered by a 750-horsepower motor, transports the material up the pipe to distances exceeding 1,500 feet. With the dredge capable of sending 7,000 gallons per minute of slurry (a mixture of gravel and water) through the pipe, finding an appropriate unit on the receiving end to dewater and manage that quantity posed a significant challenge.

After thorough research, we concluded that the Bucket Wheel offered the most effective balance in efficiency and maintenance. Despite its modern applications, the technology is not new; the use of Bucket Wheels for dewatering and classification dates back to the 1920s. In particular, we focused on the German manufacturer Stichweh, which debuted its first Bucket Wheel model in 1962.

The selection process was not without its hurdles. Given the limitations imposed by COVID-19, an on-site evaluation was out of the question. Nevertheless, we meticulously analyzed factors like gradation, fuel consumption, and cost per ton. Ultimately, we chose the 6514 H model, a bucket wheel that operates with an efficient 25-horsepower electric motor.

Here are some key specifications of the Stichweh 6514 H Bucket Wheel:

• Service Weight: 333,000 lbs
• Solids Capacity: 700 tons per hour
• Slurry Capacity: 8,800 gallons per minute
• Wheel Diameter: 21 ft 4 in
• Wheel Width: 4 ft 8 in
• Number of Buckets: 48
• Power: 25 HP electric motor
• Fuel Consumption: Approximately 7 gallons per hour

How It Works

As slurry flows into the receiving box, it moves at an impressive speed of 17 feet per second. The mixture of gravel and sand settles at the bottom, while water rises and is discharged through an overflow pipe into a settling pond, ultimately returning clean to the main lake.

The speed of the wheel is finely tuned by load-sensing technology, adapting to material intake—allowing rotation from as slow as 0.5 revolutions per minute to 1.5 revolutions per minute. The innovative design features 48 urethane-lined buckets with tiny slots—the size of a dime—allowing water to escape easily while efficiently transporting the solid material to a transfer conveyor.

Since integrating the Bucket Wheel into our processes, we have seen remarkable improvements, reinforcing our commitment to efficiency and innovation in dredging operations.

“The success at our primary location led us to acquire a second wheel from Custom Dredge Works for our Hillsdale site,” says Todd A Crane, Michigan Operations Manager. “And we have had the same success.”

Conclusion

Use of the Bucket Wheel showcases the significance of combining traditional methods with modern engineering. With its impressive capabilities and simplicity, the Bucket Wheel not only addresses our operational challenges but also stands as a testament to the ingenuity of engineering solutions throughout history.