NOVEMBER 2003 NEWSLETTER: WEBSITE EDITION

From the Chairman

The holiday season is quickly approaching!   It is a good time of the year to be thankful for everything we have and share some of that good fortune with others.  Lets all commit to do a little more good, be a little more thoughtful make a little more effort for the benefit of someone else.  Our influence can be a powerful tool if we use it wisely, more so than we can even imagine.  I know schedules are very busy this time of year, so this will be our last meeting until January.  Let’s do our best to come out to our meeting on the November 18th and celebrate the season with our friends and associates, update old relationships, and get sentimental.  I would like to see you all before the holidays, and then I’ll leave you alone until January.  Happy Holidays to you and your family!! -- GORDIE

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From the Program Chairman

This Meeting

“Accident Reconstruction and Investigation in Mining and Construction”

Fatal and serious accidents are an unfortunate part of our industry.  Oftentimes, legal action follows a serious accident or fatality, requiring a detailed description and investigation of the events leading up to and during the accident.  Eyewitnesses are very helpful if present but can be contradictory and inaccurate, especially if not mining and construction professionals.  Forensic investigations must, first, separate fact from conjecture, second, determine the exact final position of persons and things involved, and third, make sure the laws of physics are obeyed.  Using these techniques, Frank will follow two recent investigations to determine responsibilities and causes.  Determination of causes helps in future prevention, determination of responsibilities, and assists the litigants.

About the Speaker

Frank Kendorski is a native of Philadelphia, and received his BS in Mining Engineering from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology and his MS in Geological Engineering from the University of Arizona.  He has over 30 years of experience in mining and heavy construction worldwide.  He has been a Vice-President of SME.  He is a Registered Professional Engineer in several States.  He is currently Vice President and Office Manager of Agapito Associates’ Chicago Area Office in Lombard, where, aside from forensic investigations, he is active in stone mine design and failure analysis.

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Last Meeting

In a last minute switch in speakers Tom Blandford, Vice-President of Weir International, stood in for Bill Huber (who was called away on business) and gave an excellent presentation entitled “A Case Study for a Underground Potash Mine at Suria, Spain.”

Well, I've never been to Spain,

but I kinda like the Potash.

You know the miners are insane there,

Makin' product out of pure trash. 

They don't abuse it,

but may confuse it,

They ought to drill it!

(my apologies to Hoyt Axton)

Bill Huber took a powder on us last month, but fortunately, made up for his absence by arranging for a very able pinch-hitter, Mr. Tom Blandford.   The topic was "A Case Study for Potash Mining at Suria, Spain", but it could have just as easily been titled "Why you really should drill ahead of mining".  Mr. Blandford presented an interesting mix of technical and socio-economic information regarding Potash Mining in Suria.  The Potash beds lie in heavily folded and faulted terrain.  A major thrust fault separated two dominant mining locations, but the local folding causes the real problems for miners.  All mining is done by developing sub-level infrastructure to support conventional drill/blast and road-header mining in the overlying strata.  Virtually all exploration is done by mining.  The speaker indicated that in the area ahead of current works, there only exists three (3) exploration holes.

Weir International performed an exhaustive review of in-mine data in order to generate a best-estimate of the structure ahead of mining.  Using Surpac and it's geostatistical package, Weir generated target levels for development ahead of mining.   According to the speaker, the mining company, though uncertain about Weir's approach, has since tried and accepted the methodology.  All this from a company that had previously spent a good portion of its engineering budget making physical models of current works. 

The banded Potash beds produce a raw product from which between 20 and 30% yields are the norm.  Based on those estimates, it appears that the mining company produces about 6.5MM metric tons/year to generate 1.3MM tonnes of product.  That's a lot of waste!!

Our thanks to Mr. Blandford for stepping up to the plate at the last minute.  Bill - I hope you are ready for an onslaught of questions when you return!!

By Steve Tivy

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GEM News 

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Again - Rock Samples Wanted 

The Gem committee is hunting for rock samples of approximately 1 inch in size in quantities of 35 samples or more for rock kits which will be given to teachers at the Illinois Association of Aggregate Producers teacher workshop next fall.   Contact Anne Leslie of Raimonde Drilling at 773-889-1412 or email at rdcdrill@rdc-drill.com if you can help out.

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Section News

Don't forget to pay your 2003-2004 dues.  Click here for details.

Click here for the 2003-2004 Officers

THIS IS THE FIRST ISSUE OF THE ELECTRONIC NEWSLETTER!  (but only to those with e-mail addresses..)

This is the first month that we have stopped sending the newsletter to those of you with e-mail addresses, unless you have requested a paper copy.  If you have an e-mail address and still want a paper newsletter us know and we will continue to send you a paper copy.    We will be actively seeking e-mail addresses for those without a electronic address in our records.  Reducing the mailing costs will enable us to put our cash to more effective uses such as teacher scholarships to IAAP summer teacher workshops, college scholarships and more. Contact Gordie Stevens or Rick Ackerman.

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Upcoming Meetings & Events

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Member News

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Industry News

ISGS Geophysical Log & Cuttings Program

Because we cannot afford to drill holes throughout Illinois solely for geologic mapping, the ISGS relies upon generalized logs (clay and sand) and a few, discontinuous sample sets from water wells. Available engineering and consulting firms’ logs make detailed descriptions that are helpful to 3-D mapping.  We have found that natural gamma logs add important information about lithology and stratigraphy. The combination of a detailed description and continuous gamma log provides a high-quality “golden spike” at a greatly reduced cost per hole.

Chief Bill Shilts is expanding the existing downhole geophysical-logging program at the ISGS to gather continuous, highly detailed data to delineate the complex glacial sediments of Illinois, especially in Cook, Lake and McHenry Counties.  New geologic maps will be posted on the ISGS website at http://www.isgs.uiuc.edu/nsdihome/webdocs/igq/.

 In exchange for a detailed geologic or engineering log of boreholes that penetrate to bedrock, we will log the drilled hole with our natural gamma sonde at no charge to the client/owner.

 HOW IT WORKS

1. Inform clients about the 3-D geologic mapping program.

2. Ask client's cooperation to allow ISGS to gamma log a deep boring (free gamma log provided to client in electronic and hard copy), and

3. Provide a copy of the detailed description of the boring by geologist or engineer.  Surplus sample cuttings, core, and splits are a bonus.

Contact Christopher Stohr, Illinois State Geological Survey at cstohr@uiuc.edu to arrange for logging.

CONSTRAINTS  TO  GAMMA LOGGING

We can log an open hole after the drilling is completed but before the casing (steel or plastic) is pulled (prevents caving of hole trapping the probe). We cannot get good logs through augers or if the borehole is more than 12 inches (preferably between 2 and 8 inches). The logging takes about 2 hour for each 100 feet of logging and can be performed over lunch break, end of work day or when there are other tasks performed by the driller and crew.

Provided by Dr. Chris Stohr, ISGS 

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One of North America's Largest Gravel Pits Delayed

November 6, 2003  (LACON, IL)

 The fate of a project promoted as "one of North America's largest gravel pits" apparently will be up in the air for at least a month. After a nearly four-hour public hearing ending about 11 p.m. Tuesday, the Marshall County Zoning Board of Appeals voted unanimously to table until Dec. 2 a request for a special-use permit to mine gravel on a nearly 500-acre tract of farmland northwest of Henry. The delay drew groans from some in a crowd that had numbered about 150 before a few people started leaving earlier in the evening. Many stated vehement opposition and asked that the project be voted down. But board Chairman Bill Campion said the panel had received extensive written evidence, some of it just that night, and had not really had time to consider the issue.

The permit applicant is Kenin Edwards, a logger and sawmill operator who said he represents Ozinga Bros., a large Chicago concrete and construction company. The Henry pit and three other area operations would be owned by a company to be called Illinois River Holdings, Edwards said. While the Henry site itself would be so large as to be mined for up to 240 years, Edwards said, it would be only part of a plan that also involves the pending purchase of the Reliable Materials pit north of Lacon and eventual development of Illinois River ports in Lacon and Henry. That would make the area a major hub of barge traffic and spur industrial development, said Edwards and Ozinga official Ronnie Smith.   

But one area community, Henry, declared staunch opposition to the project - partly through an anonymous letter the board took into evidence.  Henry Mayor Daryl Fountain said the city has been negotiating with a company possibly interested in building a large ethanol plant on city-owned property near the proposed gravel pit. For reasons never explained, the gravel pit "would be a deal-breaker" for that plant, Fountain said.  City attorney Rick Joseph presented the board with a letter to that effect and purporting to be from a company official. But the firm did not want its name mentioned, Joseph said, and the letter did not say who or where it was from.

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Historical Statewide Aerial Photographs Available Online

These photographs were first acquired for Illinois from 1936 - 1941 by the Agricultural Adjustment Administration (USDA-AAA). The original silver nitrate film negatives were destroyed by the National Archives in the 1980s due to deterioration and instability. Use of remaining photographic paper prints over time has resulted in their becoming faded, worn, defaced, or lost. The Illinois State Geological Survey and the IDNR have collaborated with the IDOT, USAED-Rock Island, SIU-C, UIUC, and Illinois State Libraries, and Scantech, Inc. of Champaign to conduct both preservation scanning of the best remaining copies of the prints and provide on-line Internet-based access to the digitized collection. Compressed (use the free Mr. Sid viewer), historical photos encompassing 14 Illinois counties (see figure), are downloadable at no cost at a recently completed website at the following address: http://www.isgs.uiuc.edu/nsdihome/webdocs/ilhap/.

The digitized images are not geometrically corrected, and therefore adjacent images can be used for stereoscopic viewing. The digitized photos for an additional 11 counties located  in metro-East St. Louis and southern Illinois will be available on-line by the end of the year. For additional information,  contact Donald Luman at dluman@isgs.uiuc.edu or at 217-244-2179

Provided by Dr. Chris Stohr, ISGS

On-Line Access Now Available to the Land Cover of Illinois 1999-2000

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources, State Geological and Natural History Surveys, in cooperation with the US and Illinois Departments of Agriculture have recently completed the Land Cover of Illinois 1999-2000.  This interagency initiative used remote sensing technology and current Landsat satellite imagery to inventory the state=s land cover characteristics. The new inventory provides significant improvements in agricultural lands, forested lands, and wetland cover as compared to the earlier Land Cover of Illinois 1991-1995 inventory and database released by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources in 1996.

The Land Cover of Illinois 1999-2000 inventory and associated GIS databases, and information about the methods used to compile them, are available on-line at http://www.agr.state.il.us/gis/landcover.html. The website also includes web pages that provide interactive statistical summaries on a county or watershed basis. For additional information, please contact Donald Luman at dluman@isgs.uiuc.edu. 

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Mining Accidents: 'Alarming trend'-Deaths of supervisory personnel raise red flag

Two mine-related fatalities in South Carolina within a four-day span, including one at Holly Hill's Holcim Inc. plant, have Mine Safety and Health Administration officials digging for answers and clues as to the underlying causes for the back-to-back incidents.  Most disturbing, officials say, is the nature of the fatalities. Both involved experienced employees in supervisory roles. 

"We have had a number of fatalities this year, and about 50 percent have involved supervisors," said Mike Davis, district manager of the southeast region MSHA, metal and non-metal division. "This has caused the greatest amount of concern this year. It is an alarming trend."

 Seven (fatalities) have occurred throughout the southeast region, and 21 have been reported nationally in the metal and non-metal division alone.  This does not include the 19 in the coal division. While Davis reported the number of mine-related deaths as actually down from last year, the large percentage of supervisory fatalities is what has raised the level of alert.  "It is the type of accidents that we have been having," he said. "We are starting to look at what we are seeing. Generally speaking, it has not involved faulty equipment ... but practice and procedure.  In some cases the procedures have not been clearly defined; in some cases procedures were not really well formulated; in some cases there were really good procedures in place, and they were just not followed," he said.

 Acting upon these safety concerns, the MSHA metal and nonmetal division launched a safety campaign last month that entails personal site visits to all 1,600 mines in the southeast district.   In addition, MSHA officials also conducted an Internet web cast to distribute and share safety and health information earlier this month.  

Edited & Used with permission from www.aggregateresearch.com

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Good-Bye to Dolese and Shepard

Two historical remnants of the early Chicago area stone industry were lost this year. Both were part of the Dolese & Shepard operations dating from the late 19th and early 20th century. Now largely forgotten, this company was probably the largest Chicago area producer of crushed stone during much of this time period.  Its largest quarry acquisition was the Hawthorn Quarry in Cicero which had been known as the Cicero Lime Works since the 1850s.  The Hawthorn quarry was the primary stone producer for (Dolese & Shepard) company and by the early 1900's reached a depth of about 200 feet.  Employing almost 500 men the company had 100 teams hauling stone to customers and shipped stone in their 475 railroad cars to more distant parts of the region. By 1967 D&S was owned by the Crown family who sold it to the Consumers Company (now Vulcan Materials) and the quarry was later combined with Vulcan's McCook pit to the north forming the large pit still in operation.  Until the 1990's much of the old D&S plant remained intact although little was in use.  

D&S structures still standing included the concrete foundations of the 1904 plant which served as the basement for a scale house and later as Vulcan's engineering office. In addition most of 1909 plant structures that were erected south of the original quarry were still in place.  The southward expansion of the quarry in recent years however resulted in the demolition of all of these features.  The largest and last D&S structure to go was the concrete based screen house and storage bins that had been leased to Prairie Materials for their ready mix operations.  Until demolished this spring, you could still read the following giant but faded sign painted on the concrete wall of the lower east side of this building: 

Dolese & Shepard Co.

Largest Producers of Crushed Stone

in the World.

Office 108 La Salle St. Chicago. 

With the disappearance of these last two D&S structures, all traces of what was once the most prominent Chicago area stone producer are gone except, of course, the large hill in Cicero and the large quarry in McCook. 

By Dr. Don Mikulic, ISGS   

Unfortunately due to space considerations this article was shortened for publication here , which left out a lot of wonderful history about a progressive company.  I would be happy to e-mail the full text on request. --Rick Ackerman

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