Building Construction SBA

Study of the Company: Jamaica Aggregates Limited

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Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Products...........................................................................................................................................4
Services............................................................................................................................................8
Exports.............................................................................................................................................8
Careers.............................................................................................................................................9
Entry requirements...........................................................................................................................9
Organizational Chart......................................................................................................................10
Impact of the Production Process on the Environment.................................................................11
Safety, Health and Welfare Considerations...................................................................................11

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Introduction

Jamaica Aggregates Ltd (JAL), located at Yallahs, St. Thomas, with its Head Office at 31
Molynes Road, Kingston 10 is a joint venture between Jamaica Pre-Mix, the premier provider of
concrete in Jamaica for 50 years, and Lafarge, the world's foremost producer of cement, concrete
and aggregates. As the leading aggregates producer in Jamaica, JAL operates quarries and
produces high quality sand and stone in large quantities from convenient locations.

This project was designed to be an informative research about Jamaica Aggregates Ltd. It goes
into detail about the processes that are needed to achieve the finished product, their work
practices, impact of the operation on the environment, safety practices and it also includes an
organizational chart.

To acquire the information I did extensive research, went on a guided tour to the Head Office
and also the Quarry. Questions were asked and the answers recorded and analyzed to produce the
report.

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Products
Jamaica Aggregates Ltd (JAL) produces crushed stone in a variety of sizes. They also offer
services. Products include:

 Manufactured Sand
 Washed Sand for Concrete and Asphalt
 ¾" Concrete Stone
 Specification Asphalt Stone

JAL gets most of its raw materials from the same river as its competitors, but after processing
their quality of finished product is far superior. In the production process they apply more water
to the washing part of the process, hence the finished product comes out much cleaner and in
turn leads to a better end result for consumer projects.

Manufactured Sand

The Manufactured Sand produced by JAL is a purpose-made, fine crushed aggregate produced
under controlled conditions from a suitable sound source rock. It is designed for use in concrete,
asphalt and other specific products.
This product has its advantages over natural sand.

Advantages Include:
 They are as fine and regular as natural sand.
 Like natural sand, they offer constant and controlled quality to guarantee reliability
 They increase the compressive strength of concrete by 3 to 5%.
 
Depending on how finely they are ground, they can be used for:
 road surfacing (the coarsest),
 bricks,
 concrete blocks,
 cement

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Thanks to their mechanical properties, the finest sands can also be used in the composition of
concretes, including high performance products.

Washed Sand for Concrete and Asphalt

After being transported to the processing plant, the wet sand and gravel raw feed is emptied
directly into a hopper, which typically is covered with a "grizzly" of parallel bars to screen out
large cobbles and boulders. From the hopper, the material is transported to vibrating scalping
screens by belt conveyors. The scalping screens separate the oversize material from the smaller,
marketable sizes. The oversize material is directed to a crusher for size reduction, to
produce manufactured sands.

Crushing is carried out in three stages. Following crushing, the material is returned to the
screening operation for sizing. The material that passes through the scalping screen is fed into a
battery of sizing screens, which consist is horizontally sloped, and has a multi-deck, vibrating
screens. Rotating trommel screens with water sprays are also used to process and wash wet sand.
Screening separates the sand and gravel into different size ranges. Water is sprayed onto the
material throughout the screening process. After screening, the sized gravel is transported to
stockpiles by belt conveyors.

The sand is freed from clay and organic impurities by log washers or rotary scrubbers. After
scrubbing, the sand typically is sized by water classification. After classification, the sand is
dewatered using separatory cones.

After processing, the sand is transported to storage bins by belt conveyors.

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Picture of finished product (washed sand)

¾" Concrete Stone

The company produces aggregates of ¾” thickness along with the manufactured and
washed sand. To produce these aggregates, rock in the quarry must first be blasted with
explosives (potassium nitrate) to separate the cliff rock. Extreme safety measures are taken as the
explosives can throw large rocks up to one thousand feet although they are designed to lift the
rock instead of blow it outwards. Next it is chipped into manageable pieces by excavators with
hammer attachments. It is then loaded into and moved by trucks into the crushers’ hopper. The
rocks may go through a series of crushers before it reaches its desired size. After crushing, it is
washed and finally stockpiled for local sale or export. Approximately 2000 tons of aggregates
are crushed everyday; enough to supply local demands and for export monthly.

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1. Rocks have already been blasted and are now being reduced in size to be loaded into
trucks

2. A truck is transporting raw material to the crusher

3. The rock crusher (in operation)

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Services

JAL will load your trucks with exactly the amount you require, using our Bureau of Standards
certified scales, and will issue your driver with a ticket that provides all the information you need
to understand how much of what type of material you have purchased. They can make large
quantities of specific sizes of stone – just give them your specification and they will consult with
you on how best to achieve your requirements.

Exports

The company also exports its products. Through their strategic associate with Jamaica Gypsum
Quarries, they export large quantities of material directly to vessels, be it a barge or a 20,000
tonne order.

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Careers
As a quarry operative your duty would be to excavate rock from quarries or opencast mines,
before processing them to make products for industry.
These operators’ duties include:

 Working with heavy plant machinery such as excavators, draglines and cranes
 Operating processing equipment like rock crushers and stone graders
 Setting up and using drilling equipment
 Carrying out maintenance on vehicles and machinery
 Setting and detonating explosives, known as 'shotfiring'
 Transporting materials with large tipper and dumper trucks.

Working hours and conditions

Operators are expected to work around 37 to 40 hours a week, on a shift system. Overtime may
be added to this time.
The job is physically demanding and some tasks could be dangerous. Employers are provided
you with protective clothing.

Entry requirements

At JAL there is a diversity of careers. These careers include workers who are professionals,
semi-professionals, skilled and unskilled workers. Professional workers are those with degrees
in personnel or general management. Semi-Prefessionals generally have a diploma from UTEC
or a HEART Trust related to the job requirement. Skilled labourers have also acquired some
training that is required for the job. As an unskilled labourer no certification or prior training is
required.

There are different levels of employment at JAL (see organizational chart) with the Managing
Director at the top and the general workers at the bottom.

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 Organizational Chart

Managing Director

Assistant Director

Secretary

Head of Accounts Plant Manager Sales Manager

Accountant Manufactured Dispatcher Tractor Operator

Sand
Quality Control
Accountant Concrete Stones
Tractor Operator

Truck Driver

Machine Operators

General Worker

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Impact of the Production Process on the Environment

Creating the quarries requires the removal of virtually all natural vegetation, top soil and subsoil
to reach the aggregate underneath. Not only does this lead to a loss of existing animal wildlife, it
also leads to a huge loss of biodiversity as plants and aquatic habitats are destroyed. Moreover,
adjacent eco-systems are affected by noise, dust, pollution and contaminated water.

Quarries disrupt the existing movement of surface water and groundwater; they interrupt natural
water recharge and can lead to reduced quantity and quality of drinking water for residents and
wildlife near or downstream from a quarry site.

Of course, each quarry has unique characteristics and impacts, but every quarry will degrade the
natural environment. For quarries situated on lands designated as ecologically significant, this
degradation has an even greater adverse impact.

Safety, Health and Welfare Considerations

The operations at the Quarry as it relates to Safety, Health and Welfare are governed by the RIA
- Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Quarries) Regulations 2008. All workers are provided
with safety equipment and are expected to follow safety regulations outlined by the company.
Machine operators are trained in the safe methods of blasting, breaking and moving of rocks on
the plant.

It is important to note that by following the regulations, workers are not only kept in a safe
working environment but the company also increase production.

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