Rockster tackles concrete in ‘record time’ on US project

Rockster’s R1100DS helps Caravella Demolition crush concrete at William Paterson University, New Jersey (Photo: Rockster)

The R1100DS closed circuit impact crusher Caravella’s primary crusher for almost four years, and in this project – at William Paterson University in Wayne – the concrete was crushed to a final size of 38 mm (1.5 in).

It was then reused on site as a basement filler and for substructures.

Demolition of the university’s Overlook North Dormitory Building began in the summer of 2021. John Caravella, who founded Caravella Demolition in 2012, takes up the story.

“As part of our contract, we were to crush all the masonry generated from the demolition on site for re-use as backfilling of the demolition void. The dormitory building was a five-storey building, which made the demolition simple and straightforward.

“We initially mobilized to the site with a combination of a 350 high reach excavator and a 350 excavator, in total eight machines were used on this specific project. After the demolition was completed, we brought our Rockster R1100DS impactor and processed all the concrete. The project was completed within the allocated completion time of 120 days.

“One of the biggest advantages with the Rockster crusher is that the rotor system can be set to the desired speed that allows you to have a constant crushing performance for each specific project and for each material that needs to be processed.

“Due to Rockster’s hydrostatic drive where the engine stays within its optimum speed range and the hydrostatic pressure adjusts to the power requirements of the crusher. For this specific project, the 450,000 cu yd of extremely large and reinforced concrete was processed within record time – three weeks.”

The R1100DS used by Caravella features a complete screening system with a return belt that can be swivelled and used as a stockpile belt for production of the second final product.