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Arizona Copper Mine Diversion Channel

., Arizona

Channel Lining

Owner:

Confidential

Engineer:

AJAX - Ltd.

Contractor:

Ames Construction

Installation:

June 2009

Technical Description:

  • Product: ArmorFlex® Class 50T
  • Area: 38,830 SF
  • Product: DuroMaxx® SRPE, 440 LF of 36-in.

The owner of a copper mine required a new hard armor solution for the banks of a diversion channel. Their search led them to the website for Contech. After meeting with a Contech representative, they found out that a neighboring mine was installing 150,000 square feet of the same product they had been researching. After reviewing the product being installed, the mine decided to utilize ArmorFlex articulating concrete block (ACB) systems for their project as well.

ArmorFlex was selected from a group of channel lining options during the design process due to several advantages.

Challenges faced during this project included a very steep grade - 28.33% slope with high velocities - and three bends with super-elevation concerns at each bend. In addition, due to site constraints, it was challenging to unload the trucks near the first 500-ft. of the channel.

“The sales and engineering staff at Contech was very responsive to any questions or concepts we had during the early stages of design and continued to provide input and support throughout the bidding and construction stages of the project,” states Robert L. Martin of AJAX Ltd, the engineer on the project. “Once the design concept was selected, the Contech staff provided details and specifications for the products that were used for bidding. During construction, several minor adjustments were made to the alignment of the channel and they worked quickly with the Contractor and Project Engineer to verify the design change without affecting the construction schedule.”

Material was staged at the top and then trammed down to a more level starting point and worked uphill in order to eliminate movement of the mats. Benches/roads were improved to drive the trucks to the channel so that they could stage next to or near the working area.

Overall, the project utilized 38,300 square feet of Class 50T ArmorFlex, 4,900 square yards of geogrid, 5.532 square yards of Propex 104F filter fabric and 440-ft. of 36-in. DuroMaxx steel reinforced polyethylene pipe.

Technical Description:

  • Product: ArmorFlex® Class 50T
  • Area: 38,830 SF
  • Product: DuroMaxx® SRPE, 440 LF of 36-in.
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