Treadwell, who works at Boral’s Dunmore Quarry in New South Wales, will undertake an overseas research program for about three weeks.
{{quote-a:r-w:275-I:2-Q:“I truly believe that what I am doing will be beneficial to the industry in the coming years.”-WHO:Dylan Treadwell, 2017 David Barro Heavy Construction Materials Fellowship recipient}}As previously reported by Quarry, the Barro Group – a supplier of concrete and other raw construction materials – partnered with Australian non-profit company the ISS Institute to award one individual a fellowship to the value of $12,500.
The aim of the fellowship is to recognise an applicant’s industry innovation and ‘skill enhancement’ ideas, with research on leadership, sustainability, community engagement, technology, plant maintenance, industry safety and materials recycling encouraged.
Treadwell was awarded the fellowship for his proposal on how to utilise best practice ‘green’ technologies and practices from Scandinavia’s quarrying industry back home.
Commenting on the win, Treadwell said he was “ecstatic” he had been chosen.
“I was very pleased because I had put a lot of thought into the proposal and I truly believe that what I am doing will be beneficial to the industry in the coming years,” Treadwell told Quarry.
“It was something that I really did feel passionate about and I am glad that I could demonstrate this passion to the ISS Institute board.”
Treadwell will visit Bontrup’s Bremanger Quarry and Norsk Stein’s Jelsa Quarry in Norway, before meeting with Sandvik research and development personnel in Sweden and Metso’s sales engineers in Finland.
Time to innovate
Treadwell proposed to undertake two areas of research – innovation and efficiency and green technology and sustainability.
“We are currently in a phase of investment throughout the country in larger quarries – these are generally in the three million tonne per annum range,” Treadwell said.
“When this is compared to the Norwegian Jelsa quarry that is producing 10 million tonnes per year, it seems small in comparison.
“I want to be able to look at the system as a whole and see what might and what might not work in terms of the future of Australia,” he explained.
“There is no doubt we are looking to go bigger, faster and more efficient – the question is what is the best way to go about this? I hope to be able to provide a few different answers to this question.”
Green thumb
Treadwell’s proposal also included reviewing Bremanger Quarry – known as the ‘green quarry’ – and how its green technologies could be utilised back home.
“This is not an isolated case in Australia – exhausted quarries are shut and new pits or extensions of current quarries are developed in strategic positions, which are often getting closer to civilisation as the transportation costs are cheaper,” Treadwell explained.
“As such, we need to ensure that we practise good business principles and do all that we can to employ sustainable, best practice ‘green’ technologies. The Bremanger quarry is the best practice in this space, being energy neutral.
“Whether this is achievable in Australia is a different matter, but I hope to be able to provide ideas that can help us improve as a whole.”
Treadwell will undertake his research project in Scandinavia from 12 November to 15 December.
The David Barro Fellowship is independent of the Institute of Quarrying Australia annual awards.
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