WastAway demonstrates ‘The Tank’ to Army
Perhaps best known for its innovative waste disposal process called WastAway, the Bouldin Corporation is also in some other environmentally beneficial processes including a grinding system that cuts down on the volume of material at demolition sites. The system, designated “The Tank,” is so effective that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recently sent a camera crew to Warren County to document the machine in operation at the demolition site of a house near Centertown.
Wade Sparkman, vice president of sales for WastAway, was on site and explained the operation and advantages of the system.
“We’re doing a demolition where they tore down a two-story house and we’re grinding it up so it will save room in the landfill and it will save also on transportation,” Sparkman said. “It takes a lot less trucks. We’re reducing about 7-1 on the volume.”
“We developed this machine at Bouldin Corporation and we manufacture it to sell, but we also do contract grinding with it,” he said.
The machine is designed to be readily transportable and easy to use.
“We use a regular semi to pull it, and it takes about five minutes to set up to run and it takes about five minutes to tear down,” Sparkman said.
The machine uses diesel fuel and runs with a 525 hp Cummins motor and, according to Sparkman, uses about 11 gallons of fuel per hour.
Sparkman also remarked on the efficiency of the machine.
“We can do about 100 yards in 55 minutes,” he said.
The Corps of Engineers has expressed interest in the machine for use at disaster sites, like ground zero, where the reduction of the volume of debris could prove advantageous to clean-up efforts.
The video crew recording the operation comes from one of the premiere non-profit contractors with the U.S. military, Current Technologies Corporation, who will turn the video over to the Construction Engineering Research Lab in Champaign, Ill., for evaluation.
CTC representative Scott Leasure commented on the machine his video crew was documenting.
“I would say it’s demonstrated the capability to, not divert, but at least process and reduce the volume, as we’ve see right here. As far as if it’s cost effective, that will come later,” Leasure said.
The machines, which cost $315,000, are manufactured locally and Sparkman said the Corps of Engineers interest is based on their responsibilities in times of disaster.
“The Corps of Engineers is responsible when a national disaster happens, so they’re considering buying some of these and sending them out when that happens in different places,” Sparkman said.