Frac Sand Transloading Facility

Completion: October 2011

Project Description:

The expanding fracking industry has demanded that wells have the ability to obtain high quality frac sand within a reasonable proximity of the mine sites. To this end, sand suppliers need quantities of sand in inventory with faster turnaround times to support the end users’ needs. This project stemmed from the supplier’s need to have a sizable quantity of multiple grades of sand available for loading into trucks. The ability to transfer sand from rail cars frees up space on the siding tracks, improves loading speed, and reduces the personnel required to manage the inventory.

This sand transloading terminal consisted of a material handling system for loading sand from rail cars, mechanical conveying into the storage silos, and then gravity feeding into trucks.  The system is capable of handling 200 tons per hour of 100 pcf sand at each pod simultaneously. The process is managed by a PLC based system with push-button controls. The rail terminal is broken into 2 different “pods” of silos consisting of (12) 500 ton capacity shop-welded silos per pod. Each pod is made up of modularized rows that allow additional components to be added with minimal changes to the existing equipment or site operations.

Redpoint provided arrangement details for the entire material handling and storage system, and oversaw procurement, installation and startup of the provided equipment.  Our project and construction management extended through all phases, from project planning to project closeout.