3E: Essential. Energy & Environmental Infrastructure Services
About 27 million cubic yards of earth fill material will be needed as a base for a fifth runway at Atlanta’s Hartsfield International Airport and it will be funneled there by an innovative conveyor system.
The environmentally friendly conveyor snakes 5 1/2 miles through the countryside from quarries and dirt pits south of the airport to four discharge areas at the project site. Its multiple stages are driven by an electric motor system installed by Player and Company. Three years will be needed for the project. It is estimated that during that time the conveyor will save millions over the cost of trucking the fill to the site while simultaneously eliminating the noise and hazards of the millions of truck trips that would be required to do the job.
The conveyor network with its six-foot wide belting system is composed of hundreds of segments powered by numerous 500 h.p. electric motors with supporting installations and controls.
The conveyor transports its earth and rock fill uphill and down and across two major thoroughfares. The airport conveyor system is being studied by other communities facing similar problems in moving huge amounts of fill through built-up urban industrial areas.