Built to last. Historic. Linked by generations of employees.

These adjectives all describe Tilcon New York Inc.'s largest operation, Clinton Point Quarry, which has been at its current location for more than 100 years and still has 200 years of reserves left. Situated on approximately 1,200 acres near Poughkeepsie, N.Y., the facility produces an average of 5 million tons of dolomitic limestone per year, which is used for road and building construction. Clinton Point is a 24-hour operation with 120 hourly and eight salaried employees.

Located along the Hudson River, Clinton Point supplies aggregate to the middle and lower Hudson River Valley, New York City and Long Island by barge (67% of total production) and truck. Its primary market is NYC. In fact, its aggregate is being used to build the new Yankee Stadium, Citi Field (the new Mets stadium) and Freedom Towers. Its ties as a major supplier to the Big Apple date back to the 1930s.

Operations at the site began in 1879. Ownership changed hands several times before New York Trap Rock Corp. acquired the site in 1919; in 1929, NYTR began construction of a modern stone-crushing plant, which became known as Clinton Point Quarry and is still in operation today. In 1965, Lone Star Industries purchased NYTR and operated the quarry for 32 years. Tilcon New York Inc. purchased the site in 1997.

The quarry is steeped in history. For example, the site was part of the estate of George Clinton, who served as the first governor of New York State from 1777 until 1795, and as the fourth vice president of the United States under Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. It is located in an area where some roads follow the same paths they did in the 1770s. On a more technical (but historical) note, the existing primary crusher, purchased used after service in the Panama Canal, was installed in 1912 and is still in use today.

Then and now

Back in 1930, when the Clinton Point Quarry was rebuilt from the ground up and reopened, it was hailed as the most modern aggregate plant of its time. During that same year, Rock Products published an article describing the operation. Following are a few excerpts from that article, comparing it to the present operation.

1930: Stone is hauled from the quarry face to the primary crusher via a fleet of 12 Mack 7-½-ton trucks that can each hold five cubic yards of stone. The average haul distance is 750 feet.

Today: The current fleet includes six 100-ton haul trucks, two 50-ton haul trucks and two 70-ton haul trucks. The average distance from the working face to the crusher is 1-½ miles.

1930: Crushing capacity can reach 800 to 1,000 tons per hour.

Today: The plant produces 1,000 to 1,200 tons per hour through the secondary mill and 1,500 to 1,800 tons per hour through the primary.

1930: The feature that impresses the visitor familiar with crushed-stone operations is the absence of dust. Even within the buildings that house various screening units and crushers, the air is remarkably free from dust.

Today: Dust control still is a priority. A dust control plan, which incorporates a Nesco water spray system, sprays water onto the rock as it enters the bins located above the feeders in building #4. In addition, the system is used in the chutes located above the crushers, which reduces the amount of dust released.

1930: All machinery in the plant is electrically interlocked so that if one machine stops, all operations ahead of the unit automatically stop.

Today: All stations within the plant (crushers, conveyors, etc.) are automated through a programmable logic controller (PLC), which ensures better control, reliability and energy-efficiency. However, a large portion of the plant still runs almost the same way it did back then.

1930: An outstanding feature of the plant is the extensive use of belt conveyors for elevating and conveying crushed stone. No elevators of the bucket type are used. Also, there is no scalping between primary and secondary crushing.

Today: Much of the same equipment is being used. Steve Brooks, plant manager, explains: “This plant was built to last. All the crushers are pretty much the same. We still have some of the original pulleys on the belts. In some cases, we have the original idlers still in position for the conveyor belts. We are even using some of the original overhead cranes.

“The conveyors also have remained the same, although some belts have been replaced and some conveyors moved or eliminated. From the primary crusher, the stone falls to a 48-inch-wide belt that moves the stone through an overhead conveyor gallery, over the main-line tracks of what was then the New York Central and is now the Metro-North railroad, to the secondary crusher.”

1930: Because the quarry is located so close to the main-line tracks of the New York Central railroad, precautions must be taken to ensure the safety of passing trains. For this purpose, the company has a tower man (employed by the New York Central) stationed at the plant; he telephones the chief dispatcher to determine if they have sufficient clearance for passing trains.

Today: Clinton Point has no interaction with the trains. Metro-North trains run through the plant every half hour during the morning rush and every hour during off-hours. Amtrak runs through at least daily. Tracks are no longer located near the pit. A bridge (built over the tracks) accommodates all vehicular traffic entering and leaving the plant.

200 Years of Reserves

As of today, 750 of the site's 1,200 acres have been mined. The plant has been in full production since 1929 and at the same levels since then, producing 3.5 to 4.5 million tons per year. Based on current mine plan and production volumes, the site holds another 200 years of reserves. It features seven benches that extend 270 feet below sea level; bench #5 is now being mined. About 20 acres per year are excavated. An additional 350 million tons of reserves, already permitted, lie across the Hudson River.

“The founding members of this quarry operation had the foresight to acquire a very large, strategic location to a superior market,” explains Gary Hubbard, operations manager. “Not only is this location ideal, Tilcon New York has three other plants located on the Hudson even closer to NYC, two of which have barge-loading capabilities. Few other aggregate operations have the capacity or location to service NYC in this manner. Subsequently, our selling price is rarely compromised to adjust to the competition.”

Reflecting on the vast amount of reserves, Brooks says it is hard to find a quarry of this size in New York State because of current environmental and permitting laws. It's even unusual to find a site this large out West. “The people who designed the plant originally in the late 1920s were geniuses to come up with a facility that's still producing what's considered modern tonnages in this day and age, after all this time. All the buildings constructed in 1929 are still being used for their original purposes.”