Midwestern News and Events

COASTAL READY MIX RECLAIMS USED CONCRETE
Along the 130 miles of sandy barrier islands that make up North Carolina’s Outer Banks, Coastal Ready Mix Concrete Co., is making waves in the scenic community for their efforts in preserving the shorelines and watery hideaways by reclaiming their unused concrete. Together with Midwestern Industries, Coastal Ready Mix is not only preserving the environment but saving on operational costs as well.

“It’s a win, win, win, win, situation,” exclaimed Coy Tillett.

Coy Tillett is the third generation to own and operate Coastal Ready Mix. Together with his brother, Saint Tillett, they run three ready mix facilities. Scattered throughout the coastal islands they are located in Cape Hatteras, Nags Head, and Moyock.
The company started nearly 45 years ago when Coy’s father and grandfather saw a need for a ready mix provider within the local area. On June 1, 1961 the concrete finishers started Coastal Ready Mix. It has been a family owned business ever since.

Concrete is used more than any other man made material on the planet. It is used to make pavements, building structures, foundations, motorways/roads, overpasses, parking structures, brick/block walls and footings just to name a few. Costal Ready Mix utilizes a recipe of rock, sand, powdered cement and water to create their construction material.

Water is carefully added to the concrete mixture to create a chemical process known as hydration. The water is actually absorbed by the powdered cement, which hardens, bonding the other components together and eventually creating a stone-like material.

After the aggregates are completely mixed together, trucks take the material to job sites where the concrete can be poured and utilized in a variety of ways.

“At the end of the day the trucks need to be washed out and that is where the reclaiming process begins,” said Tillett.

Throughout the day, when the concrete is being used, the trucks have holding tanks that continually rotate to keep the mixture from hardening. Once the trucks return from the job site it is necessary to wash out the containers to prevent the build-up of dried concrete. The “gray water” filters into a pit where it will eventually be reused while the rock and sand is let to dry for a day and then screened.

Tillett was referred to Midwestern Industries along with another screening outfit to discuss his new application. He began working with Bill Crone, Vice President of Sales, and explained his need to separate the rock from the sand in order to reuse the materials in the concrete mixture.

Both companies approached Tillett with different screening solutions for his application. After discussing Midwestern’s method in detail with Crone, Tillett decided the only way to screen his material efficiently was to use Midwestern’s single-deck, five-foot by ten-foot MEV.

“That man knows his stuff,” said Tillett.

The MEV allows Coastal Ready Mix to make two distinct product cuts at the rate they need. All the screened material is then reused in the concrete mixture saving in material costs.

“The machine works beautifully, I can’t think of anything we’ve put in that works that well,” said Tillett.
Upon starting the unit, Bill Crone made a visit to the Nags Head location where the machine was being utilized. He was onsite to answer any questions and to make sure the set-up as well as the start-up went as smoothly as possible for the concrete facility.

Midwestern Industries and its qualified sales staff were able to help Coastal Ready Mix with their screening needs. By working closely together and utilizing Midwestern’s screening experience they were able to help preserve the natural beauty of the Outer Banks while providing a much-needed service.
For more information on how Midwestern can help your screening process please contact us toll free at 877-4-Sizing (877-474-9464).

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