For customers in the upstate New York construction area, Syracuse Sand & Gravel is a primary supplier of sand and gravel for the region. In a recent visit to the Granby, NY Syracuse Sand & Gravel facility, we met with Plant Manager, Tim Harris who gave us a tour of the operation. He said this facility alone ships anywhere from 1000 to 7500 loads of material per week. With more than 40 other sand and gravel pits located throughout the area and northern Pennsylvania, Syracuse Sand & Gravel has become an industry leader.
Harris said that Syracuse Sand & Gravel began as a sister company to Riccelli Enterprises, Inc. with Rich and Joe Riccelli jointly owning the operation. Together, Riccelli Enterprises, Inc. and Syracuse Sand & Gravel offer prompt delivery of sand and gravel products to customers throughout the region. With more than 400 trucks available in the Riccelli fleet, sand and gravel customers can rely upon the combination of Syracuse Sand & Gravel and Riccelli Enterprises, Inc. for delivery when needed.
As we toured the Granby facility, it was interesting to see that the quarrying was taking place close to ground level. “We are permitted down to 25-feet,” said Harris. “We simply excavate down to where we begin to experience the water table, and then continue on laterally. Here at Granby, we have four portable plants in operation to meet the current demand.”
Harris said that most of the material that is currently being mined and screened at this location, is being produced as clean fill for two lake reclamation projects that are taking place in the region. “We produce 2’s, 1’s, 1-A’s and dust for the concrete plants,” he said. “We have one EXTEC (Powerscreen) crusher here that we use to crush a 4-inch minus material as sub base for roads. At another of our screen plants here, off the blue conveyor, we make a 3/8-inch minus and screened sand that is ready to ship to the lake projects.”
Syracuse Sand & Gravel is known for its gravel, Bank Run, Sand, Washed Stone, Round Stone, Top Soil, Concrete Sand and approved Septic Sand, all meeting DOT specifications. They also offer cushion sand, washed concrete sand, washing ice control sand, septic sand and mason sand.
Starting with 20 gravel beds in 2006-2007, the company has steadily grown to more than twice that size. From six loaders and three excavators to a fleet today that includes 15 excavators, 15 to 20 loaders, several CAT Dozers and five, 980 CAT loaders, two 972 CATs, two 950s and two 952 Kawasaki loaders, the equipment fleet has grown to meet the increasing demand.
On the day of our tour, we watched as four crews were busy crushing and screening material using two 1400 Powerscreen Chieftains, and one Powerscreen 1800 Warrior as well as the EXTEC crusher mentioned earlier. All totaled, there were four distinct workstations at the Granby operation, all busy producing marketable material. By most standards, it was an impressive sight to be sure.
For more information on Syracuse Sand & Gravel, give them a call at 315-433-5115.
2 Responses
Jon,
Great post about Syracuse Sand & Gravel. it sounds like your tour was really interesting. I like how you talked about the company’s evolution from 20 beds to doubling it’s size in ten years. This is a great success story!
When doing construction, you always want to have the right materials for the job at hand. You wouldn’t want to be doing something where you needed gravel and instead you got sand. I would make sure that I always have the right materials.