Asbestos Case Study Recommendations: Bulk Loading of Railroad Cars and Trucks

The ventilated loading spout used to fill trucks was an enclosed-type retractable spout, operated from an isolated control room. An open-type ventilated spout, designed for filling open vehicles, is also available.

To fill the truck hopper openings, sand flowed by gravity at approximately 10,000 lb/min (100 ft3/min) from an overhead hopper through the spout and into the truck. The spout was lowered, the flow started and, as the sand rose, the operator retracted the spout keeping it within a few inches of the top of the sand.

When a portion of the truck was filled, the flow was stopped, the truck was moved forward, the spout was lowered, and loading was resumed until the truck was filled.

For hopper trucks, the spout remained a few inches above the open hatch during filling.

For trucks with cross ribs but no longitudinal rib, the spout was lowered between the ribs. For trucks with a longitudinal rib, the spout was lowered to the longitudinal rib and the sand flowed over the rib into the truck.