Crushing it at La Place

With approximately 175 million tonnes of freight moved through 28 locks and dams along the United States (US) Mississippi River each year, it is not only one of the world’s most heavily used commercial waterway systems but home to a diverse population of living things and a major recreational resource.  

Along with other users of the Mississippi River, our InfraBuild Recycling site at La Place uses barges for transport. In the case of InfraBuild Recycling, we transport approximately 100 kilotons (kt) of scrap metal annually to US steel mills along the Mississippi. When the barges reach their end of life, recyclers far and wide bid to purchase them because of the sheer amount of heavy melting scrap each barge provides when scrapped. 

Heavy melting scrap improves the density of the scrap feed into a furnace for steelmakers which improves the efficiency of the furnace operation by minimising the time to charge enough scrap for a full melt. The alternative is using mixed scrap which greatly increases charging time, cutting furnace productivity. 

Check out the pictures of one of the InfraBuild purchased barges being pulled to the Mississippi River banks, ready for our La Place team to cut it up and pop it into their shredder.