All Evotherm, all the time: Cornejo & Sons
Jul 09, 2019
Established in 1952, Cornejo and Sons has been serving the community, businesses and government for more than 65 years. In 2013, the company was acquired by Summit Materials and continues to provide construction services and materials in Kansas and the Midwest. With nearly 600 employees and multiple subsidiaries, Cornejo and Sons has grown to be a vertically integrated construction materials company with more than a century of aggregate and paving experience.
Cornejo and Sons was introduced to Evotherm as an alternative to liquid antistrip required by local agencies in 2017. After working closely with the Ingevity technical team to develop a WMA mix design, Cornejo and Sons has incorporated Evotherm entirely across its plants.
Tim Zynda, vice president of ready mix and asphalt, shares his experience with transitioning to all-Evotherm operations and the impact it has had on the company’s overall success below.
What led to the transition to all-Evotherm operations?
We originally incorporated Evotherm because of its adhesion capabilities. Evotherm allowed us to replace liquid antistrip and provided supplemental benefits that were incomparable to other chemistries. Evotherm’s ability to improve coating and workability, aid in consistent densities, and reduce mixing temperatures led to better performance and increased cost savings. Once our organization noticed the impact Evotherm made on overall mix performance, we implemented the product throughout all our plants.
Describe your experience since incorporating Evotherm into your mixes.
Before using Evotherm, we were experiencing poor coating related to absorptive aggregate and wanted to explore other chemistries that would enhance the performance of our HMA. With the help of Evotherm, we reduced mix temperatures and improved the effective asphalt content. Even at lower temperatures we have been able to consistently maintain workability and achieve density goals. Running a plant at high temperatures makes it difficult to preserve the mix. Evotherm’s flexible mixing temperature has extended the shelf life of our mix, enabling us to achieve desired performance benefits coupled with overall energy savings. Essentially, Evotherm allows us to control costs while maximizing performance.
For those who may not be using Evotherm, what would you say about its benefits?
The various benefits associated with Evotherm allow contractors to determine which ones best impact their business model. Besides Evotherm’s adhesion and coating attributes, we also discovered a lubrication property that enhances the mix throughout all stages. The lower production temperatures also help us be a better neighbor in our community by keeping emissions to a minimum. Evotherm makes the mix less susceptible to outside variables such as ambient conditions, elongated storage, absorptive aggregates, inconsistent recycled materials, and others.
Tell us about a memorable project or experience with Evotherm.
In 2018, we acquired a new asphalt plant and used Evotherm for the plant’s first project with the Kansas Turnpike Authority. Evotherm was incorporated into the mix design as a liquid antistrip and warm mix chemistry. The aggregate had similar characteristics to what we’ve used in the past, and we knew Evotherm worked well with those materials. We produced the mix at appropriate temperatures and achieved maximum density bonuses. We also exceeded the minimum TSR requirements on the entire project. It was a successful project for this new facility, and we look forward to using even more Evotherm in the future!
