M E M B E R S P O T L I G H T Husky
Asphalt
Paving the way for future success
By Mark Halsall
Husky Asphalt is dedicated to building better roads.
This commitment, which stretches back 80 years,
was recently renewed with the completion of a
brand-new plant dedicated to making polymer-modified
asphalt (PMA).
The PMA production facility, which is the largest in Canada,
is situated at the Husky Energy refinery in Lloydminster, the
border city shared by Alberta and Saskatchewan. It produces
Black Max, Husky’s line of premier PMA products that are
sold across North America.
The new PMA plant breaks new ground for Husky
Asphalt, but it is in keeping with the history and spirit of the
company that has been dedicated to advancing PMA devel-opment
in Canada.
Black Max was initially created by University of Calgary
scientists for Husky back in the mid-1980s and the company
first began producing PMA products at its Lloydminster refin-ery
in 1993. The growing popularity of PMA for road build-ing
projects spurred Husky’s decision to construct the PMA-dedicated
plant in Lloydminster in 2017.
“We wanted to get ahead of the curve and make sure that
we have enough capacity to meet market demand today
and for tomorrow,” said Dallin Doney, senior manager of
sales and marketing for Husky Asphalt. “Many jurisdic-tions
in Western Canada are moving towards having more
polymer being used in their roads. We now have a plant
capable of producing all the volumes we will need to service
those markets.”
With the completion of the Lloydminster facility in April,
Husky’s Black Max production capacity has increased sub-stantially.
According to Doney, the production process at the
new plant has also been redesigned to make it easier and
more straightforward, with innovations like a continuous-feed
mill creating new efficiencies that can be passed on
to customers.
Other improvements include new multi-flex spouts,
which make it possible to load multiple grades of asphalt at
each loading station, all automated for operation from the
plant’s control room. That means customers can pull in, load
up and be back on the road to the job site without delay.
Storage tanks at Husky Asphalt’s polymer-modified asphalt production facility in Lloydminster
Photos courtesy of Husky Energy
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