hoppers where a conveyor feeds it to boilers that produce steam or electrical power. The crew consists of Coal Handling Supervisor Troy Booth, Foreman Dennis “Hammer” Pitlik, and Operators Kevin Booth, Jane French, Larry Henderson, Curt Jensen, James McDevitt and Mark Rodenkirk.

“This plant, as well as our 6th Street station in Cedar Rapids, are the only Alliant generating stations that are major producers of steam,” said Troy Booth. “The steam is used to provide heat and power to many of the older buildings in the area, so they’re pretty critical. To produce the steam, we send about a million gallons of water a day through our treatment plant.”

Equipment that works

In order to supply the necessary power, the plant runs seven days a week. “We need equipment that we can trust to do the job day-in and day-out and it needs to be cost-effective,” said Armbrecht. That’s why, in March, Alliant bought a new TD-25H Dressta dozer from Road Machinery & Supplies Company through Territory Manager Delane Wolter. It replaced an older Dresser dozer.

“Everyone liked the old Dresser, and this new one had more bells and whistles along with newer environmental technology,” added Armbrecht. “Just like everybody else, we’ve been impacted by the economy, so price was also a concern. RMS really came to the table for us. We’ve been very happy with the new dozer. It really digs in and does a good job on the washed coal.”

Operator Jane French, who frequently is on the new Dressta, said, “It has a lot more power than the old machine. Performance-wise, I’ve been very pleased with it.”

The Alliant crew is also pleased with the support they’ve received from RMS. “They’ve responded very quickly to any issues or concerns we’ve had,” said Armbrecht. “They’ve been very customer-friendly, and we appreciate that.”