Word: sanding
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With thirteen albums under their belt, indie rock band Superchunk knows a thing or two about preserving one’s allure amidst the often-homogeneous batch of alternative rock. The latest of their albums, Cup of Sand, is a two disc compilation that traces the band’s diverse sonorous endeavors and serves as an example of what the band does best: deliver singles. 8 p.m. $12; 18+. The Middle East Downstairs, 472 Mass. Ave., Cambridge...
Everything here is done on a scale that would make Paul Bunyan feel right at home. The electric-powered shovels that mine the sands are several stories tall. Dozens of giant yellow earthmoving trucks lumber in and out of the mine carrying tons of freshly excavated sand. The largest ones weigh as much as 400 tons--more than 200 times the size of the average car. The trucks use huge tires that cost $55,000 each. The drivers sit so high above ground that one says piloting these behemoths is "like driving a two-story house from the second-floor...
...deposits can be as little as 25 ft. below the surface. After topsoil is removed, the shovels scoop the oily mix into the trucks, which transport it to hoppers for crushing. Hot water is injected to create a slurry that separates the raw oil from sand, clay and other particles. Then 2,500-h.p. pumps, the world's largest, push the viscous oil sands through pipes to a plant on-site that converts it to crude oil. From there, it goes by pipeline to refineries in the U.S. The output of the Alberta operations is expected soon to reach...
Canada did just that. As with the oil-shale deposits in the U.S., geologists and oilmen long knew about Alberta's immense oil-sands resources, but technological obstacles and high costs prevented development. Unlike conventional oil deposits that can be pumped to the surface, oil sand is a heavy, tarlike substance that must be mined and processed before it can be refined into gasoline and other products. Today's burgeoning industry is a testament to both government incentives and oil-company determination...
...clock, 365 days a year, in some of the worst weather on Earth. In summer the ground turns mushy, and the huge trucks bog down. "It's like working in peanut butter," says a Syncruder. In the winter, when temperatures can drop to -40°F, the oil sand is so hard it grinds up the shovels' steel teeth as if they were plastic combs. It's not unusual to replace the teeth after a single 12-hour shift. Suncorp, another oil-sands company, has an $8 million annual budget just for that...