After nearly five years of planning, Continental is excited to announce Atlas Energy Solutions has contracted Continental to supply the conveyor belt for the Dune Express, a world-renowned conveyor system accompanied by digital solution components. During the planning phase, the two companies worked closely together to solve various technical challenges that had arisen due to the size and complexity of the project. For example, the total system has an impressive 42-mile length, which includes a world record single conveyor belt flight length of 16.4 miles without a mid-booster drive.

The Dune Express conveyor belt is designed to optimize delivery of proppant from Atlas’ sand mine in Kermit, Texas, to the northern Delaware Basin in New Mexico. Reducing the mileage driven by frac sand delivery trucks, the new conveyer belt system is one-of-a-kind, and is expected to significantly reduce traffic accidents and enhance the safety of public roads. The conveyor belt will also significantly reduce fuel emissions caused by transportation. 

“We’re very grateful to our partners at Atlas Energy Solutions for their trust in our expertise and for the great collaboration on this challenging project. We’re confident this conveyor belt approach will make an incredible impact on other customers and will support us in our strategy to further develop our industry business,” said Andreas Gerstenberger, CEO of ContiTech USA. “We’re incredibly proud of every department at Continental that had a hand in this milestone achievement. From our sales team to our engineers, and everyone in between, the teamwork and collaboration that got us to this point proved we understand the needs of our customers.”

The Dune Express will be equipped with the most advanced technologies to increase efficiency and prevent equipment error. With the best-in-class damage detection equipment, the system monitors in real-time for rips, tears, cord damage and splice degradation, to proactively avoid major maintenance events and maximize uptime. This is a remarkable achievement by Continental’s R&D team for developing a compound to enable Continental to pursue future overland projects similar to the Atlas Energy project. 

The Dune Express is expected to be up and running at the end of 2024.