Near the end of the processing line in the Brazeau Collieries briquette plant, heated petroleum asphalt was combined with crushed coal, to form a dough-like mixture. The mixing and volume of flow of the material was controlled at various points, including this station just above one of the 4 gravity-fed presses. The right amount of hot mix would be agitated and fed down, where it was compressed into solid, polished briquettes by the rotating stainless steel forms. If the demand was up, each of these 4 presses ran 24×7, but today there is nobody at the wheel.
Nobody At the Wheel, Nordegg
Royce Howland Photography 