New Concrete Plant Takes Off

A new concrete batching plant that Engineering & Plant Services has successfully delivered to Firth Industries will help maintain Auckland Airport’s runways.

The Dry Beton 100 high-production plant will operate next to the airport and play a critical role in maintaining the airport’s existing runways and act as a significant resource for new airport projects.

The plant was supplied by SIMEM, an Italian company who excel in the design, engineering and manufacturing of specialised plant and machinery for the construction industry.

The plant arrived into New Zealand as part of a consignment of fourteen 40-foot containers. Despite its size, the majority of the installation took place within just four weeks and was completed in full by Engineering & Plant Services technicians.

While the plant’s modular design helped with this achievement, it was largely thanks to the installation team’s expertise, efficiency and professionalism.

“We were astounded by how quickly the plant was assembled and installed, it really was a delight to work with Jon Bruce and the Engineering & Plant Services team on this project,” says Firth Industries Project Manager Rob Murphy.

“The build quality of the plant is impressive, and we look forward to producing significant volumes of concrete for the airport and the surrounding area.

“With what we have seen so far, we will not hesitate to involve Engineering & Plant Services, as suppliers of the SIMEM product range, when considering our future prospects.”

The Dry Beton 100 plant offers a capacity of over 100m3 of concrete per hour and has fully automated aggregate, cement, water and chemical dosing functions.

The arrangement includes 200m3 of ‘live’ aggregate storage, two 60 tonne horizontal cement silos and an automated aggregate loading system fed from a single hopper. The plant also comes with its own dedicated service container, catering for water and air requirements.

“Engineering & Plant Services are committed to delivering cost-effective, innovative and value-added solutions,” said Business Unit Manager Marco Fredriks.

“Our aim is to achieve the ultimate customer experience by driving quality at every stage and the success of the Firth Airport plant install is a prime example of this objective.

“Firth are an outstanding company to work with and we genuinely look forward to working together again on future opportunities, that will lead to success for both our organisations,” he continued.

Melbourne’s rail network will soon benefit from a similar plant, being installed from December 2018 by a combined Engineering & Plant Services Australia and New Zealand team. The plant will play a key role in the city’s Metro Tunnel rail project.

Technical Overview:

• 1 x 10m3 loading hopper feeding onto a fixed 26m conveyor onto a fully automated shuttle distribution belt.
• 5 x 39m3 heaped capacity storage hoppers, each featuring 4 x pneumatic discharge gates.
• 1 x 1000mm width horizontal weigh conveyor driven onto an inclined belt for delivery through loading chute into mixers.
• 2 x 60 tonne horizontal cement silos feeding through their own 5 tonne cement weigh hopper.
• 1 x 1,500 litre water weigh hopper directly above loading chute combined with the admixture delivery system.
• 1 x 11kW dust extraction system automatically returning collected dust back into the loading cycle.
• 1 x dedicated 20’ service container complete with screw-type air compressor & water pressurisation unit.
• 1 x 10m3 boutique hopper for inclusion of special products into mix designs.