From Left: Tony Newcombe (Engineering Manager), Guido DeWilde (SEQ Manager), Karl Watson (CEO Readymix Holdings) and Peter James (COO Humes)
Eagle Farm plant upgrade.
Humes, Australia's largest manufacturer of precast concrete pipes and products, has just completed a major upgrade of its Eagle Farm Plant in Brisbane Queensland. Humes is a member of the Rinker Group. The opening represented the end of a $6 million production facility upgrade, including a state-of-the-art batching plant.
Two new production lines use a new RoRo (Roll on Roll off) fully automated centrifugal pipe machine that allows production of two pipes at a time.
The Eagle Farm upgrade also incorporates the latest in fully automated spun pipe technology. The machine features a number of Occupational Health ∧ Safety enhancements including the ability to respond automatically to any mold out of balance by reducing speed, allowing a faster response time to problems, and identification and removal of molds failing to reach optimal spinning speed.
The upgrade will improve pipe quality, use less raw materials, improve environmental and energy costs and provide better batching and concrete delivery.
Karl Watson Jr., chief executive officer of Readymix Holdings, officially opened the plant.
Precast modular cell project.
The Prestress Division recently completed a major modular prison cell project. The modules were produced at the LaPlatte, Nebraska Prestress Plant and shipped to the Ramsey County Law Enforcement Centre jobsite in St. Paul, Minnesota.
A module cell is produced by casting a five-sided "box". Later, a precast slab is welded to the bottom of the box to complete the cell. Each module consists of two housing cells and a small electrical/plumbing room (four beds per piece). The casting of cell modules presents unique challenges due to the three-dimensional shape of the pieces.
Self Compacting Concrete (SCC) is used with additives that suspends the aggregates within a mix and enables concrete to spread evenly into a space or onto a surface with little or no vibration. For this project, SCC was pumped in from the bottom of the module forms to provide a smooth uniform product.
Rinker Materials employed a contractor who installed all the fixtures, doors and windows and painted the cells at the plant. When the cells arrive at the jobsite, they are already fully furnished and only need to be connected to the main electrical and plumbing system. The key benefit of this method of construction is the time saved by completing a major portion of the work offsite at the precast plant and reducing congestion at the site.
The new Qingdao plant in China
Qingdao plant aquisition.
Readymix has continued its expansion into China, with the acquisition of a premix concrete operation in Qingdao. The acquisition is the second largest concrete operation in Qingdao, producing around 120,000 cubic metres of premix concrete a year.
Qingdao is a major port city with a population of over seven million people. It is located in the Shandong Province, one of China's most heavily populated provinces, with around 90 million people.
The concrete plant was purchased from the Qingdao Construction Group Corporation, the largest building construction contractor in Shandong province.
