| Two sets of eyes are better than one |
The requirement for major refurbishments and replacement of plants has necessitated the recruitment of a project manager who was appointed to guide the projects and ensure best practice. One of the first projects to be addressed was the replacement of the Readymix plant at Bluebell Hill. A full site review took place which highlighted those issues that needed to be dealt with in the new plant and site layout. These were:
- The plant’s location;
- Access and egress onto the site; and
- Water management.
Among the upgrades were:
- A 35 tonnes ground hopper with drive over grid – this was to allow the largest anticipated aggregate delivery vehicles to discharge a full load in one go;
- Start up alarm on the radial conveyor to warn the workforce before it begins operating;
- Remote control operation of the aggregate delivery system so staff weren’t required to keep accessing and egressing the batch cabin;
- Cameras on all six aggregate bins to show stock levels;
- Auto cut off high level alarms on all bins to prevent overfilling;
- Second staircase direct from batch cabin to allow staff to access the mixer room direct; and
- Additional landing and access platforms around the panmixer discharge chutes for cleaning and
maintenance and a silo management system to prevent over pressurisation during filling.
Following the plant’s commissioning and the first few days of operation, a follow up meeting was held with the managers, staff and drivers involved in the original plant to ensure all concerns raised at the start of the project had been addressed.
Any additional work that was required was then completed over the following month. A further meeting at the end of this period confirmed that all concerned were happy and the project was formally signed off and handed back to the local management team. |