ScotAsh cement chosen for tough marine project
Green, high early strength cement from ScotAsh is being used in a challenging pier project in the Inner Hebrides.
Lafarge Cement has pioneered a unique
logistics solution to deliver 4,500 tonnes of
Phoenix cement to the Isle of Raasay. The
island, just 14x3 miles, is one of the most
remote in the UK.
The ScotAsh cement was specified by contractors Balfour Beatty for the foundations of a new pier and jetty for the island's 200 residents, which is due for completion in August.
Phoenix Cement - the new name for our Trojan product - has a far lower embodied CO2 value than standard bulk cements. Bulk loads of CEMII Phoenix are delivered from Longannet Power Station in Fife to a hub at Kishorn on the west coast of Scotland. It is then transported by barge to Raasay then by Lafarge tanker to a Balfour Beatty batching plant. There, it is made into the high early strength concrete required for this challenging environment.
Colin Cooper, Area Sales Manager for Lafarge Cement, explains: "The greatest challenge is not so much the remoteness of the job - although the concrete has to be placed by a dive team! - it is the technical demands put on a concrete that can work well underwater in an aggressive marine environment.
"The fly ash in Phoenix keeps heat levels in the concrete foundations low during the pours, reducing the risk of early-age thermal cracking."
Ian MacPherson, Site Agent at Balfour Beatty, adds: "We had to specify a cement which could meet our tough technical and environmental demands - as well as a reliable manufacturer who would deliver to such a remote project."
Despite challenging conditions in the construction market, sales of ScotAsh products are holding up reasonably well, writes Sales & Quality Manager Chris Bennett.
Major projects underway in the first quarter of 2009 include the supply of products for site levelling works (pictured above) at ScottishPower's new biomass power station, west of Longannet, and embankments and grouting for the M74 extension.
Looking ahead, ScotAsh will be supplying products to a number of new windfarms, including Crystal Rigg 2, and a major upgrade at Rosyth Docks to prepare the site for the building of two new aircraft carriers for the Royal Navy.
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