Hanson opens new Scottish concrete plants

1343 Hanson UK has invested £750,000 (€950,000) in two concrete production facilities in city of Glasgow, Scotland, to take advantage of increasing demand in the run up to the 2014 Commonwealth Games, which is being held in the city.

The new Glasgow central plant in Polmadie replaces the company’s Shawfield facility at Rutherglen which closed in 2011 when the land was compulsorily purchased as part of the Clyde Gateway redevelopment project. The relatively new Shawfield batching equipment, which supplied specialist concrete to the National Indoor Sports Arena and the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome, has been moved to the refurbished Drumchapel site to replace a 40-year-old plant.

The Polmadie site can produce 72m³/hour and has five aggregate bins and three 100tonne storage silos for cement and Regen (ground granulated blastfurnace slag), which reduces embodied CO2 levels in the final concrete mix.

The cement is supplied via Hanson’s rail-linked depot in Bellshill, Glasgow, and Regen is delivered to the plant from the company’s facility at King George V dock on the Clyde.

Both the concrete plants provide consistent product and flexibility in production and mix design; from structural lightweight concrete to recycled, impermeable or high early-strength concrete.

At Polmadie, a water harvesting system has been installed which collects and reuses rainwater which falls on the site buildings, reducing mains water use.

In addition, a water reclaimer allows returned materials and wash-out from trucks to be separated. The solids, mainly sand and aggregate, go back into stock for re-use and the water is filtered and pumped into the supply tanks. Dirty water washed from the yard is also recycled after collection in a settlement tank.

Willie Heggie, area general manager in Scotland for Hanson Concrete, said: “There’s a lot of development work going on in Glasgow and these two plants put us in a great position to benefit.

“They are well located for supplying construction projects across the city and offer a number of environmental and safety features such as a one-way traffic system for both material delivery and mixer trucks. They provide an optimum working environment for our staff, drivers.”