44 | CONSTRUCTION Hill Design Engineering: Counties Readymix Smart design adds scope to business Karen Phelps Roading Concrete Works Earth Works Drainage Sub-divisions Innovative Tech 09 294 8319 info@jesmond.co.nz PO Box 210, Drury, Auckland 2247 Proudly supporting Hill Design Engineering For Peter Hill, from Hill Design Engineering, a gratifying aspect of his job is seeing his clients grow their business over time and assisting with that growth from a design engineering perspective. A current project for Counties Ready Mix concrete supplier in Drury is a good example. “With the increased demand for concrete volume, type and range, this client saw the need to expand their business,” says Peter. “Acquiring a site next door has almost doubled the land area that Counties Ready Mix can operate on.” Stage one and two have been completed and involved demolishing the buildings and remediating the ground on the 3500sqm site. Installing the right stormwater reticulation and pump facilities were particularly important for this business, says Peter, and involved more precise civil engineering works than normal. “All the rainwater that falls on the yard drains into a pumping chamber and is pumped into storage tanks under vehicle loading ramps to be used in the concrete production. It has been designed to capture as much water as possible, which involved getting the falls in the yard correct,” explains Peter. Site civil and structural design also included yard pavement, sediment collection control devices and aggregate bin foundation and wall design using the BigBlocks system, manufactured by Counties Ready Mix. The BigBlocks concrete block interlocking system allows for complete interlocking of any wall two blocks or higher and is made from 100% recycled concrete. Loading ramps, to upload aggregate and then load it into bins in the concrete plant, were made from precast concrete. Stage two of the project involved removing aggregate bins on the original yard to make more space for plant and vehicles, a batching control room and building housing a laboratory and a lunch room and ablutions area for the staff. It also included yard works to tidy up the pavement, new pump station and sand filter for stormwater drainage to process any water leaving the site. “Tight controls were necessary to prevent cement or concrete residue entering the stormwater system. Any high risk areas were controlled by small bunds in the pavement so there was no chance of run off,” says Peter. Due to works being completed on the Southern Motorway stage three of the project has been delayed until these have been completed. It will comprise the truck wash-down bins and Peter says that Counties Ready Mix is looking at a new system for washing out the truck bowls to enhance the life of the bowl. “It’s like a big needle that goes into the bowl and uses high pressure water to scour out any residual concrete. We are also looking at the possibility of a water bore to safeguard the business against low rainfall periods and reducing reliance on purchasing water from town supply.” Peter says it is the experience and longevity of Hill Design Engineering that enables it to be able to complete such diverse and complex projects. The company comprises an experienced and versatile team of civil and structural engineers, architectural designers and plan draughting staff. Peter says it is gratifying to be able to assist clients such as Counties Ready Mix to increase efficiencies of its operation. “This development has certainly made their business better able to meet their customers’ demands. There is now separate access points for the delivery trucks and the production trucks, which will make a big difference to productivity with raw material going in at one end of the site and produced concrete out of the other end.”
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