RAPID International has supplied Hoddam Contracting Co with a bespoke static concrete batching plant, located near Dumfries, described as being capable of producing up to 70m3 per hour of ready mixed concrete.
Hoddam Contracting, also known as Hoddam Quarry and Concrete Products, is family-run business that has been serving the concrete industry for over seven decades. The company supplies a range of quarry materials, concrete products and services to the building, industrial, agricultural and domestic markets, including ready mixed concrete.
With two sand and gravel quarries already in operation, the firm has recently opened a hard rock quarry.
Hoddam had previously invested in three batching plants from Rapid. However, the existing batching plant at the company’s Dumfries site, responsible for producing ready mixed concrete, had surpassed 20 years of service life and required a significant upgrade.
Rapid worked with Hoddam to develop a solution that would optimise the concrete production process. Drawing inspiration from one of the company’s existing batching plants located in Ecclefechan, Rapid proposed a similar design tailored to Hoddam’s requirements.
The new plant has four 50-tonne aggregate hoppers, with integral 800mm weighed belt conveyor, which discharges onto a batch conveyor. This conveyor feeds the 3m3 output Rapid R300 pan mixer, which is housed in a fully sheeted mixer platform. The platform allows for ‘maximum access’ for maintenance and cleaning, with mixer level and small upper access area at the cement weigh hopper.
A dust extraction system is fitted to the mixer to recycle dust for reuse in subsequent batches.
Readymix chutes are located under the mixer doors to direct the material into the truck mixers. The chutes are lined with 6mm Hardox plate. A movable chute extension has also been incorporated, which is said to allow for greater flexibility in directing the concrete to different levels, such as trailers.
Cement is stored in a 100-tonne storage silo, with screw conveyor, which conveys material from the silo to the weigh hopper. A two-tonne cement/powder weigh hopper is included, which is mounted on loadcells with aeration pads and a vibrator to aid in discharging. The plant also features a twin compartment additive weigh system.
To streamline mixer cleanout, the plant includes a Rapid Jetwash mixer washout system, fitted with three spray heads. The system operates at 2000 psi.
The plant is fitted with a Pneutrol Dynamix batching control system, which enables the operator to oversee the entire batching process and offers ‘unlimited’ recipe storage, manual control via the PC and remote operation.
Laura Gilfillan, director at Hoddam Contracting, said, “The new batching plant works a lot faster and batches more than twice as much per hour. We find the whole Rapid team a pleasure to deal with, at all stages of the process, from Victor in sales through to Keith in installation. The build quality and overall service and aftercare is very good. We can just pick up the phone and speak to someone, which is invaluable.”
