Displaying items by tag: concrete

UK: Tarmac has started a long-term slag stevedoring contract with Associated British Ports (ABP) at Port Talbot in Wales. The new arrangement at Port Talbot will see ABP load 300,000t/yr of ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS). The slag will then typically be used in concrete production elsewhere in the UK. The agreement follows other partnerships between Tarmac and ABP at existing ports in Cardiff, Swansea, Newport, Garston (Liverpool), Southampton and Ipswich.

Andrew Harston, ABP Wales and Short Sea Ports director, said, “ABP continues to invest in its ports’ infrastructure and services, as well as sustainability measures, and we are delighted to win this new contract with Tarmac, which shares our commitments to the highest standards of health and safety, and sustainability.”

UK: Hanson has delivered its 10,000th load of Regen ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) from its Port Talbotsite in Neath Port Talbot to the building site of the upcoming Hinkley Point C power plant in Somerset. The GGBFS will be used in concrete production there. The latest batch brings the company’s total deliveries to the project to over 230,000t of GGBFS.

Head of nuclear operations Stewart Cameron said “Around 200,000t of CO₂ has been saved in reaching this milestone Regen GGBS load. It is a credit to all those involved as we continue to meet the standards expected of this high-profile project.”

Finland: Betolar has launched Geoprime, an alkali-activated additive for slag and fly ash used in concrete production. The company says that the product will enable concrete production from raw materials with 80% lower CO₂ than ordinary Portland cement (OPC). It aims to meet the growing demand for sustainable and cost-effective construction materials. Geoprime enjoys fast global scaling potential thanks to Betolar’s intellectual property licensing business model, which enables the use of existing production facilities, according to the company.

Chief executive offcier Matti Löppönen said “We have seen a massive shift in the concrete manufacturing and construction industries driven by investor pressure for environmental, social and governance data transparency and Net Zero commitments, and now people are keen to hear what we have to offer.”

UK: Hanson’s Regen Ground Granulated Blast furnace Slag (GGBS) product is being used by BAM Nuttall and Network Rail in the first and second phase of building a new sea wall in Dawlish, Devon. So far 4600m³ has been supplied to the project that is intended to protect a railway line from the sea. The bespoke mix being utilised for the project uses Regen GGBS to create a pumpable low carbon concrete that is strong enough to withstand erosion, waves and storm winds while reducing the amount of carbon generated by two-thirds.

“From the earliest phase of this project, we have considered how this scheme can limit its environmental impact without compromising the strength and resilience of the structure. The final design uses piles buried deep in the bedrock to create stability for the structure. Those piles are protected by prefabricated facing panels created off-site and reinforced by concrete poured in behind the visible section of wall,” said Jack Brookes, site agent for BAM Nuttall.

The project has also had to face difficult logistical, technical and operational challenges created by pouring large amounts of high specification concrete up to 200m through the night in very short tidal windows. Hanson plans to supply a further 4500m³ of concrete to the project.

UK: DB Group and Wolfenden Concrete have announced the upcoming launch of Supa Green, a range of cement-free agricultural concrete products produced using DB Group’s Cemfree technology. The partnership says that this assures a 62% maximum CO₂ reduction compared to concrete products made with Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC). It further says that the products have increased acid resistance. Cemfree is a low carbon concrete made using ground blast furnace slag (GGBS) and pulverised fly ash.

DB Group chief executive officer Wayne Zakers said, “DB Group’s mission is to improve the durability and sustainability of construction, working most intimately with our innovative partners. Working with Wolfenden will enable us to embed that innovation within the agricultural sector and to extend the benefits of our Cemfree technology to dairy farmers across the UK. The testing of Supa Green products has proven extremely successful, and so we look forward to the launch of the range, and to helping Wolfenden’s customers meet and exceed environmental targets.”

France: Housing developer Ouest Réalisations has awarded a supply contract to Hoffmann Green Cement Technologies. Under the terms of the agreement, the producer will provide the housing developer with its clinker-free low-carbon cement made from blast furnace slag using its H-UKR technology. The order covers a total volume of 75,000m3 of concrete manufactured by concrete plants distributing Hoffmann Green cement, equivalent to 20,000 - 30,000t of cement, for use in Ouest Réalisations’ developments until the end of 2025. These include the 700-unit Batignolles 2025 project in Nantes and the 103-unit La Croix Blanche project in Les Sables d’Olonne.

Hoffmann Green Cement Technologies co-founders Julien Blanchard and David Hoffmann said "This five-year order commitment once again strengthens the value of our carbon-free cement solution. We are very proud to conclude our first partnership with a housing developer, and all the more so with Ouest Réalisations, a Vendée company with whom we share many values and in particular a common vision: that of decarbonising the new housing construction sector. We are looking forward to following Ouest Réalisations’ real-estate programs using our technology."

Canada: Carbicrete has secured US$1.5m in funding from US-based SQN Venture Partners (SQNVP). The funds will finance research and development activities at its new Lachine laboratory, as well as operations at its Drummondville pilot plant in Quebec. It said that this brings its total funding received from major investors in 2020 to US$8m with investment already agreed from Harsco Environmental, the Quebec Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources and Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC). The technology company is developing concrete products made with steel slag for the construction industry.

Chief executive officer (CEO) Chris Stern said, “This venture debt cash injection following our equity financing further underlines the thesis that the financial markets are believing in value-added, carbon-negative technologies such as CarbiCrete that mitigate CO₂ in our atmosphere. We are proud to have SQNVP as an investor in our company.”

Australia: Researchers from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) and CRC for Low Carbon Living (CRCLCL) are testing a geopolymer concrete made from fly ash and blast furnace slag on a road in Sydney. A 30m stretch of road is being trialled with 15m of traditional concrete and 15m of a geopolymer concrete. Nine sensors have been positioned under the concrete to monitor and compare how the geopolymer concrete performs. The results from the trial will be used to create the first set of industry guidelines for geopolymer concrete.

“While we’ll monitor the road performance for up to five years, a lot of the data collected in the first three to 12 months of this world-first trial will be used to confirm our models and strengthen our predictions,” said Professor Stephen Foster, Head of the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering at UNSW and the CRCLCL project lead.

UK: Ready-mix concrete (RMX) supplier Capital Concrete has dedicated two 60t silos at its London plants to supply Cemfree, a low carbon concrete made using ground blast furnace slag (GGBS) made by DB Group. It is the only RMX supplier in London supplying the product in this way.

“We’ve seen customer interest pick up recently, interest which is clearly linked to the growing importance of environmental considerations in construction build designs. Capital Concrete is now a leading supplier of Cemfree in the London area and we’re able to supply high volumes of this product anywhere in the London market,” said Luke Smith, the managing director of Capital Concrete.

US: Charah has opened a slag grinding plant at the Port of Coeymans near Albany, New York. The unit uses the company’s proprietary process to grind granulated blast furnace slag (GBFS) to create supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs). The site is accessible by ship, truck and rail and will sell materials to concrete producers in the northeast of the country.

The new plant will also produce slag cement that is marketed under the MultiCem brand. Slag cement will be distributed throughout Charah Solutions’ MultiSource materials network, a nationwide distribution system of more than 30 sourcing locations that provide ready mix concrete (RMX) producers and other customers SCMs, including fly ash and slag cement.