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The Firth network essential for large regional projects 

Firth’s regional plants are often relied upon to supply very large projects, some of which involve all night or lengthy pours requiring precision planning by Firth’s regional managers who have the benefit of being able to call on the expertise, technical support, equipment and resources from across the Firth network … making these massive jobs look easy …  and resulting in satisfied and happy customers!

Records tumble for Firth Tauranga

Tauranga City Council’s Clarifier 3 project being constructed by HEB Construction (an addition to Tauranga’s existing Te Maunga Wastewater Treatment Plant) required the concrete foundation of the approximately 40m diameter tank base to be poured all in one go – not an easy task, but a challenge the Bay of Plenty teams from Firth and HEB gladly accepted.


Working closely with HEB Construction since April 2023 to design a special mix for the project, teams across Firth in the Bay of Plenty came together for this monster concrete pour.

“We started planning for the job early last year with temperature modelling and a specialist mix design drawn up for the project, with low shrink and heat generation characteristics to minimise the risk of cracking,” says Tim Bulmer, Regional Materials Manager (Bay of Plenty) for Firth. “With a base thickness of 800mm, it required 930m3 of concrete to fill it. It took us just over 9.5 hours to produce the 930m3, using both Firth Mt Maunganui A and B plants.”

“At full production the A plant was able to produce 90 m3 per hour and the B plant added to this producing 45 m3 per hour - a record for both plants … and even better that it was at the same time.”

“With Firth staff from across the region on rotating shifts to manage fatigue and to also include everyone who wanted to be part of this historic pour, we had team members from Firth Katikati, Rotorua and Whakatane plants along with our sales team and support staff who came along and contributed by cooking up a storm.”

“After months and months of planning for everyone concerned, including the requirements of a large test slab that had to be signed off in advance of the big day, everything went to plan,” says Louis Gilmour, Project Manager for HEB Construction Ltd.

“With very strict requirements set down by the design engineers it was pretty amazing how well everything went. But that doesn’t happen without good planning and teamwork which - between our team and Firth - was outstanding.”

“For such a big undertaking it was a great result for everyone,” adds Louis.

Principal:              Tauranga City Council 

Contractor:           HEB Construction 

Location:              Tauranga

Product:                Firth EcoMix