Communication and coordination the key

View timelapse video of the pour here. 

The concrete pour for the foundations of Waitaki Dairy Solutions’ new building in Oamaru in January required a fair amount of juggling, coordination and communication by Firth who were able to call on other plants and trucks in the region to complete the 1500m² floor in a single day for loyal customer Calder Stewart – the construction company tasked with the build.

Waitaki Dairy Solutions, a family owned and operated business based in Oamaru, provides engineering services, installations and upgrades for the dairy industry in the region.  “Our original building was no longer fit for purpose and was pulled down in August last year to make way for our new facility,” explains Director Brett Duncan. “Interestingly Calder Stewart also built the original building in the 1970s and are now constructing our new building.”

“This 260m³ pour took a total of six trucks from three different plants: Twizel (2 trucks), Dunedin (1 truck) and Oamaru (4 trucks),” explains Jason Rees, Certified Plant Manager (Dunedin / Oamaru / Hilderthorpe) for Firth. “To achieve the quantities and product requested by Calder Stewart we had to use concrete from two of our plants, Hilderthorpe (for the early start) and Oamaru. Thanks to Brennan Bufton, Plant Supervisor in Oamaru who did a great job co-ordinating the day. “

“We have since been back to pour another 90m³ for the apron slabs using Firth,” says Kyp Ryan, Site Foreman for Calder Stewart. “Firth supplied the concrete at a steady speed and their performance has been marvellous. We couldn’t have asked for anything more from them.”

The whole job was a bit of a balancing act for Brennan who managed everything with flying colours,” says Jason. “We had a very happy customer when the foundation slab was completed in one day rather than two.”