Darlow Lloyd Construction was successful with our tender bid to Design and construct a new Coke and Coal handling conveyor and storage slab.

The clients outline brief was as follows: –

• Refurbishment of the existing tail end area of 451 (below ground) conveyor and incorporate into a new design for the conveyor and stacker installation.
• Full structural design and analysis of the newly refurbished conveyor, new feed conveyor and new radial stacker.
• Installation and commission of all necessary civil work required to install all new conveyor and stacker installation including the refurbished area of 451 conveyors.
• Ground works to facilitate the installation of civil bases, stocking areas as detail in the agreed design.
• Full survey of the area and a dimensional check of existing structure and equipment relative to supplies CPS drawings.

Upon contract award DLC appointed our Civil Engineering designers James and Nicholas for the civil works and Atherton Material Handling Limited for the Conveyor design and build. Within our successful bid was the following brief to our contract partners: –
Design of a coke storage facility of 20,000 Tonne capacity at the HAA Site. The incoming Coke [By Train] will discharge to an existing conveyor system [441] then onto a new perpendicular conveyor [442] before being stacked out by a radial boom stacker conveyor [443] onto a storage slab.

A coke storage slab, semi-circular in plan to accommodate 20,000 tons of coke stored 13.6m high. The slab will have a wall on its inside radius to contain the toe of the stockpiled coke.

The coke will be stored in a triangular heap some 13.6m high with repose angle of 37.5°. The nominal slab width will be 36m. The internal slab radius will be 28m and external radius 63m. The slab will be fashioned on chords around the circumference typically at 18° segments.

The coke will be retrieved from the slab using CAT 980H wheel loaded and Volvo A35D/A40D articulated hauler.
Work commenced with the clearing of the existing ground works on the 12th April 2012 with the original programme of 16 weeks from design stage to commissioning. The programme was extended during the construction of the radial stacker due to additional works requested by the client and received the first run of coke/coal along the new conveyor system on the 17th August 2010 to facilitate commissioning. By the 23 August 2010 the new HAA radial stacker scheme was receiving daily train imports of Coke and Coal to the new storage slab.

A non-exhausted list of the civil and mechanical installations are as follows: –

• Construction of reinforced ground bearing storage slabs, conveyor foundations and retaining walls to facilitate the design specification.
• Fabrication, installation and commissioning of a new connecting conveyor system complete with radial stacker discharge unit.
• Cable Trenching for Cable Diversions from Old Conveyor location and installation of New Service Ducts and Access Chambers for new Electrical Installation.
• Installation of a new 90mm diameter MDPE Processed water supply from an existing main on site.
• Erection of Palisade Safety Fencing at the Entrance of the HAA Radial Stacker area.
• Installation of 2No New Oil Retaining collection sumps and Soak-aways for the proposed ground storage slabs.
• Construction of 2No brickwork/steel transformer pens complete with associated foundations/ cable ducting and earth pile protection.
• Landscaping works and installation of access roads and turning areas.
• Rail Track upgrade works including new signalling cabling, transition slabs and access pathways.