12/31/2006 - Downtime: One Month or One Week?

"With the right partner, anything is possible." 

You may have seen this slogan on advertisements for paper products made by Omya.  In the case of the most recent rail scale project at Omya, in Sylacauga, Alabama, that is certainly the case.  Omya was in need of a second rail scale due to the vast number of cars going through the plant each day and night.  The only problem was that the rail could not be shut down for very long. 

Most rail scale projects take at least a month as the rail must be removed, and excavation must be completed.  At this point, the real slow-down begins.  Concrete forms must be erected before concrete can be poured.  After pouring, the concrete must be allowed to age, often for up to three weeks. 

After the concrete forms are removed, the scale can be installed.  Next, the rails must be replaced, the scale calibrated, and regular traffic may resume.  The slowest portion of the project is always the concrete work.  The entire project usually takes approximately one month.

Omya could not allow its rail to go unused for a month.  The entire project must be completed during the one-week plant shutdown.  The solution?  Remove the time used for forming work and use a special blend of concrete which would set up quickly. 

But how can one pour concrete without forms?  The answer was a pre-fabricated, stainless steel form.  Concrete would be poured around the form, which was held in place from above using specially fabricated stands.  The stands would then be removed, and the stainless steel form would become the bottom of the scale pit. 

Special stands hold the steel pan and reinforcing bar in place.

On Friday night the plant shutdown began, and the rails were removed.  On Sunday the special stands were moved into place, along with the stainless steel pan.  Tuesday saw concrete being poured under and around the pan.  At 8:00 am Thursday morning Birmingham-Toledo was installing the scale.  By Thursday night, it was in place.  The rails were replaced on Friday and traffic resumed on time. 

With business partners like

Omya and Birmingham-Toledo,

anything is certainly possible.

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