The new plant will be the most efficient in Europe with a capacity to produce 30,000 bricks an hour – enough for four detached houses.
Profile 6 was specified for the roof and cladding because it is a high strength fibre cement sheet that is unaffected by the humid and aggressive environments found in this type of plant. The sheets are able to withstand the 600 to 1000ºC temperatures of the kilns and acidic atmosphere created by sulphur released from the clay during the brick making process.
This harsh environment will be exacerbated by warm moist air from the kilns rising and condensing as it met the relatively cooler roof structure creating an acidic and corrosive mixture. Profile 6 sheets, although watertight, are vapour permeable, which significantly reduces the occurrence of this condensation.
Profile 6 sheets have a high level of corrosion resistance due to the fact they have no metallic content and are minimally affected by frost and climatic temperature changes, which gives them a design life of around 30 years.
Profile 6 sheets on the Measham plant were specified coloured both sides. The outside of the sheet was a non-standard green colour to ensure the building blended sympathetically with the surrounding countryside, whilst the white underside reflected more light internally creating a much brighter work environment.
Marley Eternit recommended painting both sides of the sheets to provide additional protection from the aggressive atmosphere. The paint coating on the underside provides some protection to the cement matrix used to manufacture the sheets.
The Profile 6 sheets were supplied in short lengths of 1,675mm to minimise the amount of expansion and contraction in each sheet, since the fibre cement sheets would expand under both heat and moisture. The overall size of the building is 80m x 300m giving a total roof area of around 24,000 square metre.
Barry Cooper, Project Manager at Hanson, explains: “We have been delighted with the Profile 6 sheets from Marley Eternit as they created a long term solution to the aggressive environment found in our new plant. The company provided an excellent service, which helped us meet the demanding timescales on this project.”
The building was constructed by SDC of Bedford, acting as the main contractor on site whilst the Profile 6 sheets were fitted by A C Bacon.
Profiled sheeting is manufactured in accordance with a quality management system registered under BS EN ISO 9001 and to the European BS EN 494 product specification for Class 1X sheeting.