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CONSTRUCTION WORLD
MAY
2016
The plant, which has a capacity of between 40 t and 60 t,
was delivered to the provincial government by South African
asphalt plant specialist, Comar Plant Design & Manufacturing
late last year.
Ken Basson, director of plant and engineering at B&E International,
says that after being transported to site the plant was established and
operational in minimal time.
He explains that the modular nature of the plant and its self-
erecting design philosophy facilitated the rapid set-up time as there
was no need for heavy equipment such as cranes, or any major
preparatory civil works. This is a major advantage when operating in
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PROJECTS AND CONTRACTS
outlying areas with limited road and other transport infrastructure.
Basson adds that on this road construction site, the customer has
decided to forego the company’s automated central control system and
rather opted for its manual operation function. “The design philosophy
incorporated into these plants has been focussed on ensuring optimal
equipment reliability and ease of maintenance as this is the primary
requirement when operating in extremely remote locations throughout
Africa,” he adds.
Representatives of Comar Plant Design & Manufacturing spent some
time on site training local operators of the plant. “One of our strong
selling points is that Comar plants are very easy to operate and are
extremely safe,” he says, adding that their bag-house filters also make
them environmentally friendly.
Technical back-up service will be provided from the company’s
premises in Gauteng as and when required, considering that these
plants are robust and can be easily maintained on site.
“Our philosophy has always been to design our plants to be as
rugged as possible. Not only does this enhance their performance on
site, but they need to be able to withstand some of the challenges of
transporting them on limited road infrastructure,” says Basson.
He informs that growing interest in the company’s technology
in the DRC has justified the opening of a dedicated office in the coun-
try’s capital, Kinshasa. It is headed up by
director, Mekebawa Michel Lumbala.
“This customer is very impressed with
the performance of our plant, which has
exceeded its nameplate capacity, and has
therefore expressed a keen interest in buying
more for future road surfacing projects
currently in its pipeline,” he says.
Basson notes that because the plants are
manufactured in South Africa, Comar Plant
Design & Manufacturing has a significant
competitive edge on road construction
projects on the continent.
Based on its proximity to markets in
Africa, the company has secured orders in
Malawi, Botswana, Lesotho, Kenya and the
Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Clearly, B&E International and Comar
Plant Design & Manufacturing have a solution
to help African governments accelerate their
large infrastructure delivery programmes,
which include kilometres of greenfields and
brownfields road projects.
PAVING THE WAY
in the DRC
A Comar continuous mix asphalt plant was
recently deployed on a road construction
project in North Kivu Province, the
Democratic Republic of the Congo
where it is producing asphalt.
Delegates from the DRC visited South Africa to
view the Comar plant during construction.