Hope Construction Materials, the UK’s leading independent supplier of cement and concrete, is investing £14 million to boost production at its Hope Works cement plant.
The company, which celebrates its second boom year of cement production today, has kicked off several major capital projects which will help improve the plant’s sustainability, improve the efficiency of the operation and help to secure future supplies for construction.
Hope has owned and operated the cement works since January 2013 and has made significant strides forward, using state-of-the-art technology, in just two years. The company believes the £14 million investment will help them meet ambitious growth plans in coming years.
Positioned in the Hope Valley, in the Derbyshire Peak District, the cement works originally opened 85 years ago and has played a major role in UK cement production ever since, supplying around 15% of the UK’s cement consumption. Hope Works is also an important employer in the local area, employing around 200 people plus a range of contractors.
Investment projects include:
- Completion of a multi-million pound system to increase the amount of sustainable waste-derived fuels the operation can accommodate; as well as being a ‘cleaner’ energy source this helps to make use of waste which would otherwise be landfilled;
- An internal overhaul of the iconic Hope chimney which will involve the construction and use of a second temporary chimney for a number of months;
- Construction of a new storage facility to increase stock holding of cement ‘clinker’; this will help secure a consistent supply of cement to the construction industry;
- Improvements to the way the raw materials are fed into the twin kilns – the 70-metre long, 4.9-metre diameter rotating steel cylinders which are the heart of the cement-making process; and
- Maintenance and refurbishment of a large section of one of the two kilns.
The delivery and installation of this section of kiln and the ‘tyre’ needed to help the kiln rotate have involved months of project planning, complex transport logistics and the use of oversize cranes on site.
Hope Works Operations Manager Ed Cavanagh said: “We are very excited to be involved in the largest investment programme on site for many years. This works has operated for more than 85 years and directly employs nearly 200 people, making a massive contribution to the UK construction industry, producing 1.5 million tonnes of cement at the site in 2014.
“The installation of the new kiln shell section is a spectacular piece of engineering involving several teams and very careful planning. We are delighted with the way that this individual project has evolved and look forward to seeing the others progress to schedule. Once this programme is complete, we will have an upgraded production plant, ready for the challenges of an increasingly busy time for building in the UK.”
