New concrete distribution system for Ferrobeton Hungary
Ferrobeton Zrt. is one of the largest companies nationwide producing concrete and reinforced concrete elements and a key player in the prefabrication of reinforced concrete in Hungary. From planning structures and products through production and delivery to the execution of complete structural construction works Ferrobeton provides a complete solution according to the needs of the market. The wide product range, available capacity, and the expertise of Ferrobeton team fulfils even individual needs with a flexibly short deadline. Over sixty years of market presence and experience provide suitable background and guarantee that Ferrobeton proves worthy of the trust of business partners.
Ferrobeton Zrt. has always been a pioneer of the development of prefabrication, with a strategy focused on quality and the constant modernization of products and technology.
Recently, they also successfully participated in projects that entered a specific mass production and sales phase after the pilot phase. These works - such as heavy concrete elements manufactured for the construction of a nuclear facility, or reinforced concrete floats used to build an open water residential park, etc. - inspirate the team to continuous innovations and improvements.
Over the past more than half a century, Ferrobeton went through several processes of renewal and transformation, in line with the demands of the times. Since 2008, Ferrobeton Zrt. has been operating as a member of the CRH group as its leader in the Southeast European region. CRH, a group with its headquarters in Ireland, operates in 34 countries, employing nearly 90,000 people. The company group has production facilities at 7 sites in four countries – Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, and the Ukraine –, with commercial representation in Serbia. Thanks to regional cooperation – amongst other factors – their product range and flexibility regarding capacity translate to security and tangible benefits for their partners.
The activities extend beyond the traditional domestic market, through facilities in building construction, industrial, commercial, and communal areas to road, rail, underground, and hydraulic construction in infrastructural projects. Beyond the production of structural elements considered as traditional products, Ferrobeton assets include 40 stressing beds with an average length of 100 m for the production of pre-stressed beams, floor and pillar structures at four sites in Hungary. In their prestressed production, the integration of carbon fiber strands is in progress, which results in higher load capacity with less environmental impact. During production work, special attention is dedicated to the observance of work and health protection regulations.
In order to ensure a more effective market presence, Ferrobeton Zrt. operates its own design and development units. The design and development organization maintains an ongoing good working relationship with other design bureaus both at home and abroad. Results of development projects during recent years include the development of large-span building structures and bridge beams, railway construction elements and frame elements, as well as their production technology.
In addition to good road connections the company also possesses direct rail links, which enable the safe transport of extremely heavy products (50-80 tons). The vicinity of river ports allows them to exploit the opportunities provided by water transport. Ferrobeton construction team has already proven its abilities not only in the assembly of the structural elements produced, but also in foundation and monolithic works and the construction of steel structures.
55 years’ experience in the precast business
In the framework of upgrading the assets of their main production site in Szolnok, Ferrobeton investigated the possibilities of renewing the concrete distribution system, which has become outdated for the current requirements in terms of productivity, performances, safety and cleanness. After evaluating several options and manufacturers, the expertise of MCT Italy S.r.l. ensured the best solution for the replacement of the existing systems saving all the existing structures and optimizing the budget required for the retrofit.
MCT Italy has 55 years’ experience in the precast business for concrete batching plants and concrete distribution systems, and their know-how and expertise apply in new projects as well as retrofits or renovations of existing factories, due to the high flexibility of its organization and technical departments
MCT engineers, at ease with this type of challenges, studied a customized rollover flying bucket design to fit the existing infrastructures, many decades years old but still structurally efficient, hence without replacing rail tracks, rail switch and supporting frameworks, indeed optimizing the design of the electrical feeding hardware to be flawlessly integrated with the existing equipment.
The new system is composed by no.2 new flying bucket type AV operating in a double track rail system which merges into a single rail to get under the existing batch plant by a switch system which also allows the buckets to get to a washing station. The rails feed 5 production bays with both buckets, in order to give plenty of flexibility to the concrete feeding of the factory.
The retrofitted distribution system is operated by a stand-alone MCT system type Compumav which integrates with the existing batching automation, so the calls can be performed on a user-friendly interfacing panel.
‘The design and development stages of this project are the typical home ground for MCT staff’ says Eng. Alessandro Di Cesare, Area Sales Director for MCT, ‘so the great outcome of this interesting retrofit work has been a pleasant confirmation of the leadership of MCT in this important sector of the precast business. When the going gets tough, MCT never disappoints the expectations even in the most challenging situations, and this makes us proud to support this business worldwide. Also, this type of projects helps us creating a strong relationship with our partners since the success is always the result of shared efforts, which were ensured by a close-knit teamwork with the Ferrobeton staff’. An important player of this teamwork is also Fact-Plus, Hungarian partner of MCT, which supported the entire project from development to commissioning.
‘This project had considerable challenges up front in the development stage due to the requirement of saving all of the existing steel infrastructures, and the production capacity of the whole Ferrobeton factory would depend on the good results of the retrofit works’, comments Eng. István Fejes, Fact-Plus Director, ‘and in this situation MCT proved to be a very reliable partner to ensure the best outcome. Ferrobeton can now deliver concrete in the safest and cleanest way, timely fulfilling the production schedules. All of this with considerable budget savings and careful costs control’.
