Nigerian success for Finedoor

• 
• 14th February 2006
• Quarrying
 

Over six hours drive from Abuja, the capitol of Nigeria, lies Jalingo. Situated in the Taraba state this is the location of a brand new quarrying development by the U.L.O Consultants. As a construction consultancy company, U.L.O with a multi-billion Nira turnover have expanded dramatically in the last four years, working in various states for the government under the guidance of their CEO – Chief Uche Luke Okpuno.

U.L.O has recently been awarded a major government contract to build market stalls and develop the infrastructure in two separate locations at Jalingo, and Yola which is in the Adamawa state.

With construction currently in progress at both locations, material was being supplied from a quarry North of Yola, which resulted in a considerable haul of some three hours to the Jalingo site.

U.L.O therefore made the decision to open a new Quarry to ease supply problems to the Jalingo site. The decision to quarry closer to Jalingo was also made because of a further contract awarded to U.L.O for the construction of a local airport within the area.

Without any previous experience in quarrying, and having made the decision to make his own material for the construction contracts, Chief Okpuno contacted Finedoor Ltd of Morley, Leeds for advice on the selection of plant and assistance in the search for a suitable site within the region.

Finedoor were consequently awarded the contract for the whole project in the summer of 2005. With an initial desire to produce a single-size stone, Finedoor made an exploratory trip to the area to search for a suitable location and advise on all aspects of the project; including drilling and blasting patterns, lubricants and personnel as well as provision of all the plant.

Using their in-house knowledge and expertise Finedoor were able to select a site based on the land available, and when this was found U.L.O negotiated a lease for the extraction of materials. The selected site East of Jalingo contained a supply of good quality granite, and will provide U.L.O with the materials to produce concrete, and sub base road materials

This selected site had previously been used for quarrying and still retained an existing wall for the positioning of a static crusher; Finedoor therefore produced drawings for a plant layout which included a modification to include the reuse of the existing wall. When foundation drawings were completed these were dispatched to the El-Mansur Atelier Company.

Based in Abuja this company are architectural consultants who work closely with U.L.O. All foundation work was then finalised by EMA and was specifically completed to suit existing contours due to the complete lack of digging equipment.

Finedoor were then set the task of sourcing crushing equipment and as nothing was available locally used crushers were sourced in the UK; Finedoor utilized a BL Pegson Maxtrak 1100/650 tracked primary, and a BL Pegson Automax 1000 wheeled mobile as a secondary crusher.

All screens and conveyors were manufactured by Finedoor and supplied with foundation bolts, including a comprehensive tool kit for general site use.

Finedoor also supplied the electrical controls for the screen and conveying systems including the control cabin housed in a 20 ft steel container.
On completion of all manufacture and receipt of outsourced crushers all plant was then shipped out to Nigeria in containers.

PLANT DESCRIPTION

Material is fed into the primary crusher and is reduced to 120mm. Fed into an integral surge hopper in the secondary crusher, the material is then discharged onto an integral product conveyor which feeds onto the screen feed conveyor. A 5 x 2.1 - 4 deck splits the material into 28-20, 20-12, 12-6, and -6mm; a reject chute returning any materials to the secondary crusher via a recirculatory conveyor.

All product conveyors are 15m long with motorized drum drive and fitted with appropriate belt scrapers. All product chutes are either constructed as a dead box or alternatively rubber lined in 25mm thick modules.

The whole plant was built in one month under the supervision of one Finedoor engineer and was subsequently commissioned in January 2006. This event was covered by the local TV Company and was judged to be a huge success for U.L.O and Finedoor who persistently pursued their goal often working in temperatures of +40c.

CEO Chief Uche Luke Okpuno commented “It was a big relief to solve the problem of hauling granite materials from Yola to our Taraba site, a journey of over 3 hours. It will definitely boost the economy of the area and provide employment to its citizenry. I hope this will be the beginning of future relationships between U.L.O Consultancy and Finedoor Ltd”

Further information:      
                                 
Finedoor Ltd,
Unit 4 & 5, Melbourne Street,
Morley,
Leeds LS27 8BG.
Tel: 0113 2527601 
Fax: 0113 2527603 
Email: enquiries@finedoor.co.uk

Associated Links

• Hub-4 Profile of Finedoor Ltd
• Finedoor Ltd Company Website