UK’s biggest ever single site deal

• 
• 18th January 2008
• Recycling
 

Finning UK has announced a record deal with Miller Argent (South West) to supply plant and support services worth £65 million.  The deal represents the largest single site, plant and service contract ever to be signed in the UK and completes a tender process that started 10 years ago.

In total 46 Caterpillar machines have been purchased and delivered to Miller Argent's Ffos-y-fran Land Reclamation Scheme, an ambitious 17 year restoration project that involves some 406 hectares of derelict land, east of Merthyr Tydfil in South Wales.

The fleet itself comprises 28 Cat 777F Off-Highway Trucks, three Cat D9T Track Type Tractors, three Cat 16M Motorgraders, four Cat 324DL Hydraulic Excavators, two Cat 325DL Hydraulic Excavators, a Cat 330DL Hydraulic Excavator, a Cat 980H Wheel Loader, a Cat 966H Wheel Loader, two Cat 824H Wheeled Dozers, two 773 Water Bowsers and a 725 Fuel Bowser.

As part of the deal, Finning has built three service bays on-site and staffed them with a full time contract team, including two service engineers, a contract co-ordinator and a contract manager. Service support facilities have also been boosted at Finning's local branch in Llantrisant, Glamorgan, to ensure Finning's support services, work as hard as the Caterpillar equipment they have provided.

Miller Argent (South Wales) is a joint venture between The Miller Group and Argent Group based in London. The project at Ffos-y-fran will result in the removal of several contaminated landfill sites (currently the responsibility of the local authority) and the reclamation, landscaping and possible partial redevelopment of some 400 hectares of which the majority is classed as derelict land, with old mine workings close to the town of Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales. 

It is the third and final phase of the East Merthyr Land Reclamation Scheme (EMRS), which has been promoted by the Merthyr Tydfil local authority since the 1980s.  Once the land has been reclaimed, the majority will be returned to urban common, with full access for the local community and the general public.

Commenting on the deal with Finning, Miller Argent director, James Poyner said: "Due to the scale of this project we have spent a great deal of time working out exactly what we need to achieve, matching the equipment and more importantly the service levels with the three phases of the project. When you are moving up to 360 million tonnes of material, developing the right equipment strategy is all about the cost per tonne and productivity, particularly when you are running double shifts.

Adding to the comments from James Poyner, Finning mining and large product manager, Eric Brindley said: "This is the most significant land reclamation scheme of its kind in the UK and one that is set to reshape a whole community. From a practical perspective, we have developed a project specific integrated support contract that utilises Caterpillar's latest monitoring technology to gain useful information on the performance of all the machines involved in the project. In addition to the use of technology, our on-site team will also play a key role in managing the proper maintenance of haul roads, the promotion of best practice loading techniques and the general co-ordination of machine activity. This will ensure that equipment performance and site infrastructure are constantly monitored, helping to maximise machine uptime and availability and production at the lowest cost per cubic metre."

Working double shifts, transporting more than 40 million cubic metres of overburden and coal to various tipping stations around the reclamation project. 26 777F Off Highway Trucks will operate six days a week, with two units used as replacements for routine maintenance.

Loaded by the range of hydraulic excavators, some of which will use specialist, coal shovels to extract coal from seams ranging in thickness from 25 cm to 1 m, the 777F's and entire fleet will receive regular oil sampling to ensure high levels of performance. Coupled with hours monitoring and regular performance updates, preventative maintenance and service schedules will be managed through the contract team on site, with certified rebuilds where necessary conducted at Finning's specialist facility in Leeds.

Caterpillar/ Finning (UK) Ltd
Watling Street
Cannock
Staffordshire
WS11 8LL
UK