Situation

Since 1922, O-I New Zealand (O-I NZ) has supported the local food and beverage industries – particularly New Zealand’s renowned wine industry.  Today, the facility employs around 250 people and consists of three furnaces and six production lines which produce almost 200,000 packed tonnes of glass products or around 665 million containers each year.

When looking for a storage solution O-I NZ listed the following attributes as key to the selection,

A big challenge is separating out the different colours and grades of glass. “If we can separate the glass into specific colour groupings this allows the plant to maximise their cullet usage” Penny explains. “The batch and furnace manager needs to know exactly what type of glass is going into the mix and Interbloc’s flexible storage solutions helps us to provide this certainty.

Solution

Initially Interbloc produced bulk storage bins for O-I NZ’s cullet yard during O-I NZ’s substantial redevelopment in 2009/10. The flexibility of the system impressed Penny, who has subsequently used the blocks for both temporary and permanent storage throughout O-I NZ’s storage facilities. “It’s efficient, reliable, and flexible – that is why we choose Interbloc” explains Penny, “and the service is excellent”.

Interbloc is a well-established player in the flexible storage solutions market supplying to both rural and industrial clients. They have a track record of success with over 10 years’ experience and are a specialist in their field. Interbloc has been recognised by the Ministry for the Environment for its sustainable business practices and has been able to expand its footprint over the last 10 years round New Zealand and into Australia. “We supply blocks for large complex site installations” says Scott Bright Managing Director, “but also can cater to smaller client requirements where they can install the solution themselves”. The Interbloc business model means they can provide a cost effective solution for those on a budget and build engineered solutions for clients who have strict guidelines that they must comply with.

Benefits

Having a safe and durable solution is paramount but also having the flexibility to configure as the business needs change is the icing on the cake for many clients. This extends the life of the product well beyond many traditional bulk storage and containment offerings.

O-I NZ is committed to sustainability at both a national, and international, level. It actively seeks to include as much recycled glass in the manufacturing process as possible, with a worldwide goal of achieving 60% average recycled material. Essentially when you put a bottle in the recycling bin it will most likely end up at O-I NZ in the form of cullet to be incorporated into the manufacturing process for new container glass. Managing the cullet is not without its challenges. Interbloc’s business practices and values align with those of O-I NZ and are also committed to sustainability. Interbloc has met the market with an ongoing program of innovation in product design and cost effective delivery and installation of its solutions for retaining walls, bulk storage, feed bins, temporary structures and many other applications.

Situation

Ballance Agri-Nutrients is a co-operative organisation owned by Kiwi farmers. Its purpose is to help customers farm more productively, profitably and sustainably through providing fertilisers that will help achieve soil and animal nutrition and productivity with minimal environmental footprint.

One area of their business is distribution of fertiliser to farms throughout New Zealand. Ballance has service centres and dedicated facilities for the storage and redistribution of fertiliser in some 39 locations across the country.

To enhance their distribution operations, Ballance decided to open another service facility in the Waikato region. Finding an empty location in Huntly, a new service facility had to be built from scratch, consisting of an office and a fertiliser storage.

With a plan to store large bulks of fertiliser, Ballance planned to build a 42m x 60m storage building. A key requirement is for the storage to have strong walls that will stand the weight of bulk fertiliser.

Solution

The solution for Ballance’s fertiliser storage is provided by Interbloc’s Modular Wall System. The heavy-duty, interlocking blocks and their unique, engineered design provided the storage with durable and stable walls. The blocks’ design creates shear strength on all directions of the blocks which stops the storage walls from moving.

For extra stability, the blocks were also reinforced using threaded bars, inserted through the blocks, to the thick concrete pad of the building.

Benefits

Apart from the stability and durability provided by the Interbloc Modular Wall System, Ballance obtained extra benefits for using Interbloc.

The LEGO-like quality of Interbloc’s interlocking blocks allowed for the walls to be quickly and easily set up. The entire wall structures of over 600 blocks was built within two weeks, requiring minimal labour.

Ballance was also able to reduce their environmental footprint by using Interbloc’s Modular Wall system. Interbloc as a scheme supporter of the Envirocon Product Stewardship scheme provided Ballance with environmentally sustainable products.

Situation

Waste Management is New Zealand’s leading provider of waste disposal services. Its purpose is to collect, transport, treat, recycle, recover and dispose off residential, commercial, and industrial waste. They operate facilities throughout the country dedicated to storing and processing all sorts of waste, from ordinary residential to liquid and hazardous waste.

In one of Waste Management facilities is a pond used for collecting water generated during the waste dewatering process. Recently, there has been an increase in waste inflow which raised the capacity requirement for the pond. This required for the pond to be modified to keep up with the inflow and improve the efficiency of its dewatering capacity.

Solution

The modification of Waste Management’s existing pond involved dividing it into to separate halves and adding an end extension. To do this, they considered a few options:

Waste Management found the Interbloc Modular Wall System to be the ideal solution for this project. The box-pour method was prevented by the existing pond’s central wall height, while using pre-poured tilt slab proved too costly.

Using the Interbloc Modular Wall System allowed for the pond to be modified easily and cost-effectively. The system was quickly assembled despite the challenging environment of the pond. The installation process simply involved lifting the blocks into the pond using the lifting anchor and assembling them in the pond using a forklift.  Ross, Waste Management’s Production Supervisor described the installation of the system an “easy, hassle free process”.

Benefits

Apart from the efficient installation process provided by the Interbloc Modular Wall System, Waste Management also obtained extra benefits for using Interbloc.

The modular quality of the blocks, along with its lifting anchor component, allowed for the structure to be safely installed. “Safety is held as our highest priority and value at Waste Management”, said Ross.

Furthermore, the modular quality of the blocks also provides Waste Management with the option to modify the pond in the future without any major construction.

Waste Management was also able to reduce their environmental footprint by using Interbloc’s Modular Wall system. Interbloc as a supporter of the Envirocon Product Stewardship Scheme provided them with environmentally sustainable products, which is line with Waste Management’s purpose of tackling New Zealand’s waste.

Situation

Fulton Hogan is a leading organisation within the construction industry, with more than 80 years’ experience in the transport, water, energy, mining, civil construction and land development infrastructure in New Zealand, Australia and the South Pacific.

One of Fulton Hogan’s customers in Christchurch required a 6m high hopper pit for a quarry, where aggregates will be dumped and processed. The hopper is loaded from the top by truck and trailer which is then fed into a conveyor system that went through a screening plant. The project also required a ramp up to and down off the hopper for a truck and trailer which also needed to be loaded manually from one side.

Solution

Fulton Hogan found the solution with Interbloc’s modular wall system for the construction of the quarry hopper. Interbloc provided Fulton Hogan with a 6.6m high design which is then engineered and evaluated by Tiaki Engineering Consultants. Included in the engineering was the ground specs, concrete foundations, vertical tie down rods and horizontal steel strapping.

The construction started with the foundation work which prepared the structure for the construction of the walls. The structure took 5 weeks to finish from the completion of the foundation work, with minimal issues.

Benefits

Fulton Hogan’s customer and those involved in the construction of the quarry hopper were pleased with the end result, as well as the time frame in which it was completed. Interbloc’s heavy-duty blocks created strong walls that outline the truck ramp and sides of the pit, while its modular quality made it quick and easy for the structure to be built.

Situation

Latham Construction has been assigned restorations of one of Auckland CBD’s historic buildings. Built in 1928 and designed by architect Henry Eli White, the St. James Theatre is one of the New Zealand’s buildings with special or outstanding historical significance and value. It has been the venue for many important cinematic and theatrical events held for many royal and important occasions.

Due to the age of the building and a fire damage in 2007, the theatre was closed and has not been open to the public. Restorations of the theatre started in 2014 after Relianz Holdings took ownership of the building. With a funding boost from Auckland Council, further restorations is being performed to improve the safety of the building and ensuring that it is earthquake proof.

Solution

One of the major challenges faced by Latham Construction in the restoration of the St. James Theatre is the fragility of the building’s features. To keep its historical value and preserve its original features, Latham is required to keep disruption to the building to a minimum. This has been difficult when building machineries and materials needed to be moved into the building without taking down any walls or other structures. Latham found one side of the theatre to be most suitable for moving the materials in. However, the entry is above the base of the building which means a ramp is required to be able to safely move the materials.

Latham found that the most suitable solution for building a ramp are Interbloc’s concrete blocks. With its modular quality, Latham is able to build a ramp with minimal disruptions to the building. This also means that once they are finished with the ramp, the blocks can easily be taken down and moved out of the building.

Benefits

As a result, Latham Construction was able to easily build a ramp for moving machineries and materials in and out of the St. James Theatre without having to disrupt any part of the building. The ramp took a day to set up and will take just the same amount of time to take down, which means valuable time is saved for actual restoration activities.

With Interbloc’s engineered system and interlocking design, Latham is provided with peace of mind that the ramp will remain safe and stable when heavy materials are moved in and out of the building.