Site Visits Archives - The Materials Handling Engineers’ Association (MHEA)

British Steel Site Visit 20.03.19

On Wednesday 20th March 2019 21 members of the MHEA met for a tour of the British Steel site. British Steel provided an excellent presentation and after members were invited on a tour around the site. Members were able to visit the coal handling plant; observe coke oven batteries pushing coke from safe vantage point; visit ore prep plant observe ore blending operation stacker reclaimer; visit caster operation, witness cast steel bloom discharge and handling; visit Rail and Section mill…

June visit to Tilbury Docks: places still available

There are still a few places left for the site visit to Tilbury Docks, Essex, on Thursday 13 June. The Port of Tilbury (London) is the largest of eight ports owned by Forth Ports. As London’s major port it is also the largest multi-modal port in the South East, and 3rd largest port in the UK. The port has an annual throughput of 16 million tonnes per annum and this is estimated to value around £8.7 billion; this makes it…

British Steel Site Visit

20.03.2019 AGENDA Collect from Forest Pines Hotel and Golf Resort, Ermine Street, Broughton DN20 0AQ 1. Arrival and welcome at British Steel 0930 hrs 2. Introduction to British Steel and safety briefing 3. Collect and PPE for visit. British Steel will issue – hi vis, hard hat and ear defenders 4. Visit coal handling plant 5. Observe coke oven batteries pushing coke from safe vantage point 6. Visit ore prep plant observe ore blending operation stacker reclaimer etc. 7. Visit…

MHEA welcomed to Viridor for site visit

On Wednesday 14 November, 23 members of the MHEA met at the Park & Ride in Bicester and enjoyed a car share to Viridor’s energy recovery site at Ardley ERF, in Oxfordshire, where they were met by Jessica Baker-Pike, the Learning and Visitor Centre Manager. Ardley ERF began operation in 2014, treating 300,000 tonnes of non-recyclable waste each year. It diverts at least 95% of Oxfordshire’s residual municipal waste away from landfill and generates enough electricity to power around 38,000 homes. …

First site visit of 2018: Tunstead Quarry, Buxton

MHEA members are invited to an exclusive visit of Tarmac’s Tunstead Quarry on Wednesday 9 May, with a guided tour by Quarry Manager Phillip Shimmell. Visits are organised to provide unique access to member sites to give fresh insight about the requirements of a particular sector. Tunstead Quarry is one of the largest in the UK, extracting approximately six million tonnes of limestone each year. It is the largest supplier of lime and lime-based products and also produces aggregates as…

Member site visit to Glensanda Quarry, 10 May 2017

Places for our first site visit in 2017 were in much demand and on 10th May 21 MHEA members arrived at Glensanda Quarry in Oban, Scotland, courtesy of Aggregates Industries. It is the largest granite quarry in Europe, only accessible by boat - everything used at the site has to be transferred by barge as there is no road access. This trip was hosted by David Lamb, Assistant Quarry Operations Manager, Simon Turk, Logistics Director and Ian Henry the Harbourmaster/Ship…

Member site visit to Peel Port, 28 November 2016

Following the success of the May site visit, a further date was arranged for MHEA members to see the inner workings of Peel Port on 28th November. Hosted by Chris Griffin, Business Developments Manager, the tour was another well-attended and informative event. The outing started with a short presentation by Chris Griffin, giving an overview of the Peel Port Group and the challenges they face, followed by a visit to the grain tower. The weather was clear and bright, and…

Member site visit to Bristol Port, 18 May 2016

Twenty MHEA members took advantage of the opportunity to take part in a site visit to Bristol Port on 18th May, which comprised a tour of both the Avonmouth Dock and Royal Portbury Dock. After an overnight stay nearby for those who wished, the group met at 10.30am and enjoyed an informative minibus tour of both sites. We were accompanied by Martin Downey CEng, Director, who ably and thoroughly answered all members’ questions. The Royal Portbury Dock tour encompassed the forest…

Cliffe Hill Quarry visit

MHEA are pleased to announce an MHEA site visit to Cliffe Hill Quarry, the largest quarrying and asphalt operation within MQP. It is a working quarry with 2 asphalt plants on site and a rail link. Whilst there have been quarrying operations since the 19th Century at Old Cliffe Hill Quarry, Markfield, it was in the late 1980’s that the construction and commencement of operations at New Cliffe Hill Quarry began. Today Old and New Cliffe are linked by a…

JCB site visit

More than 25 MHEA members were recently provided with an insight into one of the most successful and instantly recognisable British brands ever, with an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of JCB’s global headquarters and production facility in Uttoxeter. After an introduction on the JCB story and opening remarks from JCB chairman, Lord Bamford, visitors saw some of the earliest JCB machines before a fascinating visit to their high-tech production facility equipped with an army of workers and automated robots. Thanks again…