Innovation From Utranazz Allows Makehappen To Work Faster
Broadband is now more than ever a household essential, with thousands of jobs offering full-time or hybrid work-from-home options.
Our customer, Makehappen, was approached by Upp broadband and Norfolk County Council to create the infrastructure needed to provide crucial high-quality broadband to the communities of Norfolk, starting with the region in and around Burnham Market.
The Task:
The challenge presented to Makehappen had the end goal of installing 3.5kms of fibre in a carriageway along a major bus route, with minimal disruption to traffic levels while remaining as environmentally friendly as possible. In order to accomplish this, work had to be limited to a single overnight shift each day for 2 weeks, with the road closing at 7pm and reopening at 7am the following morning. Each shift focussed on a new stretch of road until the entire 3.5kms of cable had been installed.
The Brief given to Utranazz:
In order to undertake this massive task, Makehappen approached the Utranazz team with a brief to produce two custom-built concrete mixers to enable them to complete the job:
- The mixers had to be able to store the materials needed to produce Makehappen’s new rapid-set Instafill concrete; a self-levelling concrete with the ability to cure within 1 hour.
- It had to be able to batch and mix the materials on site as well as pump the Instafill.
- It had to be able to weigh the Instafill for accurate measurements.
- It had to be mounted to a truck for mobility.
What Utranazz did:
After receiving the brief, the team at Utranazz set about making preparations to help Makehappen. Firstly, we got in contact with Kimera, our Italian manufacturer with the specifications regarding the mixers needed, and they drew up a number of proposals for Utranazz and Makehappen to review; as part of this process teams from both companies visited the Kimera factory and sat down with the design team to fine-tune the ideas. Once the ideas were finalised, Makehappen sent samples of the Instafill rapid-set concrete in order to test the design concepts with the materials. From this testing, a final solution was decided upon.
The Innomixers:
As per Makehappen’s brief, we created the ‘Innomixers’; two concrete mixers fitted with large 7m3 cement bins to accommodate the Instafill powder, extra-high capacity water tanks as well as specialised built-in worm pumps. With the additional features, these mixers possessed the ability to batch and mix the Instafill concrete on-site, as well as pump the mixture into the desired areas; allowing the operation to be totally self-contained. Once manufactured, the Innomixers were delivered to site, ready to be filled with the Instafill rapid-set powder, which was supplied via the use of a 7 ton Weigh Hopper (courtesy of Utranazz!)
By using Utranazz’s bespoke ‘Innomixers’ the entire process of installing the fibre could take place in a single shift. The trench is cut, the ducting is installed, the fine fill is inserted, the Innomixers batch and mix the Instafill rapid-set concrete on the job-site and simultaneously pump into the trench – with curing taking only one hour. This enabled Makehappen to work during the night to install 3.5km of fibre into the carriageway in just 14 days!
Find out more about this project on Makehappen’s own website, featuring a video covering the entire process from start to finish, and get in touch with Utranazz today by calling +44 (0) 1280 820 770, emailing [email protected], or sending a query via our online enquiry form for more information on our range of high-quality concrete mixers and volumetric concrete mixers suitable for a range of applications.