Milk tankers that usually drop their loads at Fonterra’s Studholme factory near Waimate in South Canterbury are in for a longer trip – at least for the next few days.
Studholme site engineering spokesperson Alan Maitland said the diversion follows the shutdown of the site’s two boilers on Sunday and the planned replacement of the 50-metre boiler exhaust chimney.
The tankers began being diverted on Sunday to allow the two boilers to cool down, Mr Maitland said.
«The existing chimney will be taken down in pieces using two cranes from Christchurch. The new chimney, which has been built by Parr and Co in Timaru, will then be erected on the same site.»
Parr and Co general manager Ben Smith said work on the all-steel chimney has taken about 10 weeks.
«It’s a sizeable stack but not the biggest we’ve done,» he said.
Taking down the old chimney should take about four days, according to Mr Maitland, and the erection of the new structure about the same time.
«It all depends on the weather,» he said.
«Two cranes from Christchurch, one of 250 tonnes and the second of 50 tonnes, will work at the site, and once the new structure is in place, we will fire up the boilers again.»
Mr Maitland said the boilers at Studholme operate on a 24/7 schedule: one in use and the other on standby.
Source: Stuff