The keg handling area is at the end of the automated racking line and, by the time the kegs reach here, they have been washed, steam cleaned, sterilised and filed with Draught Guinness. The final part of the conveyor journey is travelling toward the point where they are off loaded by fork lift and stacked or despatched.
Each fork lift truck is fitted with a six forked attachment which picks up 10-15 kegs at a time from the conveyor. The continuous grinding action of the fork lift truck wheels on the floor in front of the conveyor has eroded the concrete and channelled two recesses directly in the path of the wheels.
The constant battering effect of the fork lift against the end of the conveyor had also worked the conveyor supports loose from the surrounding concrete.
To rectify this damage repair work was necessary to strengthen and replace the concrete around the legs of the conveyor belt and to relay the worn concrete floor.
The only available time to carry this out was over the weekend when the area was unused. Because the floor had to be ready the following Monday morning the replacement concrete had to harden quickly to ensure sufficient strength. This necessitated the use of an accelerated concrete or to ensure sufficient compressive and abrasion strength was reached within the available time.
Ronaset Concrete was supplied to site and machine mixed in a Creteangle forced action mixer. The inclusion of a polymer within the Ronaset Concrete formulation increases the abrasion resistance and improve its general resilience.
It is now more than 18 months since the work was carried out and, although showing signs of wear and stress, the new concrete has already outlasted the previous surface.
Laid in 1998 the floor is still performing well.