Mexico-based Cemex SAB de CV (Cemex) is supplying 50,000 cubic metres of ready-mix concrete for the Weser shaft inland lock project in Germany.
The lock connects Weser river, a passageway for inland shipping, with the Mittelland Canal at their intersection near the city of Minden in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The concrete placement operations for the floor of the lock chamber have commenced in the fourth quarter of 2012.
Cemex used nine ready-mix trucks, along with two truck-mounted pumps, to supply concrete at a rate of 110 cubic meters per hour in an uninterrupted, continuous wet-on-wet pour at the construction site.
The new 139m lock chamber with 12.50m width is designed to include three basins, which will save 60% in water usage. The water saving basins will displace 25,400 cubic metres of water in only about 37 minutes and allow up and downstream locking.
The new lock system will replace the existing structure, which is too small and inefficient to handle modern motor barges measuring 110m in length. The ground work for the project has been completed and the solid construction work is scheduled to take an additional 15 months.