CARMIX, a leading manufacturer of self-loading concrete mixers, dumpers and silos for the production of any kind of concrete, has supplied two self-loading concrete mixers for the construction of the Miguillas Hydroelectric Project
After signing a contract with ENDE Corporación (Empresa Nacional de Electricidad), the subsidiary ENDE CORANI took over the execution of the Miguillas Hydroelectric Project (including the engineering, supply, construction, assembly, testing and commissioning work) located in the municipalities of Quime and Cajuata, Inquisivi province of the department of La Paz, Bolivia.
The project consists of the construction of two cascade hydroelectric power plants, with powerhouses located at Umapalca and Palillada at 2004 and 1213 m.a.s.l. respectively, which together will contribute to the country's electricity supply by adding 205MW of installed capacity to the national interconnected system. The Umapalca system, currently under construction, includes, among the most important civil works, the construction of 13 km of tunnels, three intake works, regulation works, penstock and the powerhouse of the hydroelectric plant.
For the production, supply and quality control of concrete for the project (120,000 cu/m), ENDE CORANI contracted the services of Sociedad Boliviana de Cemento S.A. (SOBOCE S.A.), a leading company in the production and marketing of cement, ready-mixed concrete, aggregates, prefabricated products and services for the construction sector in Bolivia.
To attend the different work fronts, SOBOCE S.A. initially managed the installation of a fixed concrete plant and the mobilisation of two self-loading concrete mixers CARMIX 3.5TT and CARMIX 3500TC respectively, having planned to supply concrete through these two all-terrain mobile concrete batching units for the works corresponding to the ‘Túnel 1 Portal de ingreso Carabuco’,‘Obra de Toma Carabuco’ and ‘Obras Casa de Máquinas Umapalca’.
CARMIX experience
The use of CARMIX mobile plants in the project has greatly facilitated the production and supply of concrete for the client, favouring the simultaneous production of high quality and special concrete in up to 10 work fronts, making it possible to organise and manage properly the dispatches from the fixed plant and the mobile units, according to the distance of the works and the volumes required, allowing to provide adequate attention to all the work fronts.
Since the demand for concrete in the project requires the daily supply of various types of concrete in rather moderate volumes, having self-sufficient units for the preparation of mixtures has been an important advantage for operations. By taking advantage of their high performance and the speed of the production cycle, significant savings have been achieved in terms of costs and labor.
Concrete produced with CARMIX
Through the CARMIX 3. 5TT and CARMIX 3500TC located at the construction sites, concrete type H-10, H-21, H-25, H-30 and H-26 for shotcrete have been produced and supplied.
These mixtures have been used for the concreting of structural elements in canals, retaining walls, box culverts, shotcrete for slope stabilisation, shotcrete reinforced with metallic fibre for supporting tunnel excavations, and conventional concrete for lining tunnel floors, gables and vaults. The production cycles of each CARMIX have made it possible to obtain up to 50 cu/m of ready-mixed concrete in only five hours of work. The precision of the electronic scales with load cells installed on the equipment has allowed optimal production processes for any type of mix design.
Such examples showcase the capability of CARMIX’s concrete equipment, which are ready to help shape construction sites in South Africa and beyond.
