Located in the regional town of Tomago, New South Wales, just north of Newcastle, CPB Contractors' Tomago precast facility is a true productivity enabler. The purpose-built facility plays a vital role in the delivery of CPB Contractors projects across Australia by enabling the mass production of high-quality precast concrete elements such as super-ts and planks.
Along with enhanced productivity, shifting concrete work offsite to the Tomago facility enables many other benefits, including enhanced safety and risk mitigation, high-quality components and a more streamlined construction approach.
Mark Jones, Project Manager at the Tomago facility, expands on these benefits:
“By pre-casting here, our projects can shift bulk concrete work to a team that is laser-focused on delivering these elements… it frees up on-site resources for other critical tasks, which can translate to greater overall productivity,” explains Mark.
“Our pre-cast elements can be delivered at any time, and we’re able to provide them in batches at stages throughout the construction process, enabling installation blitzes on site,” adds Mark.
The prefabrication process at the facility involves a meticulous workflow:
- Reinforcement and pre-stressing: Steel reinforcements – including lifters and pre-stressing strands – are meticulously positioned within each shape’s jig cage.
- Quality checks: Once all reinforcements are positioned, the jig cage goes through rigorous quality checks to ensure the component meets its build specifications.
- Molding and stressing: The jig cage is lifted into a pour mould and pre-stressing strands are tensioned.
- Pouring and curing: Concrete is poured and cured overnight.
- Destressing and demolding: Once cured, the strands are de-stressed, and the finished component is removed from the mould.
CPB Contractors opened its Tomago facility in 2022. Today, a team of 70 works on site each day to create pre-cast concrete elements that bring CPB Contractors’ projects to life across Australia.