COOPERATION ASBESTOS REMOVAL AND INDUSTRIAL CLEANING

Prayon provides innovative phosphate and fluorine solutions to numerous industries ranging from animal nutrition, construction and horticulture to chemicals and the personal and healthcare industries. Puurs is home to Prayon's second-largest plant, with industrial manufacturing operations and an R&D center. On the site are two phosphate warehouses from around 1950, covered with asbestos-containing roofing sheets. Mourik was commissioned to remediate one of these sheds, using our expertise in asbestos removal supplemented by industrial cleaning with high-pressure units.

SOLUTIONS FOR ASBESTOS REMOVAL AND PHOSPHATE STORAGE

To remove the asbestos-containing sheets, we used a mobile telescopic handler with a reach of 39 meters. However, particularly at the back of the shed, space was limited and we could not reach everywhere with the telehandler. We solved that with a 60-meter mobile tower crane for hard-to-reach places. The (temporary) storage of phosphate was also a practical challenge during the work. For this, the nearby Rupel Canal proved to be a valuable asset, because we temporarily stored part of the phosphate in a barge.

COMPLEXITY AND INDUSTRIAL CLEANING

Several factors made this work complex. Over the years, moss had grown on the asbestos-containing roof. Eventually, this ended up in the gutters, resulting in plants and trees even growing in them. There were also frequent strong winds, due to the proximity to the canal. The wind sometimes dispersed phosphate that ended up in the drains. In wet weather, this created slippery mud. We called in our industrial cleaning  colleagues to thoroughly and safely clean the roofs, drains and floor.

This project proves once again that by combining expertise, we can solve complex problems well and safely. The cooperation between our experts in asbestos removal and industrial cleaning proved very effective, with rewards including an additional project at Prayon: we were also allowed to remove the asbestos-containing slabs of a nearby building.