Know-how
On the port of Djibouti
April 1995: the rails of the unloading gantry of the Djibouti International Port Authority were seriously damaged. The Bragante corporation, responsible for port maintenance identified the problem and called in Polyrésine to carry out restoration work.
The diagnosis
The rail’s concrete chocks had collapsed because of the salty atmosphere and vibrations each time the gantry was used. The rails were sinking in. The track was unstable. Containers were in danger of tipping over. The work would have to be carried out quickly… Each day container carriers had to be loaded and unloaded on this African port...
The solution
Polyrésine proposed the solution, according to a precise procedure: breaking up the concrete, dismantling the rails, slicing through the nuts and dismantling the jacking screws, scratching away the damaged concrete, aligning the rail and pouring in a resin grout to chock the rail. The plates and the rail bases were coated in resin grout to hold them in place...The choice of the Polyrésine solution is:
- A time-saver compared with classic solutions (concrete chocks).
- A guarantee of long life of the application (resin is impervious to salt and sand).
- Greater comfort of gantry operation (the resin, more supple than concrete offers a better resistance to vibrations as well as better load distribution)
Site memories...
It was 55°C in the shade with 90% humidity. The engineer sent on site by Polyrésine had to work at night to respect the polymerization conditions of resin… And probably for his own survival!After only three weeks of working jointly with local teams, Polyrésine succeeded in giving the gantry a completely new look. Loading and unloading could be carried out in complete safety for the workers. The port activity could go back to work in the blazing heat of the African sun.