At the end of March, plant manager Henri Feijen called the first trial pour of a staircase at ‘his’ Steenhuis a milestone. It was a special moment on Thursday 28 March because the test was the first time Steenhuis used the new Invie. The stairs poured during this trial project were not part of an order for a customer. Steenhuis colleagues used a mould from an earlier project.
CO₂-neutral staircase
BTC (BTE Technology Centre) carried out several tests under the supervision of Willem Schippers. Quality officer Gert Norg and Trainee Laboratory Technician Vincent Gomes Guincho of Steenhuis Beton assisted and the landfill team also had a part in the test. Mill bosses Jan and Ricardo took care of preparing the mixture.
Willem: ‘As indicated, we supervise the process within production and, where necessary, provide colleagues with advice. The colleagues at the lab in Rheden map the physical, chemical and mechanical properties of the concrete produced with the Invie binder. It is important to find out what needs to change within the production process to make reproducible, sustainable concrete. Working in a lab is one thing, practice (in production) is another. We have since received confirmation that the production process is hugely important. Everything has to be well coordinated; the production/mixing process has to be well aligned. It definitely helps that we got all the cooperation at Steenhuis. The enthusiasm of the team is very stimulating. Everyone just wants it to work and for us to be able to take that step towards sustainability.’ Henri nods: ‘I am proud that we can contribute to the further development of Invie with Steenhuis. It's important that we continue with such developments; the future in which carbon-neutral stairs can be produced is coming visibly closer.’
