Meadow Mushrooms Compost Facility
About the Project
The construction site was spread across an area the size of four rugby fields, and required the coordination of European equipment suppliers and a multitude of sub-contractors; at one stage Leighs Construction was coordinating more than 70 sub-contractors on the site.
The biggest ever project of its kind in New Zealand, the new $35 million Meadow Mushrooms Compost Plant required meticulous attention to detail and sound project management.
Meadow Mushrooms Ltd
Client
October 2010
Completed
Christchurch
Location
The year-long project saw two main buildings and six smaller buildings constructed on-site using 7000 cubic metres of concrete.
Each week, the state-of-the-art facility turns 600 bales of hay into compost for growing mushrooms. The process is completely mechanical, with conveyors used to mix the ingredients for the first stage of composting. After seven days in the first building, being turned daily, the compost is then transported to the second building, where it is exposed to several different climatic conditions to complete the process.
Challenges associated with the project included coordination of a large number of contractors, as well as working with international sub-contractors. Extreme accuracy was required, with a variance factor of less than 5mm in the 300mm thick, eight-metre high walls for the main building.
“Leighs has certainly been one of the most able and efficient construction companies that we have dealt with in the context of a number of major projects that the company has been involved with recently”
– Hon. Philip Burdon, Meadow Mushrooms Ltd
