Monday, January 23, 2017 | By Lindsay Cashin
Earlier this month, the UBC CSCE Student Chapter visited the Lafarge Cement Plant in Richmond, BC to learn more about the cement manufacturing process. The Richmond Cement Plant is one of the two cement plants that exist in BC and is one of the six cement plants Lafarge owns across Canada.
Matt Dalkie, the Technical Services Engineer of Lafarge Cement, started the tour with a short video presentation outlining the cement manufacturing process. He then guided us through the different laboratories that operated inside the plant. These laboratories test different raw materials and cement samples from the plant to ensure that they pass all industry and government requirements. The tour continued with a site visit of the different equipment used in the process, such as the pre-heaters and cement kiln. Since the cement plant was down for the day due to maintenance, the Student Chapter could get a closer look at the different equipment.
Overall, the tour was a great experience and everyone learned a lot. The students appreciate their materials and concrete courses more because of the tour. The UBC CSCE Student Chapter would like to thank Matt, Cassandra, and the rest of the Lafarge Cement team for accommodating them.
Story contributed by Veronica Velayo, photos contributed by Eric Bast; members, CSCE Student Chapter