Sweet success for Weightron in the Caribbean

Weightron Bilanciai have successfully delivered and installed an export version of their highly successful Eurodeck* weighbridge for the Everglades Sugar Refinery located at Montego Bay on the Caribbean island of Jamaica.

The modular Eurodeck weighbridge is specially designed to fit inside a standard open-top 40 foot shipping container for cost effective world-wide transportation. For this installation, the 18 metre, 100 tonne capacity surface mount weighbridge was shipped in six 6 m x 1.5 m deck sections, together with the steel ramps, load cells and instrumentation. On arrival at site the 1.5 metre wide sections were simply removed from the container and bolted side by side to form the three standard size deck modules. These were then lowered onto the dummy load cells on the ready prepared foundations.

The dummies were then replaced with eight pre-calibrated 35 tonne CPR stainless steel canister load cells, connected through to a Weightron D800 weighing terminal and TMU ticket printer. The installation, testing and calibration took only two days and was carried out by Weightron engineer Sean Vardy, working with local engineers from the refinery. The completed weighbridge system was then approved by officials from the Jamaican Sugar Board. Everglades’ manager William Kelly is very pleased with the finished system: “Weightron have a strong reputation for such applications and the installation was completed well within schedule. The weighbridge system is an important part of the site logistics, providing the Sugar Board with an electronic copy of all weighing transactions that can be downloaded and compared with the printed weighbridge tickets.”

Weightron’s engineer Sean Vardy found the local engineers very co-operative and as he concludes: “It’s always difficult to know what might present itself in such installations and you can’t just pop back to the factory for a spare part. However we have extensive experience working remotely and always ensure we plan such projects well in advance to avoid any problems. In this case everything went like clockwork, even though the pace of life on the island is somewhat relaxed.”

*The Eurodeck has an excellent reputation for strength and durability in the harshest of environments. Available in standard lengths of 9, 15 and 18 metres with capacities up to 80 tonnes, the weighbridge features fully welded stainless steel load cells and a special restraint system to minimise the damaging effects of harsh vehicle braking. The structural beams, which support a robust durbar deck, run length ways, consistent with traffic flow and have sufficient depth so that they do not need stiffening plates. This gives a consistent, well-drained weighing surface, avoiding any build up of condensation. The unsupported span between these beams is only 165 mm, which means that with maximum loading in the centre of a standard module, there is minimum deflection.