Investing for the future
The summer of 2022 has been an important time in the life of the venerable CGE ‘moving-hood’ kiln in which all of our bricks are fired. After many decades of heating and cooling the steel mesh roof of the kiln was rusting through so work was required.
‘Colchester Rewind and Repairs’ were commissioned to make good the roof frame and fabricate a new steel mesh and ‘Insulation Machining Services’ came to reinstall the insulated lining.
Of course, with jobs of this kind you can never be sure what you will find until the work begins and sure enough, we found the roof requiring much more work than anticipated. The fabricators stayed with us for an extra two weeks and the insulation team rearranged their work so that the kiln was out of action for no more than 6 weeks.
Then came the first firing. Kilns can be very temperamental with many factors affecting the firing process at different locations within the kiln. We waited with hearts in mouths as the kiln was opened following the first firing. Happily, there was very little change to how the kiln performs. She does the same as before only a bit more efficiently.
‘Although it was a bit hair-raising at times, this was a significant investment to ensure we that we are able to continue to produce our beautiful bricks for decades to come’ said Nikki Lax of WH Collier. ‘We would like to express our thanks to the teams from Colchester Rewinds and IMS for the excellent job they have done.’
