The Sappi GoCell project site

March 1

Sorry for the long silence but it’s been a bit hectic. Here’s a few snapshots that you might find interesting.

All well here. The weather has been quite hot but no worse than Oz. Pam is finding the enforced idleness a bit hard to handle, especially since I’m gone by 6 am and don’t get back until 6:30 in the evening. She has been in contact with a local college that (like many schools here) runs an outreach program to provide assistance to the less advantaged schools. Today Pam is going out with another teacher for a visit to a rural school where a reading program is run twice a week and if it all works out, she might do some volunteer work there. So that would help to give a bit of shape to her week.

I’m enjoying the project. It’s good to back at an operating site and the team here are a good bunch. My Afrikaans isn’t improving much, even tho most of the locals use it whenever they want to get things done in a hurry. Despite the fact that the building construction is well advanced, the feasibility study still hasn’t been approved! We have a shut down in May and will do as many tie-ins as we can, despite the fact that we don’t have any P&IDs yet. It’s going to be exciting, that’s for sure.

Here are some pics I took on Wed 29 Feb 2012 of the Sappi GoCell project site. I’m standing on top of the pulp machine pulp storage tank.

Building columns going up for the new batch cooking, washing and bleaching plant.

Looking over the construction site to the Sappi engineering office on the right, GoCell project trailers on the left behind the trees.

Looking east across the distribution warehouse on the right, pulp machine 3 building on the left. I’m managing a replacement of the pulp dryer and some wet end mods.

To the north the continuous digester and fibreline 2. Here I’m looking after a small amount of new equipment, decommissioning of a lot of old equipment and a lot of piping.

This is my office which I share with the other Amec area managers and the Sappi area coordinators.

Outside the cabins it’s a bit like the OK Corral. This is where we have staff meetings, smoko and lunch.

From the project cabins looking back to the mill over the construction site.

The project cabins from outside.

Andrew Thorpe, 1 March 2012