Materials
Aberthaw Plant
Cement
Aberthaw plant produces cement.
It is the most versatile building material in the world and is the second most used resource in the world, after water. Cement is used to create the built environment around us, from homes, offices and hospitals, to roads, airports, bridges and power stations. Cement is essentially a binder and it can be mixed with aggregates, water and other ingredients so that it sets and hardens as it dries to bind the other materials together.
History of cement
Cement was used as far back as Mesopotamia in the third millennium B.C. and were made from lime, sand, and gravel. It was also used in ancient Egypt to help create the great pyramids, and in Rome to create the Pantheon and aqueducts.
Today, making cement is an innovative and high-tech process. It involves processing and reaction of the raw materials at high temperatures in cement kilns. The cement manufacturing process requires extremely high temperatures which consume about ten times more energy than the average amount required by other manufacturing processes.
Employing waste as an alternative fuel has greatly helped the cement industry to manage its environmental impact. Today, many plants derive a proportion of their energy from waste-derived fuels.
Our products
See our corporate website for more information on our full product range, including aggregates, asphalt, readymix concrete, as well as road contracting and recycling services.
Projects completed with cement from the Aberthaw include:
- The Senedd building
- Wales Millennium Centre
- Millennium Stadium
- Pembroke Power Station
- Wales National Pool, Swansea
Innovation
At Tarmac we combine the knowledge and expertise of two of the construction industry’s most iconic brands: Tarmac, the pioneers of the modern road and Blue Circle the company that patented Portland Cement.
With over 150 years’ experience, we have many innovative achievements to our name: the invention of asphalt, a product that remains synonymous with our brand; the construction of the first motorway; the introduction of next-generation concretes and cements.
These breakthroughs all helped to shape the world we live in. Now we are working to help reshape it. Across our business, the wider supply chain and our research partners, we are looking at new ways to enhance productively, reduce carbon and value engineer efficiencies – whilst driving more sustainable construction.