Concrete Society visits Dunbar cement plant

Tarmac host visit to Scotland’s only cement plant for 47 members of the Concrete Society Council

IN late July, Tarmac’s Dunbar plant in East Lothian hosted a visit for 47 members of the Concrete Society Council.

Dunbar is Scotland’s only cement plant and plays an important role in the nation’s infrastructure. Due to the level of interest in the visit, the plant needed to host both morning and afternoon tours for society members.

During the tour, the visitors were able to see Dunbar’s new state-of-the-art cement mill and control room technology, which are driving major improvements in energy efficiency at the plant. The group also learnt about the history of the Dunbar plant and how its design and operations respond to the complex geology of the site.

The visitors learned about how alternative fuels are being used on the site as part of Tarmac’s transition to net zero, as well as being shown the improved rail operations. These allow Tarmac to make best use of the rail network to transport materials and reduce CO₂ emissions.

Craig Kirkland, Tarmac Dunbar’s cement plant manager, said: ‘We were proud to host this visit by the Concrete Society Council, and give 47 of its members a tour of Dunbar.

‘We’ve made a number of significant improvements at the site in recent years. It was great to show our visitors the actions we’re taking to reduce our CO₂ emissions while continuing to deliver high-quality building materials and solutions for Scotland’s infrastructure.’

Colin Reid, Concrete Society Council member and Scottish Regional Committee member, said: ‘Our recent trip to Dunbar was one of the best site visits we have ever attended. It was fascinating to get a tour of Scotland’s only cement plant and find out more about its history, as well as seeing how it operates now, and recent improvements to the site.

‘We are really grateful to the team at Dunbar cement plant for hosting us on this visit.’