PART 1 GROWING ROLE FOR CHRYSO ADMIXTURES IN EAST AFRICA’S CONSTRUCTION BOOM

The CHRYSO Quad Range is an alternative to river sand and addresses environmental concerns.

With the construction sector in East Africa seeing an upswing, CHRYSO East Africa has grown its offerings to the market while ensuring its admixture solutions are targeted at local conditions. This is Part 1 of a two-part series.

According to Graham Dean, CHRYSO’s Business Development Director Eastern Africa, the region’s growing investment in construction projects is evident in countries like Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. While infrastructure development such as roads and railways are mainly driving this growth in Kenya, it is Tanzania’s mining industry and Uganda’s oil sector which are becoming more significant.

“As a key construction product, concrete uses natural materials which are locally sourced,” says Dean. “This might include cement produced from limestone quarried around Nairobi, pozzolana to modify different cement types or quarried aggregates and crushed sands. To achieve the best results in concrete, it is important to understand the variations in what Mother Nature provides to us as raw materials.”

He highlights that concrete admixtures which have been well proven with materials in South Africa, for instance, may not necessarily perform to the same levels with concrete materials from Kenya. Accommodating these variations has required considerable investment in research and technical facilities in East Africa, to ensure customised admixture solutions.

“To resolve the performance differences between regions, CHRYSO set up a concrete laboratory in Nairobi where we can modify existing formulations,” he explains. “This allows us to design bespoke admixtures for customers, based on their specific requirements and the local materials going into their concrete.”

With its Nairobi office established almost 10 years ago, CHRYSO has developed the locally based experience and infrastructure to become a trusted partner in the concrete space. The company supplies its admixture solutions not only to large construction companies, specifiers and developers, but also to readymix plants, manufacturers of precast products and specialist applicators of decorative concrete.

Continued in Part 2…