On Wednesday 10 August Washwood Heath Asphalt Plant welcomed visitors from the State of Qatar as part of a fact finding visit to the UK. Hosted by AMEY plc which is active in Qatar, the visit’s objective was for representatives from Ashghal – the Qatar Public Works Authority – to understand how roads maintenance contracts operate in the UK as infrastructure is one of their responsibilities. Qatar is in an infrastructure boom currently not least in preparation for the 2022 FIFA Football World Cup! Ashghal’s relationship with AMEY, the Birmingham PFI and the close proximity of our Plant, provided the perfect opportunity to understand the importance of asphalt production in the supply chain.

Attending the tour of the Plant was Colin Mackenzie and Ali El Jaber, Asset Managers for AMEY based in Qatar, accompanied by Aydulla Al Yafai Ashghal Head of Express Ways (equivalent to Highways England) and Ahmad Kubaisi Heads of Roads Maintenance (similar to a local authority). Also attending was Del Amory AMEY Design Manager for the PFI in Birmingham. The CEMEX Team was represented by Mark Eley, Plant Manager, Lance Eames, Assistant Plant Manager, Neil Woodfield, Technical Manager, and commercial being represented by Karen Berry and Andy Shield. The visit included an end to end process tour of the Plant from the rail discharge to loading finished coated product on to a lorry for delivery in to the PFI Contract. All of the visitors were highly impressed by the site which included safety awareness, the operating environment and the functionality of the plant and related activities.

The tour for the Ashghal and AMEY people ended with a visit to a site in the Birmingham PFI where CEMEX material was being installed by contractor Toppesfield.