Fibre cement profiled sheeting from Marley Eternit has been used as part of a £20 million project to refurbish and extend facilities at the heart of Cornwall’s 260-year-old china clay manufacturing industry.

Some 5,000m2 of natural grey Profile 6 sheeting was installed on the roof and elevations, and 2,000m2 painted white as an internal roof lining to a new 30x85-metre steel-framed clay drying tube press in Bugle during a 12-month project for Imerys Minerals, the world’s largest china clay producer.

The 17-metre-high structure had to be built by main contractor Dean & Dyball on the footprint of its predecessor and to similar dimensions using similar external finishes – single-skin fibre cement cladding that was installed by Bowline Roofing.

An additional 20,000m2 of Profile 6 in natural grey was also installed previously as part of a roof refurbishment to an existing 180x100-metre clay store with raised ridge line in the plant that processes white clay used in the production of paper padding, rubber, plastics, paint and textiles.

Extracting water from the raw material produces a lot of condensation so a high-performance, low-maintenance roofing material was required to minimise the effect of it dropping back down into the factory.

Imerys, a specifier of Marley Eternit’s profiled sheeting for a number of years, also needed the fibre cement sheeting to blend in with the existing site buildings to avoid having to reapply for planning permission.

BBA-accredited Profile 6, which has a life expectancy of at least 50 years, offered the perfect solution due to its high vapour permeability, which allows any moisture to dry out naturally.

Imerys project manager Andrew Scott said: “Profile 6 is commonly specified by us for our UK plants as it is proven to be long-lasting and low-maintenance, with low-life costs. It is also ideal for our process conditions, with low pH water properties.”

Email: profilesheeting@marleyeternit.co.uk