When Silvio Ferraris started ReMaCon 16 years ago, he had a plan to create free-standing flexible bunkering and storage solutions for South Africa, expanding on his retaining wall and block structures business. He and his business partner, Christopher Cosgrove, developed many bright ideas, and there are more to come!

“It is more than just the product line I want to diversify, because I want to move away from construction. The product has to go directly to the end-user, such as the farmer,” Silvio explains.

One such product that is already being used across the agricultural sector is the Yfel bunker. These inverted Y-shaped structures that have been inspired by the Eiffel Tower, are designed to withstand a lot of weight pushing against them, and to serve as a multifunctional semi-permanent structure. When the individual bunker slabs are placed next to one another, they fit perfectly to form a strong wall without any weak points.

ReMaCon products are designed to be strong, yet movable. “It is capital expenditure that you can take with you. If a farmer leases land, for instance, and the lease expires, he can load his Yfel blocks onto his trailer and take them with him,” Silvio explains.

All the products are manufactured using self-compacting, steel reinforced concrete. “Self-compacting means that the bubbles quickly rise to the top when you fill the moulds. By the time you return with the next batch of concrete, all the bubbles have already risen to the surface, so it is quite a dense structure,” says Silvio, “It also means what I cast today is ready to be removed from the mould tomorrow. In three days, I can load it onto a truck and deliver it.”

Yfel bunkering has many applications. More than just separating dry bulk, it can also be used to create temporary storage, offer dust suppressing solutions, keep thieves out, and even create safe underground storage tanks. They are fire resistant, meaning that farmers don’t need to be concerned about the structures being damaged by veld fires.

The anti-climb/dust suppressing product has specifically been built with a curved top to prevent intruders from climbing over the structures or stacking ladders against them. This curve also functions as a dust suppressor, preventing fine grains or other fine materials from being blown away on a windy day.

New! Feed troughs

Working with the ideas that farmers bring to them, the team at ReMaCon also developed feed troughs to answer the need for durable feeding solutions that will not be damaged by cattle. “At the last show before lockdown, farmers asked us to develop feed troughs,” Silvio says. “They were even suggesting just turning the Yfel around, but I researched the requirements for feed troughs and that is not the way to do it.”

ReMaCon’s feed troughs are round on the inside to prevent the feed from sticking in the corners and to make cleaning easier. The concrete troughs are available in two sizes: large for cattle, and a smaller one for sheep.

Vaults

Another product with multipurpose use for farmers is concrete vaults. These concrete cubes with lids either on the top or side were developed as battery vaults for telecommunications companies to prevent theft. Farmers also use these products for securing motors, pumps, and irrigation system controls.

The concrete vaults are constructed in a variety of shapes and sizes to meet any farmer’s needs.

Get your concrete solution from ReMaCon. Contact Christopher Cosgrove on 082-880-0184, send an e-mail to christopher@remacon.co.za, or visit www.remacon.co.za.