It is now over a year since Fiberweb plc, based in Richmond, Greater London, announced the acquisition of Boddingtons UK, the parent company of Boddingtons Australia. This was one of a number of acquisitions made by Fiberweb during 2011, adding to its range of specialty materials products that includes technologies developed by ICI, Du Pont, BBA and many other leading companies.
“This is the materials age” says Daniel Dayan, CEO of Fiberweb. “We no longer rely on a few, simple materials like iron wood or cotton. Today it is about the clever use of technology to create versatile, high-performance materials, which are highly customised, cost-efficient and deliver significant added value. This ‘intelligent application’ of materials technology is Fiberweb’s mission”.
Fiberweb was one of the largest global manufacturers of hygiene non-wovens, used mostly in nappy production; however this substantial part of the company was sold off at the end of 2011. “This has paved the way for Fiberweb to concentrate on more attractive business segments” says David Box, recently appointed Managing Director of Fiberweb’s Australian business. “With many recent acquisitions and the hygiene business sale, it was also time to change Fiberweb’s corporate brand and align many of the company’s product brands. The company is also inspired by its new brand film, and we invite everyone to see the customer section of our revamped website www.fiberweb.com”
Fiberweb’s Melbourne-based business will continue to manufacture UTILITAPE™, UTILIMESH™, WAVELAY® and DETECTAMESH® underground marker and warning tapes and meshes, which are offering PROTECTAMESH™ rockshield high density polyethylene pipeline protection meshes manufactured in Fiberweb’s Maldon plant in Essex, England. These will now fall under the TERRAM® product brand, which is best known for its geotextile non-woven fabrics. These fabrics are used in a wide range of civil engineering applications including landfill, road, railways, coal seam gas, mining, buildings and agriculture.
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Protectamesh™ Rockshield can be made to order as pads or rolls for specific pipe diameters and installation methods as well as being available in a standard range of roll weights and dimensions. It is a flexible three-dimensional bi-planar extruded diamond structured HDPE mesh. It is wrapped around underground pipes as protection of the coating systems on the pipe. It offers a consistent thickness throughout the width of each roll or pad to provide full width protection to the pipeline during backfill operations.
Protectamesh™ also offers protection from abrasive objects after installation, prohibiting geologic movements from damaging the pipeline. Boddingtons also manufactures a heavier and thicker version called Protectamesh™ HD Rockshield, which ranges between 525–950 g/m2 in weight. Recently, Protectamesh™ Rockshield has been incorporated into the Queensland Curtis LNG Project and the McConnell Dowell/Consolidated Contracting Company's Komo pipeline projects.
UTILITAPE™, UTILIMESH™, WAVELAY® and DETECTAMESH® underground marker and warning tapes and meshes are manufactured from rot-resistant virgin polyethylene and polypropylene. The latter two products meet the Australian Standards for detectable products by incorporating stainless steel tracer wire embedded within the laminate to ensure long life, strength and optimum detectability.
Fiberweb will continue to supply these products custom made to the customer’s specifications with special text messages widths and thicknesses from its Melbourne manufacturing plant, located in Sunshine West.
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