Wagners looks to the sea with $5 million wharf project

TOOWOOMBA workers are busily constructing a wharf that will open up a $125 million cement grinding plant on the Brisbane River to the world.

TOOWOOMBA workers are busily constructing a wharf that will open up a $125 million cement grinding plant on the Brisbane River to the world.

At 250m long and 16m wide, the wharf will cater for any bulky goods, be they liquid or solid.

The wharf will cater for ships up to 40,000 tonnes.

It is being constructed at the front of the Wagner-owned plant, which can produce up to 530,000 tonnes of cement a year.

Wagners director Denis Wagner said the wharf would be built in Toowoomba before being transported to Brisbane in sections.

It will then be assembled on site.

The top deck will be made of composite fibre and Wagners' award-winning earth-friendly concrete.

When finished it will be one of the largest composite structures in the world.

While built primarily for the cement plant, the wharf will also be used by third parties.

Mr Wagner said his company's current investment strategy was to invest in infrastructure.

He said the wharf would make the cement plant more efficient and enable easier access to offshore markets.

Work in Toowoomba had started and dredging had begun in the Brisbane River.

Mr Wagner said the project would create a lot of work for the Toowoomba workforce.

The project was expected to take 18 months and Mr Wagner expected it would be completed by the end of next year.

The wharf project is within the Pinkenba industrial precinct at the Port of Brisbane.

When it was built in 2009, the grinding plant mill was the only independent concrete producer in eastern Australia to have an integrated concrete- production process.

Originally published as Wagners looks to the sea with $5 million wharf project