The guys from Albers Alligator are not sitting still. This summer, they did montages in Canada and Australia, among other places. These guys are used to large basins; in Dinteloord they mounted foils in a basin for a 25,000 m² area at Van der Kaay. Last summer's project with the 34,540 m² basin in Canada was another stroke bigger. Last summer, engineers from Albers Alligator traveled to Canada. There, they worked hard in Leamington on the Double Diamond project. At the moment, 20 hectares of greenhouse are being built there. Strawberries will be grown on this acreage. Albers Alligator supplied and installed the MULTI-F on behalf of Erfgoed Horticulture.
Big, bigger, biggest
MULTI-F is the floating cover on basins to control algae. It prevents clogged sprinklers and also prevents wave action and less evaporation in large basins. Martin Spekle, Albers Alligator: "With these covers, you get 100% results, i.e. the basin is completely free of algae under the MULTI-F. After all, algae need light and the cover prevents light from getting in. MULTI-F is made of coated polyethylene fabric. The advantage of polyethylene is its good UV resistance."
The bottom liner at Double Diamond is made of Polyextra-S, with a thickness of 0.6 mm.
The total basin at Double Diamond has a capacity of 115,250 m³. The size is 72 x 429 m. That size requires special adaptation. The film was delivered in several parts. The welding work was done on-site. Martin: "You can imagine that it is too heavy to pull the foil in once. Around 60 helpers helped out here, which was not unnecessary. After the Multi-F was pulled in, the welding work was done on the still-dry floor. We do that with our special foil welding machines."
Australia, Provance Corporation Pty Ltd
It was a special year for Albers Alligator's mechanics. Besides the Canadian adventure, they also got to make a long trip to Australia to install foil on a large basin there. They delivered a water basin with slope protection to Provance Corporation Pty Ltd in Wells Crossing, Australia. This installation was anything but a standard assembly job. It was a 'hell of a job' for the fitters because a forest fire was raging very close by. There was no danger to people, but something like this always had an impact. A passing kangaroo stayed to watch the supervisor for a while. All in all, it became a special project for them.
The content of this basin was also 'up to par' with a capacity of 21,865 m³ (dimensions 70 x 80 m). A total of 6,536 m² of POLYEXTRA-s foil and 3,754 m² of slope protection were installed here.
For more information:
Albers Alligator
tel +31 (+)317 419 144
info@albersalligator
www.albersalligator.com