Aurecon

Nile Breweries (NBL) has appointed Aurecon as the civil and structural consultant for a new greenfields brewery to be constructed in Mbarara, south western Uganda.

NBL requires the brewery to be constructed to international quality standards. With the building to be positioned on the banks of the Rwizi river, the design has to be visually appealing and have low industrial emissions, setting a precedent for future development in the Mbarara area. The brewery also needs to be cost effective, with a focus on optimising the ‘cost spent per hectolitre’.

To achieve these requirements, Aurecon’s design team has been working in close conjunction with Krones AG, process designers on the project. The design optimisation process started at project inception with the establishment of an integrated site layout that has since been used as a model for other breweries.

The final layout centres around a common axis, which accommodates the product flow lines and links all the principal process areas. It enables future expansion of all the main process areas, access between which is provided by service corridors/pipe spines. A revolutionary central mezzanine level used in previous projects will house the control rooms, electrical distribution rooms and offices that provide immediate pedestrian access to all key process areas. This mezzanine level will extend along the primary axis to the packaging hall, while the design allows for an additional hall to be constructed, should one be needed in future, with minimum interference to existing operations. A single site access point will permit the tight control of distribution and process-oriented raw materials bulk delivery vehicles, all of which will pass over a weighbridge.

The design limits building heights where possible and a uniform, continuous building was specified, thus allowing the minimisation of external and ancillary buildings. This has produced a building that is visually tidy and soft on the eyes.

Aurecon is currently providing full EPCM (Engineering, Procurement and Construction Management) services for this project, including providing direct input into the design for the treatment system.

Once constructed, it will be the most advanced brewery in the country.