Stack work went 'like clockwork'

A newly refurbished 17-tonne stack was lifted back into position at the Ballance Agri-Nutrients plant in Mount Maunganui on Saturday morning.
Contractors spent four weeks repairing the 24m stack during the plant's annual maintenance shutdown.
Titan cranes and McLeod cranes worked together to lift the stack back into place. This was the first time in 28 years the stack had been removed, restored and replaced.
About 20 people were involved in the lift and were on site about 6am. Rowe motors transported the stack to the plant at 6.30am. Within two hours, the stack was bolted back into place.
Ballance Agri-Nutrient's Mount Maunganui site operations manager Arthur Tsitsiras said it was quick process that went relatively smoothly.
"It all went like clockwork. I take my hat off to the crane drivers and everyone else involved," he said.
"In this particular exercise, everything went to plan. In the whole shutdown, there were a couple of minor things but overall it all went very smoothly."
Mr Tsitsiras said the annual shutdown was a chance for any equipment to be fixed or replaced. During this time, corrosion was removed from the stack. It was also repainted.
Mr Tsitsiras said management initially thought it would be easiest to abseil off the top of the stack and repaint it that way. But it soon became evident this method was too complicated.
Each year Ballance Agri-Nutrient shuts down for four weeks, providing the opportunity to complete maintenance work.
"It's a multi-million dollar operation. We've spent close to $5 million and we do that every year when we shut down," he said. "All the vessels get x-rayed where we check for corrosion and anything that needs to be done, we do it during shutdown."
Mr Tsitsiras said the stack would be fitted and electrical work completed in the next few days. He expected it would all be "up and running" by tomorrow.