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Case Study: Exterior walls of pig barns

For a large-scale project in Australia, Stockyard Industries built 28 large barns to house a thousand pigs of 27 to 110 kg in large groups. The project involved a combination of natural and tunnel ventilation. Traditionally, for natural ventilation, an external wall of one metre high is laid with bricks or cast on site in concrete. Fabric screens on top of the wall control the natural ventilation. In order to bring this project to a successful outcome, they decided to use Paneltim Lightweight.

Fast assembly and time-efficient

The ease with which the plastic panels could be attached to the metal structure from which the buildings were being erected, meant that Stockyard Industries could successfully set up the external walls of one barn per day. The achieved time savings more than compensated for the additional cost of the plastic panels in comparison to concrete. “Thanks to the Paneltim panels, we were able to install the external base walls three times faster than concrete walls. It took us one day instead of three,” said Richard Boshoff (Project Manager of Stockyard Industries). For the entire project this meant a time saving of 48 days.

Light, strong and hygienic

Traditionally, thick concrete walls would have been cast that would be harder to clean. PVC panels could also be an alternative, but because of their open sides, dirt, mice and - especially in this part of Australia - flies would accumulate inside. Paneltim panels were chosen because they are lightweight and have closed sides. In addition, and particularly relevant to this project, Paneltim panels offer the right strength and rigidity needed for the external walls of pig barns.

Tips and tricks

Due to the location of the project in a desert-like environment, Stockyard Industries chose light coloured (light grey) panels with added UV stabilisation (worldwide). They also made sure that the panels were given enough space to expand under the warm weather conditions through the provision of expansion slits and large enough holes for the fixings.

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