With 11 of Firth's plants involved in supply to date, the baton of responsibility has been passed to the next of Firth's plants as repairs move up the island towards Nelson.

Work began in 2007 on the repair of the foundations of Transpower pylons from Livingstone to Rangitata, when 3500m³ of 25MPa 19mm concrete with poly fibres was supplied for the repair and strengthening to pylon bases.

"In some cases only one of the four legs of each pylon may require repairs sometimes it's all of them," said Paul Cumberland, Sales Representative (Canterbury/West Coast) for Firth.

"We can supply anything from 26m³ to 80m³ of concrete per pylon. Oamaru, Hiderthorpe, Timaru and Geraldine plants were involved on repairs to this section of the network. Sometimes the plants are just up the road from the site and sometimes our guys can be delivering in the middle of a farmer's paddock!"

The second main contract came in 2009 when Transpower undertook repairs for the Rangitata to Rakaia section of the network. This required 1500m³ of 25MPa with 25kg steel fibres - supplied from Firth's Geraldine and Ashburton plants. Stage three required Firth Timaru, Geraldine, Ashburton, Darfield and Hornby to pass the baton for deliveries of more than 1800m³ to various locations.

"Firth does really well at making it all come together," said Peter Heeren, Project Manager for Transfield Services. "The deliveries are often large, they can be in remote areas over difficult terrain - with some of them off road. We will be working with them again this year, until at least June, as we continue on with the next stage of repairs."

"We have priced the next stages of repairs for the new year from Dunsandle to Hornby, Mitcham to Ashburton, Hornby to Culverden and Kikiwa which - to be honest - is in the middle of nowhere," adds Paul. "It has been good work for the Firth teams of the South Island."