BLOCKMASTER 4 Block Making Machine Installation – Kolwezi, DR Congo

In Kolwezi, the capital of Lualaba province in the south of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, we installed a semi-automatic BLOCKMASTER 4 block making machine for one of our customers. Kolwezi is a fast-growing city at the heart of the country's copper and cobalt mining, and concrete blocks are the basic material for its houses, warehouses and boundary walls. Our team commissioned the machine on site and produced the first blocks together with the customer's operators.

What the photos show

• A covered production area: the machine stands on a concrete base under a steel-framed roof, inside a site enclosed by block walls. A floodlight is mounted on the roof structure.
• Belt conveyor feed: an inclined belt conveyor carries the concrete mix up to the machine's hopper.
• Control panel and hydraulic unit: both sit right next to the machine, where the first production runs were set up with the customer's operator.
• Pallet output and trolley: full pallets leave the mould on a roller conveyor, and a pallet trolley carries the fresh blocks away along a raised concrete ramp.
• Wooden pallets: a stack of the machine's 90 x 60 cm wooden pallets is ready beside the line.

The first cycles are clearly visible: every pallet carries 4 hollow blocks of 20 cm.

Preparing a site for the BLOCKMASTER 4

The Kolwezi plant is a good example of what a compact block machine needs on site:

1. A solid, level floor. In Kolwezi the machine was set on a concrete base, with enough room around it for the conveyor, the operator and the pallet trolley.
2. A roof. Fresh blocks should be protected from rain and direct sun in their first hours; here the machine and its working area are covered by a steel roof.
3. Power. The BLOCKMASTER 4 has two 5.5 kW bottom vibrator motors and a 7.5 kW hydraulic motor: about 18.5 kW for the machine itself. The mixer and conveyors come on top. For sites with a weak grid, our offer states the installed power of the whole line so you can size your generator.
4. Room for the pallet flow. At 100–120 pallet cycles an hour, the pallet trolley needs a clear path between the machine and the curing area.

Output and products

Per cycle the BLOCKMASTER 4 makes 4 blocks of 20 cm (200x400x200 mm), 5 blocks of 15 cm or 8 blocks of 10 cm: about 4,000, 5,000 or 8,000 blocks a day. With a mould change it also produces 150x700x300 mm curbstones (about 1,000 a day), hollow floor blocks and uncoloured pavers. Designed for customers who produce with a single type of aggregate, this single-hopper machine is the entry model of our semi-automatic range.

Another BLOCKMASTER 4 we installed in Africa: the BLOCKMASTER 4 installation in Conakry, Guinea. Planning a similar plant? Message us on WhatsApp with your daily target and we will send you the right model and price.