Road Metals owes its existence to North Otago Road Metal (NORM) which was formed in 1955 by the late Stan Francis, who is widely recognised as one of the great pioneers of the industry.
In 1994 North Otago Road Metal became Road Metals Co. Ltd. due to an expansion into Canterbury, and since then Road Metals has expanded its areas of operations as far afield as Auckland.
Stan Francis started business with a 1939 one-ton Dodge in 1946 bought from the proceeds of rabbit trapping. He was contracted to buy and cart rabbits and eventually turned this stake into one of the most respected contracting businesses in New Zealand.
Stan expanded into contracting and by 1974 NORM was in a position to tender for Twizel Power Project contracts, eventually producing 50,000 tonne of aggregates monthly and setting the standards of integrity, performance and innovation that Road Metals have become renown for.
North Otago Road Metals produced 750,000 tonne of filter sand and 650,000 tonne of concrete aggregate during its time at Twizel, and bigger things were to come.
Three million tonne of sand and aggregate were supplied by NORM for the Clyde dam project, followed by the production of a million tonne of stabilisation material, and the screening and disposal of six-millon tonnes of material excavated from the Clutha River.
Among other projects since Clyde, Road Metals has supplied filter materials to GDR Macraes Mining, supplied all of the sand, aggregate and filter materials for the Opuha Dam at Fairlie, and processed 200,000 metres of gravel for the second Manapouri Tailrace Tunnel.
|
