CASE STUDY: UTRANAZZ DELIVERS THE UK’S FIRST FULLY DEMOUNTABLE VOLUMETRIC CONCRETE MIXER FOR WREXHAM COUNTY COUNCIL

Case Study: Utranazz Delivers the UK’s First Fully Demountable Volumetric Concrete Mixer for Wrexham County Council

Overview

Utranazz, the UK’s leading supplier of concrete equipment, partnered with Wrexham County Borough Council to design and deliver the UK’s first fully demountable volumetric concrete mixer*.

The innovation was created to allow the council’s Highways Department to maximise utilisation of their road-gritter chassis, traditionally only used during winter months. The solution also enabled the council to cut concrete production costs by up to £40 per cubic metre, generating substantial long-term savings.

The Challenge

Like many local authorities, Wrexham faced an expensive and inefficient issue:

• Road gritters are typically used for just 21 weeks per year, leaving costly chassis idle for over half the year.
• The council needed a way to reuse existing gritter trucks year-round, while also reducing operational costs across highway repair and maintenance.
• Additionally, the council sought to support its recycling programme, repurposing old kerbs and concrete instead of sending them to waste.

No existing solution offered a fully demountable volumetric mixer that could be swapped with a gritter body quickly, safely, and without major chassis modification—making custom engineering essential.

Utranazz’s Innovative Solution: A Fully Demountable Volumetric Mixer

Utranazz’s in-house technical team collaborated with Econ, a leading manufacturer of winter maintenance equipment, to design a self-contained demountable volumetric mixer body with:

• No electrical disconnections required
• Its own independent power source
• A fast four-stage demounting process that takes less than 25 minutes

Four-Step Demounting Process

1. Insert demount legs at the front and rear of the volumetric body
2. Remove chassis locking pins
3. Jack up the body using an integrated jacking device until clear of the chassis
4. Drive the chassis out from underneath

This system allows seamless switching between a gritter body in winter and a volumetric mixer body for year-round works—giving Wrexham full flexibility from a single fleet of vehicles.

Cost Savings Through In-House Concrete Production

By producing concrete in-house, Wrexham Council dramatically reduced their per-cubic-metre cost.

Traditional purchased concrete:

£60–£75 per m³

Using demountable volumetric mixer + recycled aggregates:

£25–£30 per m³

Savings were achieved by integrating the mixer with Wrexham’s recycling programme:

• Old kerbs and removed concrete are crushed, screened and processed
• Resulting into three reusable aggregate sizes:
  • 20mm
  • 5mm
  • Dust/fines
• These materials form the aggregate component of the new concrete mix

This circular process reduces waste, lowers purchasing costs, and supports sustainable highways operations.

Client Testimonial

“To my knowledge, we are the first council to develop this type of demount system. It’s an innovative way of ensuring we get maximum use out of our chassis, whether in use with a volumetric or a gritter body. This, combined with the ability to recycle and produce concrete in-house, is providing us with major cost benefits.”
—Steve Jones, Highway Maintenance Manager, Wrexham County Borough Council

Impact

Utranazz’s demountable volumetric mixer has enabled Wrexham County Council to:

• Maximise utilisation of existing gritter chassis
• Save £40+ per cubic metre on concrete
• Reduce waste disposal through aggregate recycling
• Strengthen resilience and flexibility of highway maintenance operations
• Become the first UK council to operate a fully demountable volumetric concrete mixer system*

For More Information

Suzy Evans
Marketing Manager, Utranazz
Tel: 01280 820770
Mobile: 07799 327144
Email: [email protected]

*According to industry sources.