ABinBev Sagamu Brewery

New 3.2 mega hectolitre brewery for AB InBev in Sagamu, Nigeria

SABMiller, prior to being taken over by AB InBev, identified the need for a new brewery in Nigeria and selected a site in Sagamu in the Ogun State, approximately 60 km north-east of Lagos. This leaded to the launch of Project Coin for an initial brewery size of 1.8 mega hectolitres. Zutari was appointed the civil and structural engineers for the project.

Shortly after commencing with the design work, AB InBev decided to proceed with design work for a revised capacity of 3.2 mega hectolitres. The revised size brewery was approximately 41,000 m² in building area, consisting of numerous buildings such as a packhall, a brewhouse, an engine room, a combined heat and power (CHP) system and boiler house, full bottle store, and administration buildings.

Using the versatility of structural steel

Structural steel was chosen as the primary construction material because of its inherent flexibility and the main buildings all required large clear spans, some bigger than 32 m, to accommodate the respective equipment. The use of structural steel enabled the various buildings on the project to absorb the late design changes, such as the structural steel façades of four of the buildings earmarked for future expansion at the outset of the project, which provided the perfect flexibility required in the structure at the time of various expansions.

The steel grade that was available locally was 275 MPa, and prior to commencement of the revised design, Zutari obtained a list of the section sizes obtainable in the Nigeria market and used them in the design. During the review of shop drawings, some of the section sizes were no longer available, requiring a design check of the structural elements to find suitable alternatives.

A structure that is economically efficient and met the requirements of the client for a resilient, sustainable design.

Focusing on value for the client

Value engineering was a key consideration in the design, and fine-tuning was required wherever savings could be realised. An example was using additional columns in one section of the packhall building, which meant that instead of trusses connecting to a girder as per the main design rationale, the girder could be removed and the trusses then connected directly to the columns. This resulted in a significant saving in the overall steel weight of the structure.

The choice of steel, combined with good collaboration between the architect, Zutari, the rest of the professional team, and the contractor, created a structure that is economically efficient and met the requirements of the client for a resilient, sustainable design.

*The Aurecon Africa business has been officially renamed Zutari as at 21 July 2020.  Zutari acquired Aurecon Middle East on 20 November 2020.

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