An abattoir as up-to-date as any in the world

A new abattoir in Windhoek, South West Africa [now Namibia] was one of few in the world to have a double overhead rail system.

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The double rail is used for conveying dressed beef carcasses (after inspection) from the main abattoir to the cooling chambers. Most abattoirs use only a single rail system. Before it is inspected, the dressed carcass is on a single-rail overhead conveyor. It is then cut in half, inspected, washed down and transferred to the double rail where the two halves travel alongside one another to the cooling chambers.

The installation of a rail system has fully mechanised the abattoir and made it possible for the complete dressing operation to be carried out while the carcass is suspended. The new system cost R250 000 [about R26 million today] and is capable of handling 600 cattle in a 9,5-hour shift.

This means a skinned, cleaned and inspected carcass arrives in the cooling chambers every 45 seconds. Under the old system, which used manual labour, only 45 carcasses an hour could be handled.

PROCEDURE