Wimbledon’s roof leads to increased demand for steel bending

Steel bending for high profile projects, such as Wimbledon’s retractable Centre Court roof, has lead to an increase in demand for this specialist sector said Barnshaw Section Benders.

As the world-famous tennis competition began this week, spectators are now fully aware that since the installation of the roof, come rain or shine play on centre court will carry on regardless.

Creating roof trusses capable of supporting the enormous load of a retractable structure was the responsibility of Barnshaws, a supplier which said it is now delivering more steel for iconic roof structures in the UK and abroad.

The design of the roof required a series of large box section beams to be arched for additional strength. They were created in sections using precision shaped steel plates before being welded together on site and installed.

Barnshaws Commerical Director Greg North said: “We became involved with the Wimbledon project back in 2007 and in all, we delivered 66 sections for the roof structure, all precision curved for the steel contractor Severfield.”

Looking at the impact the project has had, Mr North added: “Wimbledon was very high profile at the time, and it has led to Barnshaws providing curved structural steel to a large number of other iconic projects including Heathrow Terminal 5, Arsenal’s Emirates stadium, Manchester Victoria station and the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome in Glasgow.

“In every case we have helped architects to bring their ideal designs to reality whilst maintaining the precision required in today’s modern buildings. The success of using curved structural steel, whether it is large tube sections, beams or box section to create structurally strong, relatively lightweight and aesthetically very pleasing structures is certainly fuelling new building development.”

The success of this project has led to the proposal to install another retractable roof to Court No.1 in time for the 2019 championship.