Steelwork completes Cardiff flue decoration

Caunton Engineering has completed the erection of an architectural steel flue stack support for the new £180M energy from waste (EfW) plant at Trident Park in Cardiff.

The steelwork wraps around the flue, forming an independent 90m-high structure. Caunton erected the steel in five sections, with each one trial erected at the fabrication yard – to make sure the bolted connections were plumb – before being delivered to site.

The initial four steel sections vary in height from 15.2m up to 26m and consist of three 813mm diameter CHS columns, weighing up 15t each, connected by a curved ring beam and steel bracings. The fifth and final section consisted of a single 14.8m-high continuation of one of the columns, forming an architectural pinnacle to the structure.

Jerry Sills, Caunton Engineering Project Manager said: “The erection process took three weeks, with the initial section taking one week as it was the largest section.”

“We used two mobile cranes for the job and one MEWP with a 90m long reach.”

Main contractor for the project is Lagan Construction, while Tata Steel Projects are lead designer.