Steelwork contractor assists with South West’s Nightingale Hospital

Taunton Fabrications has supplied approximately 80t of structural steelwork for the new Nightingale Hospital being built on a former Homebase DIY store site in Exeter.

Working to an extremely tight deadline, the company initially manufactured and supplied 15 large steel frames that have been used in the construction of the new emergency hospital.

After this work was successfully completed, main contractor BAM Construction subsequently requested Taunton Fabrications to design and manufacture 11 large roof plant decking support frames together with guardrails and walkways.

Taunton Fabrications Managing Director Jason Rigby said: “We originally received an urgent request from BAM asking if we could design, manufacture and install a number of steel frames within two weeks, ready for the hospital to open in June.

“Each frame measured 12m-long x 3m-wide and weighed approximately 3t. By re-scheduling our work and mobilising our workforce and steel suppliers, we’ve been able to help out with this important work.”

The 120-bed hospital will take COVID-19 patients from Devon and neighbouring counties.

Elizabeth O’Mahony, Regional Director, NHS England and NHS Improvement – South West, said: “The Nightingale Exeter will support our existing hospital network to care for critically ill patients.”