News
Whitehaven school completes 11-week steel programme
Working on behalf of Wates Construction, Border Steelwork Structures (BSS) has completed its 700t steelwork package on Whitehaven Campus.
The project will bring together St Benedict’s Catholic High School and special education needs (SEN) school, Mayfield, into two brand new buildings at the former’s existing site in Hensingham, Whitehaven.
The project, which is due for completion in August 2019, has a £28M value and has been funded by investment from a range of partners, including Copeland Community Fund, Cumbria County Council, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority and Sellafield Ltd.
As well as an indoor sports hall, fitness suite and a hydrotherapy pool, a range of outdoor facilities will be available to the local community during non-school hours. These include multi-use sports pitches, one of which will have an all-weather 4G surface.
“We erected the entire steel frame in 11 weeks, which amounted to some 3,500 individual pieces,” said BSS Contracts Director Stuart Airey.
“That’s one of the advantages of steel, it is quick to erect and only high winds, which we didn’t really get, will halt its progress,” added Wates Senior Project Manager Simon Humphrey.
“I’ve been involved in a number of steel construction jobs in the past and this one has been one of the most well organised. The trick is to order the steel early and get the fabrication started as soon as possible to iron out any snags, and this is precisely what we did.”