Distribution
24 NSC
January 19
office block running along one of its shorter
elevations.
Plot Two, is the highest of the structures,
reaching a maximum height of 35m for
approximately one third of its overall
length. The remainder of this building is
19m-high.
Completed in a six-week programme, the
building’s frame covers an area of 55,741m2
and required almost 2,500t of structural
steelwork.
Plot Two has seven spans, three in the
high-bay section (measuring 29.8m, 35.8m
and 42.7m) and four in the lower part
(measuring 27m, 2 × 35m and 45m).
Lifting steelwork to a height of 35m is not
a problem ordinarily, however as Severfield
Site Manager Eric Wardle explains this is no
ordinary site. “The structures are all being
erected adjacent to the airport runway and
so there is a crane height limit for safety
reasons. When lifting in the roof steelwork
for this plot our crane had to work within
metres of the maximum allowed height.”
Situated along one corner, Plot Two has
a 36.9m wide three-storey attached office.
Unlike the offices in the other units, this one
is not a solid structure as at ground floor
level there is a 15m opening to let HGVs
pass underneath.
Beyond this opening, part of the office
is cantilevered and in its final condition is
supported by three pairs of forked feature
columns.
The 9m cantilevered floor beams had to
be temporarily supported using 7m-high
trestles during the erection. They were
removed using a jacking system, once the
steelwork was complete, to transfer the
loads to the feature columns.
The third plot is the smallest of three
Severfield distribution centres (46,451m2)
and will be occupied by another online
retailer. Up to 20m-high, the portal-framed
structure requires 2,300t of steel. It consists
of five spans, measuring 37.2m each and
also has a two-storey office block attached
to one gable end.
22
Plot Three is divided
into high-bay and lowbay
areas
Working on a design and build contract,
Caunton Engineering has fabricated,
supplied and erected 900t of hot and
cold rolled steelwork for Plot Four at the East
Midlands Gateway.
Measuring 244m × 69m and reaching a height
of 12m, the unit will offer just over 16,000m2 of
floorspace. This portal-framed structure will be
occupied by Swiss-based transport and logistics
company Kuehne + Nagel.
It will include a 3,700m2. temperaturecontrolled
area to accommodate the company’s
growth plans within the pharmaceutical sector.
The structure has twin spans of 34.5m,
supported by valley columns designed in a hit
and double-miss configuration.
“Many portal frames are designed with valley
columns missing every other bay (hit and miss),”
explains Caunton Engineering Project Engineer
Julian Harrold. “On this frame design, we have
gaps with two columns missing, as this was a
client requirement to create more space for its
racking systems.”
As the centrally-positioned spine beam has
longer spans to bridge over, the member size
changes in order to take into account the bigger
loadings that are encountered on the top of each
column.
Thicker plate sections, measuring 400mmwide
and 8.5m-long, are positioned over the
columns and these are then spliced to narrower
17m-long members that span between the
columns.
Supporting the spine beam is a series of plate
girder columns each weighing 5t.
As well as designing and erecting the main
frame, Caunton has also installed precast stairs
within an attached three-storey office block,
which is positioned along one of the gable ends,
a pre-cast lift shaft and a walkway that connects
the main office to a smaller hub office.
The office block has a composite beam and
column design, with internal clear spans of up to
10m. Caunton has subcontracted Structural Metal
Decks (SMD) to install the steel decking.
At the opposite gable end to the office, the
structure features a large 15m-deep loading
canopy that stretches the entire 69m-width of the
warehouse and is supported on a series of CHS
columns.
“Similar to the hub, we’ve erected the
canopy late in the programme as these two
external features would otherwise hinder the
cladding installation,” says Caunton Engineering
Deputy Erection Department Manager Richard
Patterson.
“Once the cladding was in place in these areas,
we installed the canopy steelwork connecting to
stubs that were left protruding and this then gave
us a clean precise finish.”
EMG Plot Four
/Construction#Mobile_cranes
/Construction#Steel_erection
/Retail_buildings#Distribution_centres
/Portal_frames
/Single_storey_industrial_buildings#Design_.26_Build
/Steel_construction_products#.27Light_steel.27_sections
/Portal_frames
/Design
/Steel_construction_products#Plate_girders
/Construction#Steel_erection
/Composite_construction
/Construction#Installation_of_metal_decking
/Steel_construction_products#Structural_hollow_sections
/Building_envelopes#Building_envelope_installation
/Facades_and_interfaces#Steel_in_atria_and_canopies