Steelwork raises flagship
development
The Welsh Government is investing
£20M in a flagship development
at Broughton in North Wales in
order to increase productivity,
commercialisation, innovation and skills
development across a range of sectors
including aerospace and automotive.
Located alongside the huge Airbus UK
manufacturing centre, the facility will be
managed by the University of Sheffield
Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre
(AMRC), who will occupy half of the new
building, with Airbus taking the other half.
Executive Dean of the AMRC Professor
Keith Ridgway says: “We share the Welsh
Government’s bold ambition to enhance
North Wales’ reputation for manufacturing
excellence, creating secure, high-value jobs
and wealth for the whole of Wales by acting
as a magnet for inward investment.
“The new facility will bring the research
and innovation talents and experience of
the University of Sheffield AMRC to a new
venture in a region rich in manufacturing
history and opportunity.”
The aim of the project is to make the
facility an open access research hub that
will drive significant improvements in
productivity, performance and quality not
just in the aerospace sector but across the
broader advanced manufacturing sector in
North Wales.
Airbus is a long-standing partner of
the AMRC and its involvement will ensure
the it remains at the forefront of aerospace
development, supporting skills in the area
and upskilling its manufacturing supply
chain partners.
The facility is housed in a large twinspan
propped portal frame that measures
80m-long × 60m-wide with a maximum
height of 24m. One row of offset internal
valley columns separate the main workshop
part of the building into two parts, one with
a span of 33m and the other 27m.
One end of the structure houses a fullwidth
office block, divided in half by an
entrance and atrium. This part of the scheme
has a composite design with steelwork
supporting steel decking and a concrete
topping to form the floors.
One half of this block is two-storeys high
and will accommodate the facility’s offices,
while the other side is four-storeys and will
house further office space on the ground
floor, a first-floor canteen and then two
upper levels for plant equipment.
Explaining the project’s use of steel,
Galliford Try Project Manager Graham Ford
says: “This project was always going to be
a steel-framed job, as the long spans could
only be economically constructed with steel.”
The initial steel design was done by Arup,
but later in the programme EvadX was subcontracted
as project steelwork contractor on
a design and build basis.
Using Building Information Modelling
(BIM), EvadX redesigned the entire frame
and made some significant weight savings
with a more economic design.
One of the more onerous parts of the
steel design were the crane beams that are
installed along the entire length of both
spans that allow four 12t-capacity gantry
cranes (two in each spans) to operate inside
the facility.
“We had to design the supporting
steelwork to some very tight tolerances,
8mm plus or minus, as any movement on the
beams would stop the cranes working,” says
EvadX Project Manager Steve Morris.
The crane beams are supported by the
structure’s perimeter columns as well as
on brackets positioned on either side of
the valley members. Because of the extra
loadings and vibration associated with crane
movements, the column sections are larger
than would ordinarily be required.
A series of long rafters form the roof and
Industrial
A multi-million-pound research facility is set to help
collaboration between industry and academia as well as
providing a significant boost to the Welsh economy.
FACT FILE
Advanced
Manufacturing
Research Facility,
Broughton, North
Wales
Main client:
Welsh Government
Architect:
Austin Smith Lord
Main contractor:
Galliford Try
Structural engineer:
Arup
Steelwork contractor:
EvadX
12 NSC
May 19
EvadX erecting the
initial bay of steelwork
/Portal_frames
/Steel-supported_glazed_facades_and_roofs#Atrium_Roofs_and_Sky_lights
/Composite_construction
/Steel_construction_products#Decking_for_floors
/Concept_design
/Single_storey_industrial_buildings#Design_.26_Build
/Design
/Accuracy_of_steel_fabrication#Fabrication_tolerances