PRESIDENT’S COLUMN Two bridges installed in 11
8 NSC
Nov/Dec 18
Forming part of Highways England’s A14 Huntingdon
to Cambridge Improvement Scheme, Cleveland Bridge
installed two 1,050t bridges in just 11 hours.
Known as the Bar Hill Junction bridges, each of
the two composite decks measured 44m-long and
contained 330t of steel and 720t of concrete.
A total of 12 girders were fabricated at the
company’s facility in Darlington, County Durham,
before being transported by road over two weeks
during the summer.
The girders were then braced together on-site and
handed over to the A14 Integrated Delivery Team
(IDT), the joint venture comprising Costain, Skanska,
Balfour Beatty and designers Atkins/CH2M, before the
reinforced concrete deck slab was added.
Once the concrete was cured, the decks were lifted
from a series of trestles onto self-propelled modular
transporters (SPMTs). They were then manoeuvred
slowly into position before being lowered onto the
newly-constructed abutments.
The A14 was closed to traffic at 9pm on a Friday
evening to allow sections of the existing A14
carriageway to be infilled and regraded at the Bar Hill
site to accommodate the SPMTs. The bridges were then
installed and the road re-opened by noon on Sunday –
18 hours ahead of schedule.
Galvanizing success at Glasgow Airport
Scottish Galvanizers (part of the Wedge Group) has
helped to lay the foundations for the growth of one of
Britain’s busiest airports.
The plant was called upon by structural steelwork
contractor BHC to process more than 334t of hot-rolled
steel consisting of approximately 924 separate pieces,
used as part of the multimillion pound development
at Glasgow Airport. The steelwork has been used to
construct new pick-up and drop-off points, as well as a
newly-extended car park.
BHCGeneral Manager Bryan Cathcart said: “We’re
pleased to see the completed works helping to ease
congestion at the airport and providing a better
experience for everyone who uses it.
“Hot-dip galvanizing is one of the best steel finishes
we can use on structural builds as all surfaces of the
steel are immersed in molten zinc, giving it thorough
and long-lasting protection which can withstand the
elements and prevent corrosion.
Scottish Galvanizers Commercial Manager Paul
Tait added: “While the volume of steel was an average
amount, the challenging part of this project was the
number of components required for the works, totaling
almost 1,000 separate pieces of galvanized steel.
“We’re delighted that the project was a success and
look forward to working together with the BHC team
again in the future.”
News
Although we had all hoped that October would bring
some much-needed clarity to the Brexit process, this
has not been the case. Because of this, the structural
steelwork sector has asked itself what the risks of a nodeal
Brexit are to the UK’s structural steelwork supply.
The answer to this question is that the risk of a nodeal
Brexit to the supply of structural steelwork in the
UK is low.
So how do we know? BCSA and its member
companies undertook a risk analysis that looked at the
supply of materials and products, the structure of the
workforce, stocking trends and tariffs under WTO rules.
Importantly, 98% of the UK’s structural steelwork
is fabricated in the UK, which means a no-deal Brexit
poses no risk to structural steelwork manufacturing.
The key input to this process is of course steel, and
the risk to the availability and delivery of hot rolled
structural sections is low. This is largely due to a
joined-up supply chain that includes a UK producer,
European producers, and a well established network of
distributors and stockholders who hold sufficient levels
of stock to support just-in-time deliveries to steelwork
contractors.
UK steelmakers currently source their raw materials
outside the EU and purchase forward due to long
shipping times. A no deal would have no effect on this
trade and any customs delays could be easily absorbed.
And if UK – EU trade moved to WTO rules under a no
deal scenario, import duties on raw steel would remain
at 0%
There is very little risk to labour availability. On
average only 7% of employees working for UK
steelwork contractors are from the EU. In contrast to
subcontractors that work mainly on-site, structural
steelwork is fabricated offsite in manufacturing facilities
that have a permanent, stable and full-time workforce.
Plant and equipment are a high-value, long-term
purchase with orders for new plant and machinery
made many months in advance. Machinery supplies are
expected to be unaffected by a no-deal Brexit.
Structural fasteners and bolts used by steelwork
contractors in the UK are sourced globally and UK
suppliers already have to hold a sufficient stock of
product in their UK warehouses. The risk to supply is
low.
Currency fluctuations would impact on both input
and output pricing, but this is only one of many factors
that has an impact on steel pricing models at any one
point in time.
The full risk analysis can be found in Latest News on
www.steelconstruction.org
Tim Outteridge
BCSA President & Sales Director Cleveland Bridge
hours on A14 upgrade scheme
Steel frames complete at Trafford Park
Two steel frames with a combined tonnage of 800t have
been erected for a flagship Williams Group retail centre
for new and approved used vehicles.
Situated on a 14-acre site adjacent to the Trafford
Centre, the project includes a striking three-storey
contemporary glass fronted showroom for BMW,
alongside separate Jaguar Land Rover and Mini
showrooms and workshops.
Working on behalf of main contractor Caddick
Construction, Border Steelwork Structures has
fabricated, supplied and erected the project’s steelwork,
and is now installing the cladding.
A further steel-framed structure is due to be erected
on-site. Located behind the two showrooms, this
78m-long × 30m-wide portal-framed building will
house car wash bays and vehicle valeting areas.
/Bridges
/Multi-girder_composite_bridges
/Design_for_steel_bridge_construction#Fabricating_the_steelwork
/Design_for_steel_bridge_construction#Transportation
/Design_for_steel_bridge_construction#Specialist_transport
/Car_parks
/Metallic_coatings#Hot-dip_galvanizing
/Corrosion_of_structural_steel
/Steel_construction_products
/Fabrication
/Steel_construction_products#Standard_open_sections
/Steel_construction_products#Fasteners_and_fixings
/Retail_buildings
/Fabrication
/Construction#Steel_erection
/Building_envelopes
/Portal_frames
/www.steelconstruction.org