02 Aug 2011
The Story
May 2011 saw the arrival of the newest member of the team at 48.3 Scaffold Design, with Gavin Dempsey joining as Principal Engineer & Director. Gavin brings with him a range of experience from working with one of the U.K.'s largest independent scaffold design consultancies.
After graduating from the University of Glasgow, Gavin worked first in the Oil & Gas industry, travelling as far afield as Australia. He then moved into scaffolding design and hasn't looked back since!
Working at a large independent scaffold design consultancy meant working with a vast range of clients, across sectors as diverse as Roads (e.g. M74 completion), Rail (e.g. Edinburgh Waverley Renewals), Petrochemical (both on- and off-shore designs), Nuclear (Chapelcross & Sellafield power stations), Power (Line Crossings, Sealing Ends), Media (for film & TV productions and outdoor events / festivals) and of course the Construction industry.
Highlights of Gavin's scaffold design career so far include: a 38m span bridged encapsulation scaffold for the M.O.D.; development of bespoke calculation software for the design of line crossing scaffolds; and many challenging temporary roof designs. Many of these designs required the use of specialist analysis software alongside 'hand' calculations allowing Gavin to gain a level of expertise in using structural analysis software as well as developing specialised calculation software solutions
Past, Present & Future
Gavin reflects on his scaffold design career so far and on the future at 48.3 Scaffold Design:
One of the great things about the scaffold design industry is the sheer range of projects that one has the opportunity to be involved in. One day you might be looking at a shoring scaffold in a listed building; the next you can be designing a bridged independent access scaffold around new-build houses or flats. Another week might involve a temporary roof design over the flight deck and take-off ramp of an aircraft carrier! In fact, having somewhat specialised in the design of temporary roofs / enclosures in recent times, I am looking forward to getting back to working on the full range of scaffold design projects, along with the other exciting new challenges that lie ahead with 48.3. Having worked with the team here at 48.3 Scaffold Design on previous projects, I know everyone has the right attitude and I have nothing but optimism for the years ahead.
