12 May 2011
The Story
The past three months have been exceptionally busy for everyone at 48.3 Scaffold Design and this is an update of some of the things we have been doing!
New Arrival: Andrew Kitley
At the beginning of March 2011 Andrew Kitley joined the design team at 48.3. Andrew is completing his transition from scaffolder/supervisor/project manager to design engineer. This summer will see Andrew graduate from the HNC course in Civil Engineering at Southbank University, after which he plans to continue his studies by undertaking a part-time BEng in Civil Engineering.
Andrew brings a variety of experience to the team at 48.3. Having worked for 8 years as a scaffolder and then a scaffolding project manager he made the switch to design in 2008 and now has three years of design experience under his belt!
We have moved office (again!)
At the beginning of April we took the decision to move our office once again into a bigger and more suitable office just down the corridor from our last one – so don’t worry, our contact details are still the same!
With our growing team, new equipment and A1 plotters we decided that a move was the best option so now we have enough space for our growing collection of ‘stuff’ and visitors to sit and chat. You can see where we live in the photo below -feel free to call in and see us whenever you are passing by!
Interesting Scaffold Designs from the past two months
Bluewater Events Venue has been a challenging and enjoyable project since we first became involved and March and April have seen 48.3 design range of scaffolds. A beamed twin debris chute with loading ramps, two 20.0m high freestanding access scaffolds with spreader beams throughout their bases and three access birdcages of varying sizes and shapes. Next on the cards are a series of lifting gantries. The photo below shows a view inside the main birdcage at Bluewater after some additional beam works were installed to facilitate the casting of a new concrete slab and the installation of escalators:
Design work for ThyssenKrupp Palmers at Gatwick Airport is always interesting due to the very nature of the site and April was no exception. Of particular note was a beamed access scaffold and protection screen over the international arrivals hall in the south terminal. The scaffold was designed using Layher Allround system scaffold with Layher Protect cladding and expertly erected by the night shift team from ThyssenKrupp Palmers. Below is a photo of the finished product:
The ongoing refurbishment works at King’s Cross saw 48.3 design a series of shoring and restraint scaffolds for the steel mullions of the new western roof. The scaffolds were required to provide horizontal and vertical restraint to a series of mullions adjacent to the Western Range Building whilst the new roof structure was pre-tensioned. The scaffold utilised the new internal lift cores of the Western Range Building to transfer load from the roof mullions outside the building to the concrete structure within.]
The scaffolds were erected by PHD Modular Access, designed by 48.3 with Network Rail CAT III checking provided by Vinci’s structural design consultant, Waterman Group. The scaffolds were finally removed when the permanent bracket fixings for the roof were installed at the interface with the Western Range Building.
