Category Archives: Factory Buildings

REIDsteel and Zulal

zulal-news01REIDsteel are proud to have recently supplied three Water treatment plants to Libyan Contractor Zulal Water Technology.

We supplied the steel frames, composite cladding, glazing, doors, roof extraction vents and a 5-tonne overhead crane to each building.

The installation of all REIDsteel supplied components were assisted by experienced supervisor Rowland Phillips.

The Gialo plant was completed in only nine months, on a full turnkey basis. The plant is producing excellent quality of water and should provide the people at Gialo field with a reliable supply for many years to come.

Tragedy Highlights Perils of Overloading Buildings

By Technical Director, Rollo Reid

Dhaka_Savar_Building_CollapseLatest reports about the Bangladesh building collapse announce that 800 people are now believed to have been killed by this terrible event.

The scale of this tragedy is enormous and my heart goes out to the families and friends of all those who lost their lives.

I feel particular sadness because building safe, strong structures is something I’m passionate about. It seems to me there are two main reasons why this tragedy occurred.

The first is because it appears that extra floors were added on top of the original and industrial companies were allowed to set up factory equipment in a structure that was only ever designed for commercial use, housing office workers and light equipment.

The extra weight of the additional floors, the heavy factory machines and power generators that were positioned on the roof all proved too much for the fabric of the building to bear, resulting in a catastrophic collapse.

The second reason this collapse was so disastrous is, I believe, because buildings in this part of the world tend to be constructed without a strong core framework made of either steel or concrete.

If this building had a strong framework there may have been damage due to the over-loading in some areas but the entire structure would not have collapsed and many people would have survived.

Economic pressures and, let’s face it, sometimes just pure greed, can make cutting corners and ignoring safety issues tempting for unscrupulous people. But the authorities must also take some of the blame it seems.

According to newspaper reports the building didn’t have an ‘occupation certificate’, something all buildings built in Bangladesh since 2008 should have. Inspectors are supposed to check that the buildings have been constructed to meet the original plans and that they are being used as they should be.

It seems this didn’t happen for the collapsed building and it appears that it’s not happening for many of the buildings in the region. If this is true it just isn’t good enough.

People rightly expect buildings to be a place of protection and safety. Once the integrity of structures is compromised it’s not just buildings that are at risk of collapse, it’s the very fabric of society.

New production facility for TAG Energy Solutions

1318931793Construction of TAG Energy Solutions new 6840m2 production facility on the north bank of the river Tees is now complete.

The facility is a state of the art, automated tubular production facility for the rolling & welding of large diameter tubulars, and the construction of foundations – monopiles, tripods, jackets and transition pieces – for the renewables and energy industries.

REIDsteel designed, fabricated and erected the ‘V’ braced tied portal frame which spans 40m x 171m, 18m to external eaves.

As part of the contract REIDsteel also designed, fabricated and erected the doors, crane beams, insulated roof and single skin wall cladding.

1318931773The structure has been designed to integrate with TAG’s manufacturing process and subsequently incorporates 4 travelling overhead gantry cranes for the moving and lifting of large steel plates and tubular sections during fabrication.

Following fabrication, the large diameter tubes can be safely removed from the facility and transported out through REIDsteel’s electronically operated 20m wide x 14m high slab sliding hangar doors at the gable end.

Despite the challenges of the harshest winter for 31 years triggering near Artic conditions during the mainframe erection & cladding installation, REIDsteel completed the job ahead of schedule and on budget.