Beautiful spiraled artwork supplied to celebrate the Queens Diamond Jubilee

Barnshaw Section Benders worked closely with Craufurd to supply the best quality sculpture to commerate the Queens Diamond Jubilee.  Craufurd was approached by Windsor and Eton Society that wanted to mark the occasion with a permanent memorial.

The design of the sculpture consisted of a beautifully bent spiral decorated with 60 circles, which was originally suggested by a 14 year-old Caroline Basra from Windsor Girls’ school. The idea was for the tribute of 60 ‘diamond’ spheres to represent each year of the Queen’s reign.

Barnshaws was awarded the tube bending project due to the company’s excellent bending knowledge and capabilities, and impeccable work pieces provided to many creative architects.

The spiraled pipe sculpture consisted of 1/6^th scale maquette and the upper most sphere replicated ‘diamond’ as the ultimate feature piece. The mirror polished stainless steel spheres were 230 diameter and were attached to a satin polished 76mm stainless steel spiral tube bent by Barnshaw aluminium bending department. The overall height of the sculpture is 4.65m tall when on it’s granite plinth.

The sculpture was placed in the King Edward’s Court shopping centre and on the 9^th October 2012 was inaugurated by the Queen.

Barnshaws Deliver Exceptional Plate Bending Work for No 1 Blast Furnace Repair

Barnshaws Plate Bending has been awarded a metal bending project for the No 1 Blast Furnace Repair located in Redcar.

Steelmaking is the bedrock of a northeast heavy industry that dates back to the 1850s.The blast furnace, now heating up to 1,200°C, will be used to produce the site’s first steel slab in over two years since closing in 2009.

The repair work will shortly see the first steel-convertible iron being produced.

Barnshaws Plate Bending aided the project by producing various rolled, pressed and tack-welded pipe and ductwork. Not only will this rebuild project have a positive impact on the local economy, it will also leave a strong mark on the steelmaking market in the UK.

George Dunning, Redcar council leader and campaigner for the return of steelmaking to the area, said: ‘To have another 100 well-paid steelworker jobs coming to the area is great. For the local economy of Redcar and Cleveland it’s a major boost.”

The plant is expected to have an annual capacity of 3.6 million tonnes and by the end of 2012 the facility will export to Asia. The workforce is expected to rise from 1,700 to 1,800 when production peaks.

For more information about plate bending please visit our website www.barnshaws.com.

You can also find out more about our latest bending projects at http://www.barnshaws.com/blog/

Barnshaws Awarded with Plate Bending Work for No 4 Blast Furnace Rebuild

One of the largest investments of this year in the UK is the £185 million (€221 million) rebuild of the No 4 Blast Furnace at the Tata Port Talbot plant in South Wales. The project will see the existing furnace dismantled and replaced with one of a similar size — 89 metres, or 291ft, in height.

Barnshaws Plate Bending branch located in West Midlands has significantly contributed to the project producing various rolled and pressed items of ductwork. These included the development and profiling the required sections prior to rolling and tack welding before delivering the completed items to site.

The project will leave Port Talbot with two state-of-the-art blast furnaces and increase iron-making capacity, whilst also enhancing safety and environmental conditions. The rebuild will boost the capacity of the two blast furnaces by up to 400,000 tonnes per year.

Jon Ferriman, hub director of operations at Port Talbot claims: “The rebuilt furnace will be capable of producing larger volumes of hot metal more reliably over the course of a long 20-year campaign life.”

The project is also important in socio-economic terms as it is very meaningful to the steelworks and Port Talbot’s longevity.

For more information about plate bending please visit our website www.barnshaws.com.

Barnshaws metal bending services featured in Pipelines International

We are very happy and honoured to see our metal bending services featured in Pipelines International Industry News.

We recognise that ‘as the world’s energy requirements grow, and resources become more expensive and scarce, the need for a more efficient pipeline bending method increases’.

Find a copy of our feature at http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151165756339710&set=a.10150790820789710.421676.89967124709&type=1&theater

For more information about pipe bending and much more please visit http://www.barnshaws.com/pipe-bending.php

Barnshaws plate rolling expertise helps produce fresh water and electricity for offshore renewable construction project

Barnshaw’s Bending Centre in Hamilton was recently awarded with an innovative project involving a wave device for a leading UK offshore company. This was due to Barnshaw’s company’s previous experience working within the renewables sector and our competitive prices / quick turnaround time.

The customer played an important role in generating energy from waves, with the added ability to also provide drinking water simultaneously for countries in need. Barnshaw’s were naturally very excited to obtain this assignment.

     

Barnshaw’s Bending Centre in Scotland prepared and rolled aluminium plates. The Hamilton branch provided the project with 388 rolled cylinders at 121 tonnes (800 O/D at 2m wide x 8mm thick). In total the plate bending work took up to 3 weeks.

The end-result of this project presented a float traveling up and down with the waves and operating a pump to pressurise seawater, which was piped ashore. Many individual pumps were connected together to produce substantial amounts of pressurised water. Once ashore, the seawater was used to drive a standard hydroelectric turbine to produce electricity.

For more information about plate bending for offshore renewable construction please visit our websitewww.barnshaws.com.  You can also find out more about our latest bending projects athttp://www.barnshaws.com/blog/

£16m pool shaped by Barnshaws will make a splash at South Shields seafront

Planning chiefs in South Tyneside have given the green light to a £16m project.

It will see a prime spot on the South Shields seafront turned into a leisure center complete with 25m swimming pool, learner pool, fitness suite and sauna, cafe and exhibition space.

Barnshaws Metal Bending was heavily involved in the project by bending numerous materials to various radii. Barnshaws Cosely branch provided angle bending, channel bending, column bending and beam bending services for this project:

• 100 x 75 x 12.0 RSA Angle
• 125 x 65 x 15 PFC Channel
• 152 x 152 x 23 UC Column
• RHS Y-Y up to 400 x 200 x 10.0 RHS
• Beam Y-Y up to 203 x 133 x 30 UB
• SHS up to 200 x 200 x 10.0 SHS

The project administered by LA Architects Limited is due for completion in spring 2013.

Leader of South Tyneside Council, Councillor Iain Malcolm, said: “We have a beautiful coastline and it is our job to maximise potential of this fantastic natural asset. The pool forms a key part of our regeneration plans for the South Shields foreshore and will provide us with a first-class indoor leisure facility, which means we can attract local people and visitors whatever the weather.”

For more information about the project visit: http://www.graham.co.uk/whatwedodetail/9/143/pools-on-the-foreshore.aspx?expanddiv=slide_9,slide_2

For more about Barnshaws bending work and other innovative projects visit:http://www.barnshaws.com/blog/

Follow us on Facebook (Barnshaws Steel Bending Ltd), Twitter @Barnshaws; LinkedIn (Barnshaw Section Benders Limited). Find out more at www.barnshaws.com. Lets connect!

Barnshaws put their hands into work: stainless steel tube bending for ‘Working Hands’ sculpture

A 7ft high stainless steel sculpture has been unveiled at Merryton Roundabout to mark the regeneration of Larkhall. The ‘Working Hands’ sculpture, which is made of stainless steel and Caithness stone, comprises two raised hands in outline with wrapped-in threads rising to form a lark.

Due to previous successful architectural projects, Barnshaws Metal Bending was awarded with the job. Barnshaws formed tubes for the structure, which involved bending of 1’’ NB. and 20 DIA stainless steel tube around the ‘hands’.

Alan Potter said: ‘Larkhall is taking off with new developments. Now we have a magnificent sculpture that symbolizes the future.’

Third-year pupil Rachel Boyd’s idea of the Working Hands celebrating the weaving industry inspired Alan’s final design.

Provost Russell Clearie, professional artist Alan Potter, Larkhall Academy pupils, local councilors and community representatives, attended the official unveiling. The project gave pupils real-life practical experience in researching and designing a public art project.

At the official ceremony, Provost Clearie said: ‘Alan has told us all about the hard work and dedication that has gone into making this magnificent sculpture which I am sure will be talked about for a long time to come. Public art is a great way of expressing the community spirit of an area.’

Staff beaming at new Wimbledon roof

While the nation has been gripped by the tennis on Wimbledon’s Centre Court, a team of Black Country engineers have had their eyes a little higher – they have been watching the performance of the court’s new sliding roof.

Workers at Barnshaw Section Benders in Coseley shaped the beams that give the roof its dramatic shape. Barnshaw commercial director Greg North said: “We curved 66 49ft box sections for the roof structure, so obviously accuracy was very important.”

“Everyone at the factory has been keeping an eye on how the roof performs – there’s a lot of pride in being involved in such a high-profile project. It is being seen by millions of people on TV around the world.”

The roof is made of 10 moving trusses, each spanning 246ft and weighing 70 tons. The five trusses at each end open and close the roof in a concertina style taking about 10 minutes. It then takes another 20 minutes for the air conditioning to control the humidity.

Mr. North said: “We carried out the bending for the project in April 2007 so there has been a lot of complex engineering since then to get the roof into operation for this championship.”

The beams were bent for Bolton-based construction steel company Watson and the main contractor for the £50 million project was Galliford Try. The roof was installed earlier this year in preparation for this summer’s Wimbledon.

Barnshaws employs 50 of its 170 workers at the factory in Coseley, which was equipped earlier this year with what is thought to be the biggest cold bending three-section roller bender ever made.

Installing the £1 million machine – aided by a £230,000 business investment grant from regional development agency Advantage West Midlands – enabled Barnshaws to take on another 11 people.

The company has also curved structural steel for Terminal 5 at Heathrow and Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium. Production manager, Gary Noons, aged 41, who has worked at the firm for 15 years, said none of the workers had been able to go to Wimbledon but had admired their handiwork on television.

For more information about metal bending please visit www.barnshaws.com. The website also offers LIVE HELP ONLINE – a live online messaging service with one of our experts.

Barnshaws exceeds expectations in section bending project for Trinity Square, Gateshead

Through our ongoing relationship with William Hares, as well as our ability to do the impossible and exceed client’s expectations, Barnshaws got awarded with the Trinity Square metal bending project.

The £150m development is a revamp of Gateshead town Centre.  The project comprises of a new Tesco Extra, new shops, cafes, bars and restaurants, a new 993-room student village, over 750 parking spaces & a new town square.

Barnshaws Metal Bending have curved an array of sections and sizes ranging from 350mm square box to 100mm angles. We also curved the 350 square SHS to a tighter radius than we had ever previously achieved, which made the client very happy with the outcome.

For more information about section bending please visit our website www.barnshaws.com 

To view the process of Trinity Square development please visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-yMs7hV_uc

For more information about Trinity Square please visit: http://www.yourtrinitysquare.co.uk/index.aspx