Tolent Construction have recently completed the construction
of a £2.2 million production facility for car parts manufacturer Tallent Engineering
Limited. The development of the 'Brownfield' site will provide Tallent Engineering with an
additional 87,000 ft2 of floor space adjacent to its current premises within Aycliffe
Industrial Park.
The project was carried out on a design and build basis with the
design work being undertaken by the Darlington office of Bullens Consulting Engineers who
were also responsible for the architectural elements.
Construction began on the reclaimed site in August 1997, however the
discovery of contaminated ground hampered initial progress. Traditional pad foundations
were designed to support the structural steel frame. The potential wind loads on the 14m
high paint plant section resulted in individual foundation blocks containing over 100m3 of
reinforced concrete.
Central to the project was the structural steelwork package. The
subcontract valued at just under £1/2 million was successfully tendered by Amco Group
company Billington Modern Structures Ltd. The 420 tonnes of steelwork were erected without
major hiccups in 5 weeks. The resulting frame gave a clear headroom of 6.2m generally and
a clear span of 50m through the use of trussed rafters. The rafters were assembled at
ground level and tandem lifted into position using 2 No 4oT cranes.
The ground floor slab was constructed using fast track techniques
employing a laser screed to place, level and compact the concrete. This resulted in the
entire floor slab being completed within 6 days allowing the client early access and
partial possession of the building to install production machinery in January 1998, well
ahead of the original programme.
Office and amenity facilities are provided on 2 levels along the
east elevation of the building together with additional car parking and hardstandings.
During construction of the main project, works were also completed
for Tallent Engineering's near neighbour Great Lakes Chemical Limited. This comprised of
new bonded storage areas, service diversions and foundations for a proprietary boiler
plant as the original boiler house was swallowed up within the new Tallent building. |