scaffold shrink wrapping case study : queen elizabeth olympic park
TRANSCRIPT
30 January 2015
In January 2014 Balfour Bea2y announced they had been awarded a £154m contract by London Legacy to transform the former Queen Elizabeth Olympic Stadium at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London into a ‘mulI use venue’ which aLer hosIng five matches for the Rugby World Cup in 2015 will become the full Ime home for West Ham United in 2016. Part of this project involved a £41m reconfiguraIon and expansion of the stadium roof. This work, once complete, will increase the roof weight from 1400 tonnes to 4000 tonnes and create the largest canIlevered roof in the world.
The project to reconfigure the roof presented a number of challenges. Firstly, work needed to take place on the original stadium roof’s support structure which was up to 37 metres (121 feet) above the ground. Secondly, a Ime schedule of 25 weeks to complete the works meant that tradiIonal scaffolding techniques would be impracIcal. As a soluIon, rather than build from the ‘bo2om up’, the scaffolding & access contractor, PHD Modular Access Ltd., implemented techniques usually used in the oil and gas industry and suspended the scaffolding structure from chains hung
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In the summer of 2014, Rhino Shrink Wrap undertook a challenging & exciCng project to encapsulate 168 pods high around the roof of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Stadium in London.
Queen Elizabeth Olympic ParkCreaIng 168 shrink wrapped ‘workshops in the sky’ to allow blasIng, welding & painIng in a controlled environment
By Steve Irlam, Managing Director, Rhino Shrink Wrap
30 January 2015
around the exisIng roof structure to build the access ‘top down’. The top down approach proved highly successful and in phase 1&2 of the project PHD Modular Access erected 480 tons of Layher Allround® lightweight scaffolding to create 168 ’workshops in the sky’ where shot blasIng, welding and painIng work was required to take place.
Encapsulation & Containment
Rhino Shrink Wrap were approached by PHD Modular Access to provide weather proofing and environmental containment around each ‘pod’ or ‘workshop’. TradiIonal scaffold sheeIng, applied around the scaffolding in 2m high strips and a2ached with bungee cords, has gaps between sheets that make it difficult to stop shot blast residues escaping and rainwater penetraIng. Furthermore, tradiIonal reinforced sheeIng can be difficult to fit Ightly which can lead to flapping and ulImately detachment. Rhino proposed using a 300 micron thick Verisafe® flame retardant shrink wrap sheeIng which once installed would created a conInuously bonded and ‘drum Ight’ skin around each pod.
The shrink wrap encapsulaIon of each pod or workshop had two key objecIves. Firstly to provide ‘environmental containment’ of shot blast and paint residues as secIons of the roof support structure were shot blasted back to bare metal. Secondly, the shrink wrapped ‘pods’ would provide a completely weather proof area where new roof fixings could be welded into place. Zipped access doors installed in the shrink wrap cover each pod allowed welding and painIng to take place in a controlled, almost ‘factory like’ environment.
Rhino Shrink Wrap supplied 6 installers to carry out the work, split into two teams, each team led by a supervisor. Working from the inside of the plajorm, the shrink wrap sheeIng, (supplied as a 7m wide x 15m long roll), was pulled over the module and ba2ened at ‘ground level’ to a plywood floor laid inside the pod. Excess shrink wrap was trimmed at the corners and any joins or overlaps were heat welded together to create a seal. Finally, the shrink wrap sheeIng was heat shrunk ‘drum Ight’. Each pod required 100 to 200 square metres of shrink wrap sheeIng.
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Rhino Shrink Wrap installaCon team
‘Workshops in the sky’
30 January 2015
Project benefits from shrink wrap
• SheeIng cut and sealed around protrusions (like roof trusses) whilst maintaining containment.
• Heat shrunk ‘drum Ight’ -‐ very resistant to damage from high winds.
• VersaIle -‐ can be cut and resealed for crane access and remain weather Ight. Zipped access doors maintain factory like environment.
• Smart & professional appearance for a high profile project.
• Quick to remove aLer use & 100% recyclable.
Challenges
1. Welding contractors required new roof components to be welded to the exisIng roof structure. These needed to be craned into posiIon, inside the sheeted area, aLer the area had been shot blasted. However, the Rhino team were able to cut an opening in the roof (or on the lower and smaller pods -‐ the sides) to allow the components to be craned through and then seal back up by taping and welding.
2. Working simultaneously on mulIple locaIons within a large construcIon site was challenging. Our teams met each morning for a briefing so that every team member knew what they were doing and working Ime was maximised.
3. There were changes in the schedule of work from the client which required us to be highly flexible in our approach. Where necessary our teams worked weekends to meet revised schedules.
Lessons
The scaffolding and encapsulaIon of the 168 ‘workshops in the sky’ was finished ahead of schedule. Although a very challenging 3 month project, with much Ime away from home, our teams learned the importance of effecIve communicaIon for safety and efficiency on large sites and were proud to play a small part in making this exciIng and innovaIve project a success.
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Further informaCon;
T. +44 (0)1477 532222
W. www.rhinoshrinkwrap.com
Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London
Shrink wrap moulded Cghtly around scaffolding and sealed around protrusions