Archive for category: Concrete

As Bison Precast celebrates 100 years in business, we reflect on its remarkable history and ability to remain at the forefront of building innovation.

 

Bison Precast is a business built on sturdy foundations. Originally named Concrete Ltd, it was established in 1919 by JG Ambrose and CB Mathews, two Royal Engineers who had developed expertise in concrete while creating pillboxes used on the Western Front in the Great War of 1914-1918. The business’s success throughout the last century, in an often-challenging market, can be attributed to those two men and their principles of professionalism and responsiveness to the industry’s requirements.

A century of innovation

When they opened their first factory in 1919, in Leeds, concrete’s popularity as a building material was growing. Initially, the factory specialised in the manufacture of precast reinforced concrete floors and, despite the challenges of the post-war years, they were soon able to open factories in the south and the north, to meet growing demand across the country for their products.

During the 1930s, the company continued to develop new products. In 1935 it invented the pneumatic core, which revolutionised the manufacture of hollow concrete floors. It also developed the L-section unit for theatre balconies, a refined version of which continues to be used in grandstand terracing and seating.

During World War II, the company created a mobile version of the pillbox – the extemporised armoured vehicle known as the Bison, and to which the company would later change its name. In the post-war years, the company played a significant role in the rebuilding of Britain’s war-damaged factories, hospitals and government buildings, where its precast floors and the speed at which they could be assembled proved invaluable.

A lack of structural steel during this period led the company to develop pre-stressing techniques and by the early 1950s the Bison Preferred Dimension Frame was introduced for use in factories, hospitals and office buildings where large areas of floorspace were required. The following decade, the company’s Wall Frame System, which was the first fully industrialised all-British system for high-rise blocks of flats, helped to meet the country’s growing housing demand, and received the Queen’s Award to Industry in 1967.

Into the 1970s and the Bison Beam was developed, in 1974, in response to changing market needs and new mandatory requirements for ground floors. The beam’s immediate success resulted in it becoming the generic term for suspended ground floors in housing, and led directly to the use of hollowcore pre-stressed beams for intermediate floors in single-occupancy dwellings. It also saw Bison truly established as one of the leading lights in British construction.

Building the nation’s landmarks

As the Bison product range has developed over the course of the century, so too has the range of sectors it serves. Today, it provides concrete flooring, structural and architectural products for use in the construction of large infrastructure projects, car parks, healthcare, custodial, leisure, stadia, industrial, residential and commercial schemes – helping to create some of Britain’s most prominent landmarks.

In 1998, Bison started the manufacture and supply of 1000m³ of terraces, walls, beams and stairs, and 45,000m² of hollowcore flooring for use in the building of the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, ensuring it would be ready for the Rugby World Cup in 1999. Just a handful of years later in 2003, it began the casting of more than 90,000m² of hollowcore flooring, and over 13,000m³ of precast concrete to form 55 kilometres of terracing, ancillary steps, walls and stair flights at the new 90,000-capacity Wembley Stadium.

Other landmarks that have been supported by the significant design, manufacture and supply capability of Bison Precast, but which we might take a little more for granted, include the mighty new Catthorpe Interchange in Leicestershire – where the M1 meets the M6 and the A14 trunk road – for which 7,000m² of Bison Precast’s Omnia Bridge Deck concrete units were provided; Ilkeston Railway with its 100-metre-long platforms, made up in total by 230 precast concrete units weighing a combined 700 tonnes, which is expected to serve up to a quarter of a million passengers a year; and the Dawlish sea defences which were rebuilt with nearly 100 three-metre-high heavy-duty bespoke precast concrete retaining walls, and more than 150 precast seawall units, each weighing around 15 tonnes, as part of urgent works to get Dawlish railway back on track after the existing defences and part of the railway line were destroyed in the heavy storms of 2014.

This is in addition to numerous apartment buildings, hospitals and other significant structures that are helping to regenerate, transform and serve communities up and down the UK.

Combining strength

In 2017, Bison was acquired by leading building products manufacturer Forterra, which already had two precast concrete production sites in Somercotes and Hoveringham, neither of them far from Bison’s base in Swadlincote, Derbyshire.

Operating under the new name of Bison Precast, the move would create strength through the combined expertise, skill and experience of the two businesses, making it one of the biggest precast concrete manufacturers in the country, and the largest manufacturer of precast flooring.

This impressive Bison Precast team is continuing the innovative approach of its predecessors in developing pioneering techniques that are at the forefront of offsite construction. Its precast frame solutions are reducing build times, improving health and safety, and helping alleviate issues of labour availability.

 

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Bison Precast is also taking full advantage of its access to Forterra’s clay brick expertise, working with its counterparts to break new ground in the world of precast architectural solutions, the latest of which is being used in the construction of Kier’s new Wellingborough Prison scheme.

New brick-faced sandwich panels for Wellingborough Prison scheme

Bison Precast’s new, insulated, brick-faced sandwich panels are a great example of what can be achieved when precast concrete expertise is combined with clay brick manufacturing know-how.

The Wellingborough Prison project is one of the first to benefit from these new panels, which are part of Bison Precast’s ever-expanding Architectural Precast range.

Mike Nelson, commercial director at Bison Precast, commented: “In pairing innovative design with high tech manufacturing capabilities, our new insulated, brick-faced sandwich panels are supporting the move to DfMA, which is so important in the successful and timely completion of schemes such as Wellingborough Prison.

“Our new brick-faced sandwich panels enable us to take any clay brick option from the Forterra range and cast it into precast concrete panels. For Wellingborough Prison, Forterra’s Butterley Golden Thatch is the clay brick used, and will provide an attractive external façade to the key public-facing building on site. This technique means that design and aesthetics of DfMA schemes – such as multi-storey residential, commercial, institutional and industrial developments – needn’t be limited, which is a real step forward in delivering high quality schemes, quickly.”

Building for the future

Mike has little doubt that key to Bison Precast’s continuing success is its skilled and loyal workforce, many of whom have worked for the business all their working lives. “Any business is only as good as its people. Over the years, I have witnessed a deep sense of loyalty and identity within the Bison workforce, and the number of employees who have received long service awards is testament to this. It’s an attitude and work ethic that began with our founders back in 1919 and their commitment to serving not only the construction industry but the country, too.”

As well as continuing to deliver the pioneering products and methods honed over the last century, Bison Precast is looking to continue to develop new products and opportunities, particularly in the area of offsite manufacture, that should see the company thrive long into the future.

Invisible Connections is currently working with precast concrete and DfMA specialist SCC Design Build to construct stair cores at Manchester Airport.

 

Manchester Airports Group (MAG) is undertaking a transformation programme that will position the airport as a ‘Global Gateway’, offering more routes and creating increased economic growth in line with aviation forecasts.

As part of this development the airport is expanding its terminal facilities, apron space and customer car parking facilities to accommodate increased demand.

With many MSCP projects already to its name, SCC Design Build (working for BAM) successfully manufactured and constructed the precast concrete frame and cores (incorporating flights and landings) at the newly completed 6,500 space ‘meet and greet’ MSCP at Terminal 1 and Terminal 3.

As part of its innovative build process, SCC Design Build (‘SCC’) used telescopic connectors by Invisible Connections extensively throughout the structural frame and cores, being SCC’s tried and trusted connection solution for rapid construction.

With a clear pedigree in car park construction and an existing presence on the airport, SCC was the natural choice by Galliford Try for the newest 7,669 space car park that will link to Terminal 3 and have buses to the other terminals.

Although a steel frame was chosen for this latest car park, SCC was appointed to construct the stair cores in precast concrete, chosen for its fire properties and the stabilisation of the structural steel frame.

There are 10 stair cores in total, which vary in height up to 5 storeys. All 10 cores incorporate precast flights and landings, with 6 of the cores also housing the lift-shafts.

Building on the success of several previous project collaborations, Invisible Connections was chosen by SCC for its landing-to-wall system of telescopic connectors. The RVK101-30 pinned connection detail was specified to tie landings to the core walls (tying into REDiBOX PIN recess formers) thereby satisfying the Engineer’s design requirements for robustness.

It’s increasingly common to combine precast concrete stairs and landings with core walls which are either precast or poured in-situ. When connection methods are left as an afterthought, using traditional rolled steel support angles is often the only practical, yet inefficient, fixing solution.

With a little up-front planning, there’s much to gain by incorporating telescopic connectors, which come with a host of advantages; such as improved health and safety, robustness compliance, and significantly improved cost effectiveness. Indeed, a recent study found that using telescopic connectors instead of rolled steel angles reduced man hours by 80%, which contributed to a total 33% reduction in direct costs.

 

www.invisibleconnections.co.uk

St. Andrews University in Fife chose Creagh Concrete for the first stage of their £70million investment plans in student accommodation for the university. MMC Magazine Editor Joe Bradbury finds out more:

A building of historical significance

Founded in the 15th century, St Andrews is Scotland’s first university and the third oldest in the English speaking world. Teaching began in the community of St Andrews in 1410, and the University was formally constituted by the issue of a papal bull in 1413.

In 2009, St Andrews became the first Scottish ancient to appoint a woman as Principal, recruiting Professor Louise Richardson from the Radcliffe Institute, Harvard, to lead it into its seventh century. She was succeeded in 2016 by Professor Sally Mapstone.

St Andrews recently celebrated 600 years of continuous existence during which time it has made an enduring contribution to the intellectual and cultural life of both Scotland and the wider world.

Project overview

The first stage of the investment called for two new accommodation buildings for the campus. The new buildings called Powell Hall and Whitehorn Hall respectively have created 389 new bedrooms for the university.

Creagh provided architectural concrete cladding for the buildings including feature walls with etched lettering. In total, Creagh installed 695 GFRC concrete pieces for both projects. Glass Fibre Reinforced Concrete or GFRC (also known as GRC) is a type of fibre-reinforced concrete. GRC consists of high-strength glass fibres embedded in a concrete matrix. Both fibres and matrix offer a synergistic combination of properties that cannot be achieved with either of the components acting alone. The fibres provide reinforcement for the matrix, increasing its tensile strength, limiting the shrinkage and creep processes as well as eliminating curing cracking appearance.

For the St Andrews project, Creagh developed a project-specific GRC mix to match both the structural performance and aesthetics requirements. This allowed the installation of floor to floor panels with 25mm concrete skin and no steel rebar. Creagh’s manufacturing facility rose to the challenge of precise filigree moulding and different casting techniques required for the panels.  Among the benefits of GRC: it’s reduction in thickness provides an increased cavity and/or insulation allowance and a smaller loading to the façade. All of which significatively reduce the buildings carbon footprint but providing the same durability and resilience as traditional concrete.

Powell Hall opened its doors to postgraduate students for the first time in October 2018.  It is named after Renee Powell, American professional golfer who became one of the first female members of the R&A in 2015 and was the second African -American woman ever to play on the LPGA Tour.  The new building is five-storeys and adjacent to Agnes Blackadder Hall on the North Haugh, near the various science buildings.  It is also located near to the Sports Centre and is only a 15 minute walk to the town centre.

Aluminium copings were also installed on Whitehorn building, a four-storey building located adjacent to University Hall, near to the Sports Centre and the various science buildings on the North Haugh. It is named after Katharine Whitehorn – British journalist, writer and columnist, and first female Rector of the University of St Andrews from 1982 to 1985.

The decision to use precast concrete systems for the bulk of the building’s structural frame, cladding and balcony units was taken at an early stage on the project. The brief demanded a robust finish on the building, which would limit the amount of ongoing maintenance required.

Precast concrete is the ideal material of choice for frame construction and cladding.

 

Rising to the challenge

The job itself was not without its challenges. Speaking with MMC Magazine, Contracts Manager Ramon Escriva said “On the technical side, it was a very difficult installation with most of the panels with no access to fixings. We devised a range of different solutions to provide fixing points. There were also several cases with overhung panels that required special craneage arrangements.”

Creagh Director and Co-Founder Seamus McKeague added “We are seeing strong interest in our rapid build concrete systems because developers now understand the true value of slashing programme times.

“Investors not only benefit from revenue gained by the early occupation of units but, also, from the mobility of their capital resource. Quite simply, shorter build times mean developers can complete more projects with the same pot of finance.”

The brand new building offers various facilities for students to use for studying and/or socialising including, main social space, games room, cinema room, private dining room, sound insulated music room, study spaces, kitchen/lounges & a laundry room.

The new additions to the halls of residences will increase residential space offered by the University from 4,000 to 4,900 occupants, in an effort to accommodate the increase of students attending the University.

Tackling the severe accommodation shortage

From a political point of view, this project couldn’t have come at a better time, with Scotland facing a “clear problem” with providing accommodation for university students on campus.

In a recent article in the Scotsman, Green MSP Mark Ruskell called on the Scottish Government to hold a summit of university accommodation providers and student representatives to tackle the issue. Speaking at Holyrood, he said “I think it is clear that we have got a problem across Scotland.

“At Stirling University 180 first year students didn’t have accommodation last year. Under-18s cannot rent in the private sector, care leavers and international students struggle to find guarantors for private contracts. Disabled students very rarely find the appropriate private accommodation to meet their needs and we see increasing rents on campus as well.”

About Creagh

Creagh Concrete has been a pioneer of precast for over 43 years.  They are one of the UK’s largest producers of concrete products for a diverse range of market sectors throughout the UK and Ireland.  Creagh is leading the market with innovation in concrete, providing new solutions across the construction industry, changing the way people think about concrete, bringing new levels of efficiency and performance to their products.

The company operates from its head office in Toomebridge, Northern Ireland with bases in Ardboe, Dunloy, Draperstown and Magheraglass and also at Nottingham, England and Edinburgh, Scotland.

We asked them what their ethos is and this is what they said:

“Creagh is all about quality products & relationships – strong relationships with our customers, sub-contractors, clients and suppliers.  These relationships are key to our business and our approach to working together to deliver successful projects. From initial design consultation, through project development, groundworks, installation and beyond, your scheme couldn’t be in more experienced hands.”

 

www.creaghconcrete.co.uk

Kerkstoel 2000+ manufacture so called twin walls and lattice slabs, these products combine the advantages of precast with insitu placed concrete.

Kerkstoel 2000+ is one of the most innovative concrete companies in Europe. It is part of the Kerkstoel Group and is based in Grobbendonk (Belgium).It specializes in the production of precast concrete walls and floors. Every precast element is made to measure in a highly automated factory. Based on the architect’s design (general arrangements and cross-sections), structural calculations, formwork and installation plans, Kerkstoel 2000+ develops an installation plan, with all the necessary details, so that everything runs smoothly and according to plan on site.

The floors, or lattice slabs, are used as a structural and aesthetic underside of a concrete floor. Basically permanent formwork they are the ideal substrate for concrete floors and can be made in all shapes, up to 7 cm thick. Wide plates are equipped with bottom reinforcement and on the underside they have a very smooth surface. After placing the lattice slabs and propping the top reinforcement is installed. Finally, the slabs are poured with concrete to the desired floor thickness. The result: a solid concrete floor where the load is perfectly distributed.

The reinforced twin walls of Kerkstoel consist of two shells of reinforced concrete that are connected to each other by lattice girders. All necessary built-in parts are provided in the walls during production (such as electrical boxes, power conduits, openings for windows and doors, wooden boxes, etc.).The wall elements are then assembled on site according to plan and then filled with concrete. The result is a solid construction as strong as a monolithic cast insitu concrete wall. These systems ensure high quality on site in a shorter construction time. The heavy skilled labour, such as steel-fixing and formwork, is limited to an absolute minimum. Thanks to the hybrid character, namely the combination between prefab concrete and in situ concrete, with the necessary water-bars  the walls can also be used for underground structures.

In 2018 Kerkstoel 2000+ invested in a brand new automated production hall. With this production hall, Kerkstoel wants to further specialize in the concrete wall sector. Concrete walls with integrated insulation, sandwich panels, walls with prints, etc. will now also be be possible. Kerkstoel 2000+ has been active on the British market for more than 10 years, and has delivered walls and floor slabs to numerous contractors. Contact us and see what we can do for you!

www.kerkstoel.be/en