Caunton Engineering supplied Main and Secondary Steelwork for the construction of a new manufacturing extension that on completion is more than half a kilometre long.
Sitting adjacent to Etex’s existing facility, the new build structure is 525m-long and because of its length it has a number of expansion joints, allowing one large steel frame to incorporate a number of inter-connected areas.
At one end of the overall building, the steel frame forms large warehousing spaces for the finished product to be stored, while running the length of the structure, there is a processing area (board line) where the plasterboard is made. The processing area accommodates some large items of equipment and consequently the steel frame was erected in and around the installation programme
The largest part of the warehousing zone is a three-span portal frame. The most westerly part is 75m-long with 40m-wide column-free spans. This part of the new build is attached to a covered 13m-wide x 18m-high steel-framed passageway that links the extension to the existing facility.