A team of steeplejacks and rope access specialists from Pendrich, which forms an integral part of PTSG Building Access Specialists Ltd, is currently on site at British Steel in Scunthorpe.
Pendrich team has been deployed to the British Steel plant in Scunthorpe to decommission a Refractory-lined chimney stack. The lining protects the structure from the high temperatures and corrosive gases, as well as improving the chimney’s performance. The project has been particularly challenging as the work is taking place on a live plant and is planned so as not to impact on the day-to-day plant activities.
The decommissioning of the chimney is being undertaken using a bespoke access platform, which was designed to be repositioned as the decommissioning progresses, allowing the team to progress continually whilst maintaining the highest levels of safety. The Pendrich Management team is working in partnership with the British Steel engineering and safety teams, planning the safest possible solutions to be implemented during the project execution.
Pendrich has worked on some high-profile projects throughout the UK during the past ten years.
Celtic Park
Situated in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, Celtic Park is an all-seater stadium with a capacity of 60,411. It is the largest football stadium in Scotland and the eighth-largest stadium in the United Kingdom.
Pendrich first worked at Celtic Park in 2021. Its height specialists returned during the off-season break (before the start of the 2022/23 season) to carry out the structural inspections and painting of the steel support purlins to the underside of the East stand. Using bespoke techniques, its engineers carried out the works within the timescale of the closed season to the delight of the club.
Blackpool Tower
In 2019, Pendrich began the first phase of a major project for Blackpool Council, providing a series of vital repairs to Blackpool Tower. This was the first time some of the tower’s steel had been renewed or replaced, and crucial sections had corroded over its 125-year life span.
Pendrich’s specialists had to keep in mind at all times:
1. all work was safety-critical due to the age of the tower;
2. as Blackpool Tower is a Grade I listed building, all work performed had to be approved by the heritage committee prior to being undertaken.
Towards the end of Phase I, PTSG’s team was on site 24-hours a day for a full week to ensure crucial deadlines were being met and that the works were carried out uninterrupted, due to the significance to the overall structural integrity of the tower.
