Keeping a low profile on Sussex project with Hadley Group

As a manufacturer of structurally advanced and genuinely sustainable cold rolled steel sections, Hadley Group has been involved in the supply of its superior shallow C-section UltraBEAM for the construction of a new mezzanine floor for the conversion of a college in West Sussex.

UltraBEAM was a vital element, where an overall 150 mm depth of construction was critical.

The West Midlands based manufacturer was contacted by Ashdown Steel Limited when the hot rolled joists, which had originally been specified for the work on the existing educational building, were not able to create enough ceiling height.

Inevitably, the specialist sub-contractor was under pressure from the principle contractor leading the project, ACG Property Services – to hand over the space for the completion of multiple new study booths.

As a steel fabricator, serving all sectors of the construction industry throughout the South East of England, Ashdown Steel could not source any other solution to the situation it faced, other than using Hadley Group’s UltraBEAM sections.

The Project Manager for Ashdown Steel, Rob Hood, commented: “This was the first time we had used Hadley Group as a supplier, but the 145 mm deep C-sections were ideal for this situation, given that they offered the strength and shallow depth required to create the necessary headroom.”

Hadley Group’s UltraBEAM sections are engineered from high-tensile steel to offer greater strength and stiffness compared to conventional alternatives, rolled with their unique stiffening ribs, either lowering the material gauge or allows an equivalent gauge span further.

In addition to offering both standard and custom lengths, the UltraBEAM sections are pre-galvanised for durability and pre-punched with 14mm holes in pairs on a standard gauge line to facilitate the installation of services.

Rob Hood added: “This was a challenging project all round: having to insert resin anchors every 200mm in between gas pipes and other services; and conduct pull-out tests. However, we had the full support of Hadley Group’s technical team to ease through any problems.

Once Ashdown Steel had confirmed acceptance of Hadley Group’s detailed schedule and estimate, the technical department passed the order to production, including full details on the required sizes and fixing positions.

Offering a seven day turnaround, the initial direct delivery to site included a total of 75 UltraBEAM sections in lengths varying from 1.090m to 3.045m, together with 145 Long Inset Floor Beam Cleats to secure them within the webs of the main hot-rolled PFC sections.

Rob Hood continued: “Crucially they turned the order around quickly – we couldn’t fault the service from Hadley Group. Even when we needed a further batch of “C”-sections and found our original contact was on annual leave, the second delivery was still very quick in arriving.”