PHD – Construction News Specialists Awards Finalists

Published: Dec 11 2014

2014 has been an exceptional year for PHD with today’s news creating the pinnacle!

PHD Modular Access Ltd has been short-listed in the 2015 Construction News Awards in the ‘Access & Scaffolding Specialist Award’ section for our innovative solution at the landmark project for Balfour Beatty creating the access platforms for the Roof Strengthening & Transformation at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park Stadium.

The future use of the Stadium by UK Athletics and West Ham United FC created a major engineering challenge requiring a roof to cover the retractable seats with loadings for the roof compression trusses rising from 1,400T to 4,000T + no scaffolding to touch any part them + very limited permissible leg loadings onto the Terraces.

There was a strict deadline of 25 weeks for completion prior to the Rugby World Cup 2015.

The limiting factors meant that the traditional ‘bottom-up’ tube & fitting approach, requiring between 200- 300 scaffolders working 24/7 to be achievable, was not a viable option.

PHD produced a bespoke, radical ‘top-down’ innovative solution born out of the methods reserved for offshore Oil Refineries, using suspended scaffold via chains with lockable grab-hooks with clutches to shorten and level the suspended scaffold creating ‘workshops in the sky’37m high!

Such was the volume of the challenge PHD took the whole stock of clutches from England, Ireland and Austria!

480t of Layher lightweight system scaffold was suspended in Phase 1 to create the pods enabling access to 50% of the high-level roof trusses for the welders.  This was then all taken down and re-assembled to enable access to complete the Phase 2 50% of the stadium roof strengthening works.

PHD has been invited to make a face-to-face presentation to the panel of eminent judges, the most respected figures in the sector.

The Construction News Awards have become the most prestigious and coveted in our sector and a well-recognised badge of excellence amongst clients and peers.

The 2015 Construction News Awards Ceremony will be on Wednesday 18th March 2015 at the Hilton Park Lane, London and we hope it will be another pinnacle day for PHD.