Structural steel company John Reid & Sons Ltd (REIDsteel) has won a new contract for a major hangar at a South East airport.
The Dorset-based firm is providing the design, fabrication and installation of steelwork and cladding for a replacement aircraft painting and livery facility, which will also be able to accommodate larger aircraft at Southend Airport.
It is set to start on site in early July. The new hangar will be used by Satys Air Livery Ltd for its exterior sealing, painting, spraying and engineering services.
REIDsteel will utilise its patented V-brace tied segmented ‘archspan’ design for the 43m clear span structure being built with main contractor AW Hardy.
A W Hardy has been providing high quality construction services in Essex for over 60 years and says it is delighted to be working with REIDsteel on this important expansion of the Southend airport site and its facilities.
This will be done in conjunction with its Essex based sister company W H Roads Civil Engineering, which has been involved in the ongoing redevelopment of the airport.
It is 130-strong REIDsteel’s second project at the Essex airport, following its hangar extension for engineering firm Inflite Ltd in 2008.
Jordan Laker, REIDsteel senior bid manager, said: “The aviation sector is growing rapidly in the UK and there is a corresponding demand for high-quality facilities to sustain this expansion.
“The new hangar at Southend Airport will be able to accommodate larger aircraft and support the Airbus A321-NEO which is frequently used at the airport.
“Although we now provide design, fabrication and installation services across a wide range of sectors in the UK and abroad, some our first structures a century ago were hangars.
“We have evolved with the sector and are delighted to be working on this new hangar and supporting the growth of aviation at Southend.”
REIDsteel will erect about 110 tonnes of structural steelwork for the 23,000 sq ft structure to replace a previously fire-damaged building.
Oswick Building Surveyors has also played a key role in the project from its inception.
The UK has the largest aviation network in Europe and the third largest worldwide, according to the Department for Transport. It contributes £22 billion to the UK economy and supports more than 230,000 jobs.
REIDsteel has also made bespoke hangars in such locations at Biggin Hill, Stansted, RNAS Culdrose in Cornwall, the Channel Islands, Prestwick, Manchester and Bournemouth as well as Dubai, Mongolia, Chile, Malta, Nigeria and Mauritania.
REIDsteel – which celebrates its centenary this year – specialises in providing entire steel frame and building envelope solutions all under one roof.
Thanks to its in-house capabilities and expertise, it is regularly contracted to design, manufacture and supply complete steel structures including the cladding, glazing, louvres and staircases for projects anywhere in the UK, Europe and across the world.
They include bridges, hospitals, sports stadia, disaster resilient buildings, defensive structures, churches, schools, industrial & commercial buildings, warehouses and advanced aircraft hangars.
