23,000 man hours of accident free working on University of Warwick construction project
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research Building structurally topped out
PCE Ltd has recently celebrated the milestone of the topping out of their structural frame project for the Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research Building at the University of Warwick.
The ceremony took place along with Main Contractor Willmott Dixon and representatives of the client, University of Warwick, who spoke extremely highly of the quality and value of PCE’s off-site HybriDfMA solution which has significantly contributed towards the project achieving the target of 50% pre-manufactured value for the complete development. The milestone was a culmination of 6 months on-site assembly works by PCE’s multi-skilled site team and an overall period of 13 months from design commencement through off-site manufacture to reach this stage of structural completion. Video: Willmott Dixon's Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research Building project milestone report » The collaborative nature of PCE working within the whole Project team overcame many interesting design, manufacture and onsite challenges, the latter principally due to extreme inclement weather, to reach this milestone whilst maintaining progress for critical follow on trades.
The offsite construction advantages
Over 1,400 individual structural elements were manufactured offsite and delivered on just 208 delivery vehicles. The HybriDfMA solution also required 630m³ of reinforced insitu concrete to be used on site for the formation of structural composite concrete/steel beams and structural floor toppings. In total, delivery vehicle movements were limited to just over 300 within the live University campus compared to over 450 if a fully onsite insitu concrete option had been used.
PCE’s Project Manager Craig Billyeald commented:
‘The structural frame was constructed on site with a workforce averaging at just 18 multi-skilled PCE operatives. In total over 23,000 man hours of accident free working were recorded by the PCE site team. This reinforces the safety systems and pre- planning incorporated within PCE’s design, off-site manufacture and construction activities, proving again that the PCE philosophy and commitment throughout our business is focussed on safety being the priority."
