The eagle has landed
The employees at Joseph Ash Galvanizing are lucky to be able to galvanize all different shapes and sizes of steel, which ultimately form parts of bridges, buildings, railways and fencing. Every so often however, the plants receive requests to treat steel for unusual objects or sculptures. This happened recently at our Bridgend plant when the team there was asked to galvanize an eagle with a 12ft wingspan!
Anthony ‘Fred’ Peacock of Marche Studios in Shropshire fabricated the eagle. Anthony manufactures sculptures from metal and has become well known for producing art in the form of dragons and aliens.
Anthony fabricated the steel for Steve Waite, of Johnston, Pembrokeshire, as Steve has a love of eagles. Steve wanted this sculpture to be at his home and the eagle now resides on a fallen tree made from four inch steel pipework, which spans 30 feet across Steve’s driveway on the entrance to his garage.
The tree that the eagle is perched upon was designed and fabricated by Steve and P.G.S. Fabrications in Johnston. Joseph Ash Galvanizing galvanized both the eagle and the branch.
Steve said: “The eagle is a sacred symbol for me and Native Americans, and I have lots of eagles at my home. I see this particular eagle as my totem. It also attracts lots of attention. My home is located across the road from an industrial site and many people stop to look at it and take pictures.”
Steve added: “I would like to say that all the staff at Joseph Ash Galvanizing handled my work in a very professional manner. I was very happy with the result.”
Elvira Brocher at Joseph Ash Galvanizing Bridgend commented: “It’s very interesting to see the amazing pieces of art that are sculpted by metal fabricators, that come through the yards at our plants. The shapes are definitely not as straightforward as the pieces of steel we general dip into our galvanizing baths – flooring, guardrails, fencing etc – however we love a challenge! We also love to see the finished products once they have been installed at their future homes, and because of this we’d like to thank Steve for sending us some photos of the finished eagle guarding his driveway!”
Hague Construction Ltd engages Joseph Ash Galvanizing to galvanize steel beams for an Essex bridge.
Hague Construction Ltd is a civil engineering and design and build contractor based in Rochester, Kent, specialising in all aspects of in-situ concrete works, ground works, reinforced concrete structures and the design and build of steel framed commercial buildings.
Some of Hague’s partnership agreements include local authorities across the south east such as Kent County Council, Medway Borough Council, Essex County Council and Surrey County Council.
Many of Hague’s projects include highways structures, and as such they were given the task of reconstructing Lexden Bridge in Spring Lane, Colchester, Essex.
The existing Lexden Bridge crosses the channel of the River Colne and was built as a single span structure in 1904, which could only hold a three tonne weight limit.
The primary elements of the existing steel bridge superstructure consisted of two lattice girder edge beams, 13.44 metres in length, which spanned longitudinally between mass concrete abutments and with a transverse spanning deck. The deck was constructed of steel transverse members in-filled with mass concrete. The clear span between the face of the abutments was 12.18 metres.
Due to the age and structure of the bridge, Essex County Council commissioned Hague Construction to demolish the bridge and replace it with a new reinforced concrete bridge.
The abutments will be supported on CFA piles and the raised height of the new bridge deck will require a change to the vertical alignment of the carriageway.
A temporary footbridge and footpath will also be constructed to maintain pedestrian access across the River Colne and a coffer dam is required to enable the abutments to be constructed.
The Lexden Bridge project is part of a programme of works, which will feature on Channel 5 in 2015 as part of a six-part documentary about local authority engineering works.
Joseph Ash Galvanizing is pleased to have assisted Hague Construction in this project, after we were asked to hot dip galvanize the steel components of the bridge, and deliver them direct to the site in Colchester.
We look forward to seeing the bridge finished and we’ll publicise the date of the Channel 5 documentary when we know its scheduling.
A stunning force of nature.
US award winning writer, Alice Walker, once said: “Horses make a landscape look beautiful.” At Joseph Ash Galvanizing we couldn’t agree more, especially when we were asked to hot dip galvanize these amazing steel horses by artist Andy Scott.
Andy Scott is a Scottish sculptor who graduated from the Glasgow School of Art in the mid eighties. Andy hand-crafts figurative steel fabrications ranging from 2.5 to 30 metres in height, in order to create stunning works of art that can be seen across the UK and internationally. (You can see many of Andy’s works on his website).
To protect the steel from rusting, as well as to give the fabrications a beautiful shine, Andy requires his artworks to be galvanized before public placement, and he has often used Joseph Ash Galvanizing for the large-scale works.
These stunning equine sculptures, which are made up of five horses in total – a standing stallion and four galloping horses – were galvanized at Joseph Ash’s Telford plant in the Autumn of 2014.
The horses varied in size from 2.5 to 3.5 metres tall, and due to their complex shapes and intricate forms, they had to be handled extremely carefully.
The Joseph Ash Telford plant has a large galvanizing bath, which meant that the horses could be dipped in their entirety to ensure an even galvanized coating.
Andy said:
“Joseph Ash’s large capacity tanks allow me to create works which have dimensions over the restrictions of most normal tanks.
“My sculptures always require special handling and the team at Telford always deliver an excellent job, ensuring a great finish to the works I’ve often taken many months to create.
“It can be nerve-wracking entrusting my creative works to others to finish, but I have always been delighted with the end results, the quick turnaround, and the friendly service offered in handling my unique projects.”
The horse sculptures have ended up on a private estate in Long Island, New York. At Joseph Ash, we’re pleased that Andy chose us to hot dip galvanize the horses as we enjoyed being a part of this unique project and are proud to have taken part in their journey.
The Commonwealth Games 2014 are underway, and Joseph Ash Galvanizing and The Structure Group – one of our customers – are not only taking an interest in the sports, but in the behind the scenes building work that has led to Hampden Park being the main stadium for the opening ceremony and the athletics. Why? Because we were involved!
In 2013, Glasgow 2014’s head of development, Ian McKenzie made the decision to temporarily convert Hampden Park from a football stadium to an athletics venue, ahead of the Commonwealth Games in Scotland. His decision was driven by the desire to make use of the excellent stadiums that Glasgow already had, rather than build a new one especially for the Games.
In order to convert Hampden Park into an athletics stadium, he hired The Structure Group to make a temporary floor, more suitable to running and long jump rather than football.
The Structure Group have a great reputation for building temporary structures for major sporting events in the UK – the Goodwood Festival of Speed, the Great North Run for example – and so they were the natural choice.
How the temporary floor was built…
In order to construct a floor to meet the size requirements of the Commonwealth Games and the International Association of Athletics Federations, The Structure Group knew they would have to build a platform 1.9m above the existing pitch level. The diggers were sent in towards the end of 2013 to remove the turf, and steel beams and posts were then put into place, which were covered with special decking and then a suitable athletics track.
It was a huge project with over 18,000sqm of heavy deck, over 6000 steel stilts, and 2000 tons of steel components. It took nine months to complete and was ready well ahead of schedule, ready for the Commonwealth Games to open last week.
Joseph Ash Galvanizing are proud that The Structure Group asked us to galvanize the jack heads that sit on top of the steel stilts and therefore to be a part of this project. We have hot dip galvanized steel components for The Structure Group for a number of years and it’s great to work on projects that contribute to events such as the Commonwealth Games.
Watch this great video to show the making of the raised floor.
The Structure Group is a world leader in the supply of temporary elevated decks and structures. The company was forged around its leading product, the TSG HeavyDeck system. This steel framed, panel system boasts a weight loading capacity of up to20kN / sqm. and allows TSG to specialise in the provision of temporary stadium conversions, sporting arenas, showrooms, grandstands and temporary structures.
Clay Architecture wins prestigious RIBA award for Medway Crematorium project.
MGC – a Joseph Ash plant in Medway – and Hellings Fabrications Ltd are pleased to have been part of the project.
Clay Architecture in Gravesend was chosen by Medway Council in 2013 to redesign and rebuild part of Medway Crematorium in Chatham, in order to house new fuel efficient cremation ovens. It was a great choice by Medway Council as Clay Architecture has recently won the prestigious regional RIBA award for their work.
As part of the project, Clay Architecture asked Hellings Fabrications Ltd to build a two tonne window screen, which Hellings then asked MGC – a Joseph Ash plant in Medway – to hot dip galvanize and powder coat. The screen is a beautiful addition to the redesigned crematorium and MGC are very proud to have been part of its production.
The screen was designed by Clay Architecture to sit in front of the crematorium’s chapel window in order to provide privacy for families attending cremations. It was also designed to let in natural sunlight, whilst at the same time preventing glare from the morning and evening sun.
It is a complex structure with many intricate sections designed to sympathetically suit the existing patterns on the crematorium’s windows.
Hellings managed the fabrication from their Margate workshop, and MGC then galvanized and powder coated it from their Medway plant. Because it is so large – measuring 5.8 metres high by 4.7 metres wide – it had to be fabricated and galvanized in four parts.
When the structure was ready, MGC transported it to Medway Crematorium, where Hellings erected it on site, using special lifting equipment.
Clay Architecture was shortlisted for the RIBA prize along with six other sites in Kent. We’re really pleased they won, as the redesign of Medway Crematorium is stunning piece of architecture.
Medway Galvanising Company (MGC):
Medway Galvanising Company was acquired by Joseph Ash in May 2013 and is currently still trading as MGC. For steel finishing needs in the south east, this plant delivers a one stop shop service of shot blasting, hot dip galvanizing, spin galvanizing and powder coating all from under one roof. All architectural and steel structures are accepted.
Based in Gravesend, Kent Clay Architecture was set up by Architectural Association graduates and husband and wife team Camilla Prizeman and Kasan Goh when they took over the 96 year-old George Clay Partnership in 2000.
Based in Margate, Kent, and opened in 1982, Hellings Fabrications manufacture and install a wide range of architectural metalwork, specialising in fabricating one-off products from designs specified by their customers.
RIBA – The Royal Institute of British Architects
Photos by Quintin Lake