BRIXWORTH HELP ‘TURN-OVER’ AT TERRAPIN

Special purpose manipulator and turnover stands have been supplied by Brixworth Engineering Co Ltd for use in the manufacture of modular buildings at Terrapin Limited.

Terrapin have an established reputation for the design and manufacture of pre-engineered building structures. Their products have been used in projects as diverse as a multi-million pound hospital complex to simple school classroom extensions.

The Brixworth stands are designed for the handling and manipulation of larger, awkward-shaped loads. They have been successfully deployed in the marine trade for handling boat hulls, but at Terrapin they are used for the manipulation of both roof and floor chassis in the Prospex range of steel framed volumetric modules. These products have been used to provide accommodation units for a wide range of domestic, commercial and even military requirements.

The part finished roof and floor sections are transported as a pair from the fabrication shop and then separated on the Brixworth stands, with the roof section also turned through 180° to get it ceiling-side up. Both roof and floor sections are then clad individually, before the roof section is once again turned over on the stands so that the roof side can be timber clad and waterproofed.

The roof section is the heaviest at between 500 – 600kgs, well within the capacity of the manipulators at 1 tonne SWL. Throughput is currently some 15 combined floor/roof sections per week, which is achieved in a much safer handling environment than the previous method of utilising cranes and jibs. The use of Brixworth stands have also proved to be a more cost effective proposition than the installation of an overhead gantry crane system for the cladding area, and also eliminated any unproductive down time waiting for crane availability.

Brixworth also manufacture a wide range of engine stands with capacities from 700kg upwards. However, the design and manufacture of purpose built units for the safe, effective, and efficient handling of larger-sized or awkward-shaped structures has become a speciality of the company. With current HSE regulations it has become imperative that unnecessary manual handling must be eliminated in favour of more efficient and safer practices.