Uni-span meet strict safety standards for Thiess, 400 George Street development

Not to back down from a challenge, Uni-span recently supplied scaffold for a development for Thiess at 400 George St, Brisbane. They were applying a series of aluminium blades and alpolic panels to the outside facade of the building.

Scaffold for this project was required to sit 150m above ground level - spanning Level 34 to 36. This meant suspension of scaffold to the outside of the building to gain safe access for trades people working on the project.

A standard quick stage scaffold system was considered, but due to the length and height of scaffold required, its weight became too heavy for the supporting I-beams, and therefore not suitable for the application.

Instead, SuperHire was consulted to erect their alstage scaffold that ensured the weight was limited. Uni-span then put in place and adhered to stringent SWMS (Safe Work Method Statements) to reduce risk.

SCAFFOLD

A rostrum scaffold built at 1.5m high gave access over the top of the exterior glass curtain wall. U-head jacks were placed on top of the rostrum scaffold and 6m long steel I-beams were craned into position on top of U-heads and locked down.

Scaffold was erected on top of these I-beams. Jacks were placed in the top of the standards and wound tight to the underside of Level 35, which acted as the counter weight for the rest of the steel beam which was cantilevered over the edge of the building.

Plywood decks were then placed between steel beams to act as webbing and the main scaffold was piggy backed out off the rostrum scaffold and erected to a height of 14m.

SAFETY CHALLENGES

Excessive wind speeds at height presented challenge, as the aluminium was very light, and easily blown around without correct fixing.

One of the safety measures ensuring the materials didn't fall was the use of lanyards. Each component was attached to a rope tied back to the rostrum and guided by a person with a carabineer or a half ninety degree coupler attached to the components. The lanyard was only removed once the component was secured in the scaffold.

What resulted was a job that was impressive and incident free. The scaffold served its purpose for all activities required to install the blades and cladding.

The complexity of the job and its rigorous safety measures made building the scaffold very time consuming. However, Uni-span took only two weeks and met required timeframes.

Uni-span were given strict request to remove the structure safely, and on time. Because of the complexity of the job, Uni-span found deep accomplishment in the efforts of all staff, and in strict maintenance of safety standards that ensured the job was completed without incident. Congratulations to all involved.

Note: For more information or if you have a project and would like some advice from our experienced team please contact info@uni-span.com.au or call us on 07 3442 4000.