The problem
VT Shipbuilding required a big opening to enable
large parts of the ship's structure to be taken out
of the building when fabricated. They also
required a smaller opening to allow access of
vehicles furniture in and out of the building on a regular
basis, without having to open up the full width of
23m.
Megadoor were the only company that could offer a cost effective and very practical solution.
Horizontal home sliding doors were considered for the lower 5m, but this would require a support building beam that would have to be removed every time the
full opening was required.
The solution 4 smaller System 800 Megadoors were attached to the bottom beam of the main door. Any one of these commercial doors can be remotely operated from a vehicle to give an opening height of 5m, this minimises the change in the environment within the building, where high quality welding is carried out. To achieve the full opening height of 30m, the 4 smaller doors are simply opened via a push button, the small vertical rustic columns that separate the doors are removed and the main door can then be opened to the full height.
The structure was designed, fabricated and installed by Watson Steel Structures furniture Limited, from Bolton, England on behalf of the Main Contractor Amec.
Peter Gannon, Engineering Director for Watson comments:
“The Megadoor arrangement provided a relatively simple solution to a complex problem, without the need for additional extensive steelwork supports, which would have been required for the alternative sliding door solutions considered."