Staff Archives - Reidsteel Structural Engineering

22 05, 2014

A Spot of Golf with HMG Coatings

reidsteel2017-01-06T14:31:48+00:00May 22nd, 2014|Categories: REIDsteel Staff|Tags: Day out, Golf, HMG Coatings, Sport, Staff|

By Draughtsman, Lee Stevens

On a glorious sunny morning the ‘Reid Golfers’ embarked on a cross country adventure to get to Test Valley Golf Course, Overton in rural ‘Ampshire!

It hadn’t meant to be cross country jaunt, but due to an oil spill on the motorway the and being stuck in a traffic jam for 25 minutes we decided to take the scenic route through the very narrow country lanes. We arrived safely and just about in time for the ‘meet and greet’ and ‘tee off times’.

HMG Coatings, one of our paint suppliers kindly asked REIDsteel if they could send a ‘crack team’ of golfers to their inaugural golf day to thank us for our custom. Unfortunately, the ‘crack team’ wasn’t available so Draughtsmen; Lee Stevens, Steve Roberts and and Structural Engineers; Richard Callaghan, James Spencer took up the challenge…

On an extremely challenging course the team had mixed fortunes, Lee had managed to purchase some ‘right handed’ golf balls (his words) and spent a great deal of the day exploring the wildlife in the rough, Richard had possibly been supplied ‘left handed’ ones and had similar fortunes. Steve […]

24 03, 2014

Sport Relief 2014 at REIDsteel

reidsteel2017-01-06T14:31:48+00:00March 24th, 2014|Categories: REIDsteel Staff|Tags: Charity, Fund Raising, Sport Relief, Staff|

While we do have our own successful athletes at REIDsteel, we thought we would take Sport Relief a little easy this year.

Our red themed “non-uniform” day brought out the colourful side to some of our draughtsmen’s personalities and the whole office looked tickled pink or red in this case dressed in their own hues of red.

By spending the day in the red and entering the Sport Relief official “Pick a Sweaty Celebrity” competition we raised £106. Congratulations to the winner, Lee Stevens who wisely chose Pixie Lott as the “sweatiest celebrity”.

Lee commented on the day, “Having a child of my own and watching the poor children of the World living as they do brings tears to my eyes every Sport Relief or Comic Relief Day. The easiest thing I can do is dress up and look daft for a day to help out in a minuscule way. The morning commute to work on my bicycle raised a few chuckles for oncoming drivers, […]

17 01, 2014

REIDsteel Out and About in Bournemouth

reidsteel2017-01-06T14:31:49+00:00January 17th, 2014|Categories: Aircraft Hangars & Doors, REIDsteel Staff|Tags: Aircraft Hangar Extension, Bournemouth, Civils Construction, hangar, Staff|

Working with Civils Contracting Limited, this extension to the existing Hangar 12 at Bournemouth Airport has a clear span of 100m, is 12m deep and 22m high to the eaves. The Main Contractor’s work started on this project in the summer of 2013 and we commenced assembly of the main truss at the beginning of October 2013.

Being a very unusual and local job, it was decided to install a timelapse camera in order to record progress, managed between bouts of the windiest weather experienced since 1987.

This camera takes a photo every 10 seconds and these can then be played back in sequence and roll like a film. The effect is that we can see the action of many days taking place at a super quick pace. Within the space of a couple of minutes, the whole front arch of the hangar appears before your eyes.

With 80% of our work destined for overseas markets it is unusual to have such a project on our doorstep and all REIDsteel staff from the office and works were given […]

17 12, 2013

Christchurch Christmas Pud 10K Run

reidsteel2017-01-06T14:31:49+00:00December 17th, 2013|Categories: REIDsteel Staff|Tags: Hobbies, Running, Sporting Achievement, Staff|

Chris Batty (quality assurance assistant), Tony Rendall (draughtsman), John Sinkinson (company accountant) and Matthew Way (project engineer) recently entered this year’s local Christmas 10k run. This family fun event has taken place annually for over a decade. It allows runners from over Dorset and Hampshire of all abilities to take a run along the River Avon, through the roads of Burton.

The course takes runners through a part of Burton that perhaps locals don’t visit often. Despite this, it is really quite picturesque with large hedgerows marking the way. The farmland roads make for a good, flat course; perfect for a personal best.
However, the best part is receiving a congratulatory Christmas pudding upon crossing the finish, so everyone’s a winner! The day is a lovely festive start to the Christmas season. Everyone was still very much in the spirit, even though the Christmas puddings this year turned out to be just a tad unfit for consumption.

Our resident triathlete, Tony finished 35^th overall with a time of 37:34. Matthew and John followed him across the finish line shortly after with times of 51:13 and 53:40 respectively. […]

16 12, 2013

The Importance of Resilient Structures

reidsteel2017-01-06T14:31:49+00:00December 16th, 2013|Categories: Resilient Structures|Tags: Antigua, Cyclone, Hurricane, Philippines, Staff, Typhoon|

cyclone The only difference between a hurricane, a cyclone, and a typhoon is the location where the storm occurs.

They all happen in the same way:

Warm water heats the air and it starts to rise, and begins to spiral. The warm air will be very moist and will start to condense. As the warm air spiral goes up into colder air, it becomes even warmer and lighter, so it rises and spirals faster, sucking in more warm moist air from the surrounding sea. This enormous heat-engine, powered by the heat in the sea, is a storm formation.

When a building stands in the path of the wind, the windward wall tends to block the air, and the air pressure increases. This force can cave in walls, smash doors or columns or bracing systems, or push buildings completely over. As it passes over, the wind can come from every direction.

If there is an opening in the windward side, the high pressure can find its way into a building. The whole building can be blown outwards, like a balloon. What makes the situation worse is that the wind is not a steady […]

1 11, 2013

REIDsteel in the International Business Community

reidsteel2017-01-06T14:31:50+00:00November 1st, 2013|Categories: REIDsteel Staff|Tags: British Expertise, Burma, Myanmar, Staff, Trade Mission, UKTI|

At REIDsteel, we pride ourselves on the relationships we build with individuals, businesses and organisations across the world. So when our Sales Manager, Mike Chappell bumped into Richard Pelly, Director General of British Expertise he found himself heading to Burma (Myanmar) on one of REIDsteel’s more intriguing trade missions.

British Expertise is an independent, not for profit company who have a close relationship with the government funded UK Trade and Investment (UKTI). They work to forge links between businesses and international embassies and commercial offices in order to better assist export opportunities.

Burma (Myanmar), as the media readily reports has long had its struggles and human rights issues. It is in the process of change that everyone hopes will be for the better. The recent trade mission consisted of a schedule of meetings and events where contact was made with local businesses and ministries who were pleased to share their views of the market and potential for future growth.

Huge challenges lie ahead for all involved, but REIDsteel are pleased to have put their name out there. “We know we are good at working in difficult and growing […]

30 09, 2013

From Draughtsman to Triathlete

reidsteel2017-01-06T14:31:50+00:00September 30th, 2013|Categories: REIDsteel Staff|Tags: Sporting Achievement, Staff|

Tony Rendall has been a draughtsman at REIDsteel for fifteen years. In his free time he is a keen triathlete having competed in many events over the years.

We offer our sincere congratulations to him, as he recently came 15th at the 2013 Triathlon World Championships in London. Here’s what he has to say about his triathlon training and experiences:

“I race at Olympic distance and Sprint distance Triathlon events in the UK and abroad. For the Olympic distance these consist of a 1500m swim, followed by a 40km cycle, and finish with a 10km run and take around 2 hours to complete.

The Sprint races cover half of these distances but are run at a very fast pace (virtually flat out) so are just as hard.

I usually train in excess of 10 hours a week including double sessions before and after work to keep me competitive and near the front end of the field.

I have represented Great Britain at the last two age group World Championship grand finals in New Zealand and London, and also at this year’s European Championship finals in Turkey.

New Zealand 2012 was my first […]

3 09, 2013

Summer at REIDsteel

reidsteel2017-01-06T14:31:50+00:00September 3rd, 2013|Categories: REIDmarine|Tags: Fundraising, Social, Sporting Achievement, Staff|

This year was the 50^th annual fundraiser for the Mudeford RNLI lifeboat crew, with more people than ever before turning out to enjoy the faire and watch the spectacular Raft Race.

Entering crews throw on fetching fancy dress and set sail on an equally fashionable raft to raise money for Mudeford RNLI station. Among others, there were teams representing Highcliffe Charity Players, Priory Vet Group and of course, REIDsteel.

July 2013 marked the sixth time that REIDsteel have entered the infamous Mudeford Raft Race. Confidence was high leading up to the event having previously won three times in succession.

To recognise the outstanding achievement by Andy Murray at this year’s Wimbledon Tournament it was decided amongst the crew that Tennis would be the theme for this year’s raft, many thanks go to Paul at Solo Signs for donating his time and logo’s to help theme this year’s raft.

As REIDsteel is situated in a coastal town, many of its employees sail or enjoy a keen interest in boating. This involvement in the marine industry has enabled the REIDsteel crew to raise the most sponsorship of all teams participating […]

21 05, 2013

Slow boat to China

reidsteel2017-01-06T14:31:50+00:00May 21st, 2013|Categories: REIDsteel Staff|Tags: Despatch, Export, Shipping, Staff|

Shipping a small parcel abroad is enough to cause me to have a headache so sending massive steel structures, like aircraft hangars and bridges from a small town in Dorset to 130 countries worldwide must surely be enough to cause the mother of all migraines.

To find out just how difficult a job this is I had a chat with Ana Monti, REIDsteel’s Despatch and Shipping Manager.

In the five years that Ana’s been with the company she has shipped hundreds of hangars, bridges, office buildings and warehouses to places as far flung as Mongolia, Nepal and the Falkland Islands.

Ana maintains (although I’m not sure I believe her) that it’s not particularly difficult to organise the shipping, as long as you don’t mind filling in reams of paperwork, but there can be unexpected pitfalls.

Two of the main problems in recent years have been the slow-down in the economy and the fluctuating cost of fuel. The economic situation has meant quite a few shipping companies have gone out of business.

Of those that remain, rather than put the price up to customers some control their fuel costs by […]

9 05, 2013

From the Outside in

reidsteel2017-01-06T14:31:51+00:00May 9th, 2013|Categories: REIDsteel Staff|Tags: CHAS, Health and Safety, Safety Advisor, Staff|

Alan Newman, REIDsteel’s Safety Advisor

REIDsteel has been designing and building structures around the world for almost 100 years but what sort of a company is it and who are the people that make it happen?

To find out I’ve been given unique access behind-the-scenes and I plan to share what I discover so you too can get an insight into what makes this company tick.

Before I do anything else I have to have a tour of the site and a health and safety briefing from Alan Newman, REID’s Safety Advisor. Alan has been with Reid for 24 years, having started in the maintenance department.

With so much heavy steel and cutting, lifting and finishing equipment on site, safety has always been a priority for the company. However, in recent years the image of health and safety has suffered and BBC One’s The Wright Way, a sitcom written by comedian Ben Elton, hasn’t done anything to improve it.

Alan is pretty sanguine about this. He knows people might raise their eyes to heaven when he has to pick them up on a point […]