Steel fabricator secures £500k London Power Tunnels contracts

Fabweld Steel Products has secured orders worth around £500k on one of the biggest infrastructure projects in the UK.

Due to its investment in research and development, the Telford-based company has designed new bespoke access covers for the flagship London Power Tunnels scheme to rewire the capital.

FSP is supplying three contractors – Costains, Morgan Sindall and Balfour Beatty - with specialist heavy duty vented grilles to cover high power electric cables.

The duct cover systems are being used as part of the seven-year programme. It is creating a new 32km electricity superhighway deep below London, made up of 12 wide shafts that are up to 60 metres deep.

The Fabweld grilles will be used on cable routing sites at Kensal Green, Willesden, St John’s Wood and Hackney to meet individual ventilation and loading requirements for each site.

Fabweld has been designing and manufacturing fabricated steel access covers and associated drainage products for more than 25 years but changing markets has seen it introduce an extensive R & D programme to ensure that it stays at the forefront of the industry.

Richard Hilton, Fabweld’s managing director, said: “We have invested heavily in developing our staff, manufacturing equipment and computer software, so we can offer our customers the latest in cutting edge resources and create innovative bespoke products.

“The duct cover systems are a prime example of how our investment in R & D has paid dividends. Being able to supply the National Grid with this level of detail for bespoke installations has put Fabweld in a very favourable position for future work of this type, as there are no other manufacturers in the UK capable of producing this.

“We have secured three separate contracts worth up to £500,000 and we believe there will be further orders to come as the project is not due to be completed until 2018.”

Richard added: “In recent years, we have been involved in a number of projects where we have been able to offer cutting edge functional solutions to complex problems in a host of projects throughout the UK and abroad. This has enabled us to further enhance our reputation within the sector for being a solution provider and move into new markets.

“We can provide access covers for challenging environments often working within very restricted access and arduous design constraints – this is what has seen us attract high calibre customers such as those working as part of the National Grid project.”