WAREHOUSE REROOFING
Lidoran Roofing has just completed its most complex job to date – a 41,000m2 re-roof for one of Australia’s largest and best known companies.
At the Get Go
Lidoran Roofing had looked at the project a year earlier before being finally awarded the contract.
Lidoran was selected to carry out the works by the client’s project manager after he went looking for a reputable roofing company also skilled in asbestos removal. The Project Manager had been enquiring about roofing companies and Lidoran’s name kept coming up as a company who could handle the scope of the project. He then heard us advertising on the radio, which was the decisive moment; he knew we were right for the job.
Before receiving the order, the logistics of the program were discussed. Stage 1, the metal re roof portion of 12,000m2 could only be done on Sundays and had to be completed before Christmas 06. As we got into October we started to run out of Sundays; you can imagine how we eagerly awaited the order. It finally arrived on 9 th October, 2006 with a start date of 15 th October - the following Sunday. Things really heated up at head quarters with an “all hands” on placing orders and allocating men.
First up went stair access, towers, edge protection and amenities. 6 days later 28 roofers arrived onsite, with 8 truckloads of gear and one large 100 tonne crane.
Stage 1 was the removal of the old .42 Zincalum TrimDek and the installation of .48 Kingklip 700 with new 2mm wire mesh and 75mm insulation.
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| 1st Stage Metal Roof Replacement | 400 Tonne Crane is Warming Up |
The first Sunday saw us complete 1200m2 of the 12000m2 area. We had done pretty well that day but not well enough considering the completion date for Stage 1 was 26 th November, giving us 7 Sundays to complete 12,000m2 or 1,714m2 per day.
The following Sunday arrived and we were back into it again; this time we had to complete 1,714m2 plus some of the back log. True to Lidoran form, by the days end we had re roofed 2500m2. Not bad, but not even close to our world record of 3500m2 re roofed in one day.
To cut a long story short it took us 8 weekends to complete Stage 1; one weekend behind schedule due to a rainy Sunday.
Stage 2 consisted of 28,000m2 of asbestos removal which was due to start 7 th January 2007. This time the work could be done on both weekends and weekdays. As the building was occupied, we needed to create a barrier beneath the asbestos removal & roof works and that of the staff in the building.
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| 2nd Stage Asbestos Removal & Replacement | 400 Tonne Crane Lifts 2.5 Tonne of Asbestos Sheeting |
The solution was to build a scaffold over the internal racking approx 1.5 meters under the roof. The platform was then sealed with plastic and yes, you guessed it! The scaffold could only be built on Sundays, or to be more exact, between 11.30 pm Saturday and 8.30 pm Sunday
Due to the scaffolding being erected, the warehouse lighting was rendered useless thus temporary lights were installed under the scaffold each Sunday afternoon. During the week the boys re roofed that particular section and then the following weekend, around 1am Sunday morning, the lighting had to come down. This pattern was repeated weekend after weekend for some 26 weeks. In addition all crane work could happen only on Sundays which makes the earlier comment about this job being our most complex one to date, a bit of an understatement. Luckily the boys had Saturdays free to rest, which was good timing as footy season was due to start.
Our roofing contractors faced many challengers on site including heat waves in summer through to ice on the roofs in winter adding to the degree of difficulty
Completed Metal Roof
Because the job was so large we needed BIG cranes to do the work. We used a 400 tonne crane onsite which had to be assembled on Saturday and then work only on Sundays, packed up Sunday night and be gone by Monday morning – a pretty big feat considering the crane needed 2 cranes to assemble it and 11 semis to move all the gear that went with it.
Another part of our contract was the installation of ventilation and fire control systems for the 41,000m2 warehouse. This was totally new to us but we got the job done, all working and signed off.
At the height of operation; including delivery drivers, crane operators, scaffolders, roofers and cleaners, we had up to 62 men on site, at one time with me liaising between all activities spread from one end of the site to the other.
I must thank all staff and roofers concerned for their major effort that went well beyond their normal duties to complete this project, not to mention the crane crews, scaffolders and suppliers who were always willing to do what was necessary.
The staff of the complex were excellent to work with and the project management worked like hand in glove to help us all get the job done.
Lastly, the families of all concerned are to be commended for giving up their loved ones Sunday after Sunday.
Aerial After Shot
The process was exhausting for me both physically and mentally but one I will never forget as a job well done.
Phil Bamford
Director – Lidoran Roofing