Smithfield Meat Market
Complex 3D Modelling
Specialist Scaffold Access Systems
The historic Victorian Smithfield Market is set to become part of a large cultural centre for London. The buildings situated at the western end of the site, between the Poultry Market building and Farringdon Street, are being redeveloped. To facilitate the work, temporary roofs were required to cover the whole area. This was considered in two phases: phase 2 and phase 2a.
At the outset of the project, the implications of load path limitations within the existing structure were not fully appreciated. The original temporary works design submission relied on the floor slabs and perimeter walls to transfer loads from the scaffolding and temporary roofs for stability.
The original submission was deemed unacceptable by the main contractor due to the inability of the fabric of the building being able to transfer loads in that manner presented. All restraint connections to the existing building fabric needed to be severed and a new load path established for taking support from specific locations. RDG were contracted to assess and modify the existing design to meet these requirements.
The existing design comprised of three temporary roofs positioned in a ‘C’ shape, supported on discrete scaffold towers, frames and gantry decking. A comprehensive and detailed 3D analysis frame model was created of the existing scaffolding and temporary roof structures that accounted for an incremental build. The 3D model was used to analyse the performance of the scaffold towers and ancillary scaffold structures to assess how the current load-paths could be amended to meet the specification.
The existing design comprised of three temporary roofs positioned in a ‘C’ shape, supported on discrete scaffold towers, frames and gantry decking. A comprehensive and detailed 3D analysis frame model was created of the existing scaffolding and temporary roof structures that accounted for an incremental build.
The 3D model was used to analyse the performance of the scaffold towers and ancillary scaffold structures to assess how the current load-paths could be amended to meet the specification. The analysis determined the following changes were required; modifications to the temporary roof bracing, installation of additional temporary roof support beams, adaptions and changes to the scaffold gantries to enable load transfers to the required locations and linking different sections of the scaffolding and temporary roofs to create a pseudo isotropic temporary structure that shared and distributed the imposed loading to the prescribed locations.
The analysis determined the following changes were required; modifications to the temporary roof bracing, installation of additional temporary roof support beams, adaptions and changes to the scaffold gantries to enable load transfers to the required locations and linking different sections of the scaffolding and temporary roofs to create a pseudo isotropic temporary structure that shared and distributed the imposed loading to the prescribed locations.
The modifications to the design also ensured that each segment of the structure functioned independently during the staged erection and as each segment was combined, the structure did not deviate from the load-path requirements. Further assessment was also undertaken to ensure that during the staged dismantling of the temporary works, the original load path requirements were not compromised. The design modifications have endured extreme weather conditions over the past few years with a design life of 5 years being used.
The modifications to the design also ensured that each segment of the structure functioned independently during the staged erection and as each segment was combined, the structure did not deviate from the load-path requirements. Further assessment was also undertaken to ensure that during the staged dismantling of the temporary works, the original load path requirements were not compromised. The design modifications have endured extreme weather conditions over the past few years with a design life of 5 years being used.
