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RING OF FIRE Layher & KAEFER partnership meet complex scaffolding requirements at Hinkley Point C
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he safety, versatility and efficiency for which Layher Ltd scaffolding and access systems and KAEFER Ltd expertise are known worldwide are now being dramatically demonstrated during one of the most significant construction projects in the UK for many years. Hinkley Point C in Somerset is seeing two new nuclear reactors built – the first in this country for over 20 years – to provide 3200 MWe of low-carbon electricity which is sufficient to power six million homes. Layher’s involvement is via a strategic partnership with KAEFER, who have been commissioned to provide access and specialist coating services during the construction of the Nuclear Island inner containment liners. It is work that has presented significant challenges, as Layher’s UK Managing Director, Sean Pike explains: “Each of the six circular liners includes three steel rings measuring some 48.2 metres in diameter and 17 metres in height,” he says.
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“The scaffolding has been designed to provide both external and internal access to the faces for coating operations and, therefore, has had to follow the build programme very closely.” He explains that as each structure – comprising a cup, the three rings and a dome – is completed, it is then craned onto the Nuclear Island. “As this process is undertaken, scaffold is being prepared for the second and then subsequent structures to follow on,” says Sean. The external structures are a particularly impressive blend of design innovation and Layher’s equipment suitability for highly complex installations. “The scaffolding has to provide access to both vertical and horizontal welds for each ring – a total of some 150 linear metres,” says Jonathan Leyland, UK Design Manager at KAEFER. The external walls of each containment liner also feature a series of circular protrusions which had to be accommodated by the scaffolding design. “There is little commonality in the layout of
