When ASSDA Accredited Fabricator Bridgeman Stainless won a tender to supply stainless steel balustrades for Queensland Rail, supplying quality materials with excellent fabrication techniques was at the forefront of their mind.

The upgrade of Oxford Park and Grovely rail stations in Brisbane’s North West was a 12-month project, headed by Arup and Moggill Constructions, and included significant use of stainless steel for the hand rails and balustrades.

Director Len Webb says the job was an excellent opportunity to showcase stainless steel at its best, rather than reverting to cheaper, less reliable materials and fabrication techniques.

“The project manager, Allan Bolt, and I had a number of meetings with Arup and Moggill to discuss how best to use stainless steel to its advantage,” he says.

Bridgeman Stainless supplied a prototype of the balustrades before any work began, to ensure issues such as tea-staining were addressed.

“By doing ASSDA’s Stainless Steel Specialist Course, we were able to confidently discuss the importance of using certain finishes to help prevent issues such as tea-staining,” Len said.

The project used 54 square metres of plate, and almost 5400 metres of 1.6mm tube in diameters of 50.0mm, 38.1mm and 15.88mm. All stainless steel supplied by Bridgeman was in grade 304 and was polished to a #600 grit.  The tube materials were supplied by Tubesales in Yatala, Queensland and the plate was supplied by Atlas Specialty Metals in Wacol.  The plate was polished by an external contractor.

The balustrades were largely made offsite but then transported to the stations where they were welded together.  The joints were then passivated, re-polished back to the #600 finish and then, finally, cleaned.

A maintenance prevention schedule will be delivered on completion of the job, paying particular attention to those areas where the stainless steel is undercover and not regularly cleaned by rain.

Bridgeman Stainless Project Manager Allan Bolt says the company’s commitment to ongoing education about stainless steel and their dedication to quality workmanship had secured their reputation in the industry.

Moggill Constructions Senior Project Manager Marc Kuypers says the emphasis Bridgeman Stainless took on quality showed in their results.
“We hadn’t worked with Bridgeman Stainless before and we are quite impressed with their work,” Marc says.

Arup Superintendent Representative John Rutherfoord said he was particularly impressed by the quality of the work Bridgeman carried out on site.

John, Marc, Len and Allan agreed that the success of the project was due largely to the excellent communication between all parties involved.

Len said, as one of the first ASSDA Accredited Fabricators, Bridgeman Stainless thoroughly endorses the ASSDA Accredition program as it distinguishes fabricators with quality practices within the industry.

This article featured in Australian Stainless magazine - Issue 42 - Summer 2008