Bangor’s new £40m Olympic-sized swimming pool, said to be the UK’s largest glulam project, faces further construction delays after many of the 11-tonne beams were damaged during their sea voyage to Belfast.
Austrian glulam manufacturer Wiehag GmbH has had to remanufacture a quarter of the 27 curved beams, following the damage which occurred during storms on the voyage from Rotterdam. The damage to the 70m long beams, which were manufactured in two parts, occurred in one of the two ships transporting the order.
Wiehag engineers and project managers from client North Down Borough Council assessed the damage beams at Belfast and concluded several could not be used.
A council spokesperson told TTJ that damage was concentrated at the end of beams.
“We do have six beams up on site at the moment and a further three new ones are arriving on Monday,” the spokesperson said.
“The manufacturers have been great in dealing with it.”
“Wiehag cancelled their Christmas break and produced the replacement elements within three shifts to minimise the delay in construction,” said Wiehag.
“We are now on site since January 9 and are in close collaboration with the main contractor Farrans, accelerating the installation schedule to help bring the programme back on track.”
Local newspaper the Spectator reported that the project had already been delayed once, beyond the start of this year’s London Olympics, due to financial problems with the council’s original choice of contractor, meaning the pool could not be used as a training centre for competitors.
At 1,500m³, the project – Northern Ireland’s first 50m swimming pool – is believed to be the UK’s largest glulam project involving 11-tonne beams (1.5m deep x420mm wide) manufactured from PEFC-certified spruce. The entire roof is 165m long by 70m wide.
