Newport Transporter Bridge Visitor Centre

The historic Transporter Bridge that crosses the river Usk in Newport is one of just a few of its kind remaining.

Originally built in 1906, it's now one of just a handful of working transporter bridges worldwide, standing as an extraordinary testament to Edwardian construction and engineering.

The iconic Transporter Bridge has undergone extensive refurbishment and restoration, including the construction of a new multi-million-pound visitor centre underneath the bridge, encouraging visitors to learn about the history of the bridge, how it was built, and the stories of those who built the gigantic structure.

Challenge

Kingscourt Cladding Services were contracted to construct the exterior cladding, including the unique soffit application.

The challenging construction included multiple levels of soffits to fix, adding complexity with the use of bespoke folded panels and varying sizes of cladding zones, dictating the requirements of the support system needed.

Solution

Following façade calculations undertaken by the Fixfast Technical team, as well as providing expert advice, Fixfast recommended the use of their SPIDI Max façade support brackets.

Different lengths of brackets were utilised within the soffit construction to accommodate all the various cladding zones, as well as the inclusion of SPIDI rails and stainless steel DrillFast fasteners and nylon frame plug anchors as part of the installation.

The one bracket design makes installation straightforward, saving time on-site and giving installers an efficient way to fix support systems across a wide range of applications.

(With thanks to Kingscourt Cladding Services for the images)

"Fixfast provided a unique solution; other façade bracket systems would have required brackets with extension bars to enable us to support the soffits off the floor slab and steel at the required levels.

With varying depth brackets available (we used up to 900mm), we had a single fix solution which reduced both site installation time and costs.

The standard size range of brackets being in stock meant we could get additional brackets quickly if required, and although the longer brackets had to be manufactured to order, Fixfast were able to improve on the initial stated delivery period."

Dave Readings - Kingscourt Cladding Services Ltd