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CASE STUDY: Culham Engineering
Northland rugby fans can take special pride in the new Eden Park stadium in Auckland. The large steel silver ferns enveloping the stadium and the video replay screens have been created by Northland company Culham Engineering.
The silver fern facade at Eden Park.
More than 3km of steel pipe was used to create the curved façade for the South Stand, according to Culham Engineering managing director Shane Culham.
The company already had the machines and tradespeople on hand to make the complicated curved steel project -- about 50 of the company’s 170 staff were involved in aspects of its construction.
“However, it was still a challenging project because it involved so many trades and it had to be done to a very tight timeline,’’ he says. “Once the structures had been made, there was still the delivery trips to Auckland which had to be exactly on time because everything was delivered “just in time”. We had to plan, produce and deliver and everything went like clockwork.
“The ferns and associated structure were delivered in more than 30 truckloads – all in the early hours of the morning because they were all wide loads which needed pilot vehicles for the three-and-a-half hour journey to the stadium site.”
Once the façade was in place, clear plastic sheets were affixed (made by another company) and inflated like pillows to complete the quite stunning effect.
Shane says the project was technically challenging because there were more than 2500 brackets required on different geometric angles.
“It was all fully computer modeled to make sure all of the parts could be accurately fabricated. We worked with a number of other companies to ensure total integration,’’ he said.
Watch the time lapse video of the construction and installation:
Shane says the company, which was formed more than 50 years ago, was extremely delighted to have been part of the stadium project. “The client relationships we have built over the years are very important to us – some, for example with the New Zealand Refining Company to handle the shut downs, projects and maintenance activities at Marsden Pt, go back over 45 years.’’
Up to 40 Culham staff are working on-site at the refinery at any one time.
He says Culham Engineering, which sits on a 9ha site off Port Rd, Whangarei, has the capacity for large projects, which it is involved with all over New Zealand.
A current example is cranage supply for wind turbines for a project near Wellington.
“We have a range of all terrain cranes, including a 400-tonne lifting capacity crawler crane, which can be used on projects like these.’’
The company also has a 400-tonne capacity slipway with berthage and load out facilities, allowing direct access to Whangarei Harbour for when large projects needed to be delivered by sea.
