TPi September 2018

Business & market news

Welding consumables selected for crossing

steel grades selected, but also suit the welding environment, including weather conditions. After welding trials to establish the ‘best fit’ for the project, Mr Ishibashi and FCBC welding engineer Dave Godfrey of Godfrey Welding Engineering settled on four ESAB welding consumables for the task. For most welded joints on the Queensferry Crossing bridge decking, a single flux-cored wire was specified, namely ESAB OK Tubrod 15.14 (T46 2 P C 1 H5). This versatile wire is suitable for all-positional welding on the S355 grade structural steel used in this exposed application. OK Tubrod 15.14 is universally approved to grade 3 by all major authorities. Welding procedures were undertaken in the vertical and horizontal positions. Impact testing at -20°C resulted in values well in excess of those required by the specification. In some areas where high-tensile S460 grade structural steel was employed, ESAB Filarc PZ6138 (T50 6 1Ni P M H5) was used. This wire, which is commonly specified in the offshore sector, contains 0.9%Ni to ensure reliable Charpy impact properties down to -60°C and good CTOD (crack tip opening displacement) performance to -10°C. Filarc PZ6138 also exhibits a smooth, stable arc with virtually no spatter. ESAB Group (UK) Ltd – UK

The new three-tower, cable-stayed Queensferry Crossing road bridge

scheme has cost approximately £1.35bn and is Scotland’s largest transport infrastructure project in a generation. Built to motorway standards, the bridge has two lanes and a hard shoulder running in each direction, with the roadway supported by three composite steel/concrete towers. To cover all required disciplines for the project, a multinational consortium of four main contractors was required: Hochtief, Germany; Dragados, Spain; Morrison Construction, UK; and American Bridge International, USA. American Bridge was charged with overseeing the production and installation of 121 road sections. This task was coordinated by American Bridge International senior engineer Joshua Ishibashi, who supervised production of the road sections in China, through to final site assembly at Queensferry. A particular challenge for the American Bridge engineers was to find a combination of welding processes and consumables that would not only meet the mechanical properties of the

ESAB, a specialist in welding and cutting technologies, has supplied flux- cored wires and welding electrodes to the Forth Crossing Bridge Constructors (FCBC) consortium, which designed and built the new Queensferry Crossing road bridge across the Firth of Forth for Transport Scotland. At 1.7 miles long, it is the world’s largest three-tower, cable- stayed bridge. Towering 207m above high tide and requiring 150,000 tonnes of concrete and 35,000 tonnes of steel, the overall

info@esab.co.uk www.esab.co.uk

New directors at tube and wire publisher

and will continue to be involved in the sales and marketing activities of the wire magazines. Caroline Sullens assumes the position of chairman of the Leamington Spa, UK-based business, and Mark Sullens will continue as a director. As part of the changes, the company also has a new logo, which will be rolled out on its websites and marketing material.

David Bell has been appointed manag- ing director of Intras Ltd, publisher of Tube & Pipe Technology, Tube Products INTERNATIONAL, EuroWire, Wire & Cable ASIA and wiredInUSA magazines. Additionally, David becomes a shareholder in the 34-year-old company, and will retain his position of editor of the wire titles. After nearly eight years with the company, Jason Smith has been promoted to sales director

Intras Ltd – UK www.intras.co.uk

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TUBE PRODUCTS INTERNATIONAL September 2018

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