Steel Erection Oxford

Overview

Steel erection in Oxford and across Oxfordshire

Laboratory and technology firms at Oxford Science Park, Oxford Business Park and Milton Park add plant decks, extensions and internal platforms to buildings they keep working in. In the centre, behind listed frontages, the frames are small and the steel often goes in over a roof, while new portal frame units go up on open ground on the Banbury, Bicester and Witney estates. Ring road traffic and the zero emission zone govern when a steel wagon reaches a central plot.

Plant decks and internal platforms are the most common jobs, and the bigger frames are the multi-bay units on the Bicester estates, where the crane has open ground to work from. We cover Kidlington and Botley to Abingdon, Didcot and the county towns. A new unit on one of those estates is priced from drawings and photographs, the same working day in most cases.

What steel erection covers

Steel from your fabricator is erected, bolted up, lined and levelled, with its bracing and secondary members fitted by the same gang. LFS and SFS light gauge framing is included, and we take existing steel out too, such as an old plant deck being replaced.

What we do

What we erect in Oxford

Structure	Where it goes up	What sets the method
Plant decks on laboratory buildings	The science and business parks around the city and at Milton Park	Sensitive rooms below the lift and the hours the estate allows
Portal frames for new units	Open estates in Bicester, Banbury and Witney	How many crane set-ups the frame needs on open ground
Small frames and rooftop steel	Plots behind listed frontages in the centre	A single standing position and what the jib passes over
Process platforms and walkways	Food and drink plants across the county	Hygiene zones and the shutdown dates
Mezzanines in existing units	Trade and engineering units at Osney Mead and Botley	Door size and the slab under each column
Frames taken apart for reconfiguration	Units being re-planned or cleared	What stays standing as members are released

Read more on our steel erection and dismantling service page.

Sectors

Where we work in and around Oxford

Six kinds of site account for the steel we put up in Oxfordshire.

Laboratory buildings on the science and business parks

Rooftop plant decks, small extensions and internal platforms are added on the parks south-east of the city and at Milton Park, around rooms where vibration and dust matter. See our healthcare and pharma page.

Behind the listed frontages

Compact frames, plant platforms and replacement roof steel go into buildings in the centre, lifted from a narrow street with the owner’s agreement to pass over the roofline.

New units on the Banbury, Bicester and Witney estates

Portal frames for workshops, warehouses and trade units go up on estates with room for the crane to move along the building. See our industrial sector page.

Food and drink plants

Access platforms, walkways and support steel for new process equipment are fitted inside production halls across the county, in short shutdowns or beside a running line. See our food and beverages page.

Substations and water treatment works

Equipment frames and access steel go in at substations and treatment works inside outage windows the operator sets. See our power and renewables page.

Residential and commercial schemes

Frames, canopies and light gauge infill walls go up on schemes in the city and the county towns, often on plots with a single way in. See our construction sector page.

Planning

Access and planning for steel erection in Oxford

We settle these for each Oxford frame before the fabricator loads a wagon:

• Wagons timed for the ring road. Steel comes off the M40 onto the A34 or A40 and then onto a ring road that clogs at peak times, so delivery slots are booked outside them. For a central plot, every vehicle is checked against the zero emission zone first.
• A plan drawn before fabrication. Our appointed person fixes the crane position, the radius and any oversail of a neighbouring roof, and the fabricator then loads to the order the crane places the members.
• Low ground along the rivers. Plots beside the Thames and the Cherwell are checked for bearing, and crane mats are sized to the outrigger loads.
• A braced frame whenever the gang stops. The sequence gets bracing in early, and any bay left open is held with temporary braces or guys.
• Road space through Oxfordshire County Council. Where the crane or a delivery needs part of the street, we apply to the county council and arrange the traffic management and road closure.

Alterations

Alterations, mezzanines and dismantling

Before new steel is tied into a building that stays in use, we survey the existing frame and its connections. A mezzanine or platform that no crane can reach, say in a Botley trade unit, is built up on gantries and jacks, or set in place by our electric pick and carry crane, which gives off no exhaust inside.

For steel coming down, the order of release is planned so the frame left behind stays stable throughout. Members that will be re-erected elsewhere are match-marked on the way out.

Coverage

Postcodes and areas we cover

We cover every OX postcode and the Oxfordshire districts around the city:

• Oxford: city centre, Jericho, Summertown, Headington, Cowley and Blackbird Leys
• Around the city: Kidlington, Botley, Abingdon, Woodstock and Wheatley
• The county: Bicester, Witney, Carterton, Thame, Watlington, Didcot, Wallingford, Wantage, Banbury, Chipping Norton and Deddington
• Wider area: Swindon, Reading, Aylesbury, Milton Keynes and Newbury

We erect steel right across the UK.

Why Synergy

Why Oxford firms choose Synergy Lifting for steel erection

• Steel for working laboratories. Plant decks and platforms go onto science park buildings with the rooms below kept in use.
• Frames for growing county firms. Businesses moving to bigger units in Banbury, Bicester and Witney get portal frames and mezzanine floors from us.
• Our own planner, our own gang. The appointed person who writes the lift plan and the erectors who follow it are one team, so the crane and the sequence agree.
• Qualified and accredited. CPCS and CSCS carded operatives, lifts planned to BS 7121 by an appointed person, equipment inspected under LOLER and PUWER, SSIP approved, Constructionline Gold Member, certified to ISO 9001 and ISO 14001, and members of the Construction Plant-hire Association.

Services

More than steel erection

These services sit alongside our Oxford steel work:

• Crane hire in Oxford
• Lift and shift in Oxford
• Industrial plant dismantling in Oxford
• Factory relocation in Oxford
• Cladding and roofing
• Electric pick and carry crane hire
• Traffic management and road closures

Process

How a steel erection job works

1. 01

   First we need your general arrangement drawings and steel schedule, with the address and the programme dates.

2. 02

   Then a site look: standing positions, ground, the approach for deliveries, somewhere to lay steel down and any cables overhead.

3. 03

   Our appointed person draws the lift plan. Alongside it go a risk assessment and a method statement showing the temporary stability of the frame at every stage.

4. 04

   Loading order is agreed between your fabricator and us before the first wagon is booked.

5. 05

   We erect and brace the steel, line and level it, and leave the frame ready for whoever follows us on.

FAQs

Common questions