Temple Meads roof refurbishment work protected by FIREFLY fire barrier

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A three year £24 million programme of works to repair and repaint the roof structure to Bristol Temple Meads railway station is featuring the use of the ZEUS Horizontal fire barrier system from TBA FIREFLY™: employed to enclose a series of shallow arch scaffold beams or ‘cassettes’ that span the tracks, thereby protecting the workforce from any potential train fire as they use the access deck above.

These cassettes were assembled and installed by Network Scaffolding, a specialist division of main contractor, Taziker, before being wrapped and fire-protected using the ZEUS Horizontal: offering significant logistical as well as cost advantages over alternative solutions. In total, the work has consumed some 3,600m2 of the high performance and fully certificated system supplied through one of FIREFLY’S national distributors.

Network Rail is in overall charge of the project, responsibility for design of the permanent works was taken by engineers Stantec, while RDG designed the scaffolded temporary works package.

The scope of the works is summarised by Network Rail as involving the renovation and re-glazing, including extensive metal and woodwork repairs to the main train shed roof, as well as further work on roofing over what is known as ‘Bonaparte’s Alley’.

Due to the project’s unique challenges, Stantec undertook due diligence in conjunction with the manufacturer to verify the necessary technical details and certifications.

The Project Manager for Taziker, Mike Ives, commented:

“We originally looked at a number of options for fire-protecting the scaffold arches being erected by our group sister company, Network Scaffolding: including protecting the cassettes with intumescent paint or fire-boarding, and even raising the scaffold higher up, but they all had their downsides.

Subsequently there were a number of meetings on site involving TBA, ourselves, Network Rail and the various design consultants to determine the best solution. While we were able to utilise a number of FIREFLY’S standard details, such as for penetrations and jointing the material, bespoke details also had to be devised to make the ZEUS suitable for the application.”

FIREFLY™ ZEUS Horizontal 60:30 is able to offer 30 minutes’ insulation and a full one hour’s integrity in a variety of applications. Third Party certified by IFCC (certificate No 1532) Zeus Horizontal comprises a flexible fabric which is chemically treated to optimise its thermal properties and prevent the spread of fire. While it was actually developed to create compartmentation within hidden areas of buildings, such as roof spaces and floor voids, the system is also ideally suited for protecting the underside and vertical sides to the scaffold cassettes. Small quantities of TBA’s WP non-combustible weather protection membrane will also be installed at the ends of the canopy.

Taziker, which derives some 90% of its income from rail industry contracts, will involve a glazing sub-contractor to replace all glazing and will self-deliver steelwork repairs and application of a protective coating system with new LBC approved colour scheme to the steel structures.

Repairs to the platform canopies and in the forecourt are also scheduled with completion due in 2023.

Specifiers and specialist fire contractors wishing to find more information about the full range of products available from TBA FIREFLY™ can visit www.tbafirefly.com