A successful tender for the precast concrete cladding panels for the redevelopment of Christchurch Public Hospital led to the establishment of Bradford Precast Ltd – firstly as a subsidiary of the parent Bradford Construction Ltd company, but since 1997 as an independent trading company in its own right. From that first large contract, its capabilities and reputation have grown to the extent that it is now not only one of the larger precasting operations in the South Island, but has also set performance and quality standards that have influence across the entire industry. Bradfords precast work ranges from small, niche architectural housing to very large commercial projects.
Bradford Precast is renowned for the thoroughness of its attention to detail and its sound processes. This is indicative in the company’s standard working procedure: original designs and drawings come in from architects and engineers but, for each precast component, Bradfords prepares its own ‘shop’ drawing from which the panels are made. This ensures an exceptionally high level of accuracy and staff familiarity with the project.
Precast concrete production is a weather-driven process. Rather than follow traditional methods using gantries either in a large building or an exposed site, Bradford’s solution has been to create a versatile series of sheds on rails, which can be configured to protect only those areas where work is being done. This gives greater efficiency, capacity and flexibility; and the ability to cast larger units and store units for clients until they are required on site.
Finished panels are lifted from the casting beds and stored on a steel racking system, not by the more traditional gantries, but by crawler and wheeled mobile cranes. Currently, there are three cranes operating in the yard, and two of them are road-registered cranes of 25 and 12 tons respectively. The latter two are also part of a crane hire operation that has many clients in the district who benefit from the skills honed lifting panels in the precast yard.
A high percentage of customers return regularly with new work and developments. Always South Island leaders in their field, Bradford Precast’s management expertise and skilled operators have continually accepted challenges, building an impressive fount of knowledge and experience, and a reputation to match.
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