HadFab and a Ficep CNC angle line take on monumental contract
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HadFab, has recently received a contract to produce the steelwork for a unique statue designed by the prominent sculptor, Mr Antony Gormley, and commissioned by the Dutch government, for the town of Lelystad.
Antony Gormley is the world renowned sculptor, famous for the "Angel of the North" and "Another Place", which consisted of 100 cast-iron, life-size figures spread out along three kilometres of the foreshore, on Crosby beach, near Liverpool.
The 25 metre high statue, depicting a crouching man, will be completely constructed from steel angle profiles produced on the latest "state of the art" Ficep HP16T6 CNC angle line, by HadFab, a steel fabricator, based in Haddington, near Edinburgh,
This machine was purchased specifically for this contract and now brings the total number of Ficep machines operated by HadFab to 4.
There are many challenges to be overcome with this hugely complicated structure and Tekla software was used after the initial shape was designed, in collaboration with Cambridge University. The model is being detailed in Tekla structures and interfaced with Steel Projects WinSteel to produce machine codes for the Ficep angle line.
The material is punch sheared to length by the equipment and highly skilled labour intensive shaping of the material is done. This involves forming up to 550 nodes, consisting of up to 27 angles, meeting together to form locating points, around the structure. These are to be joined together with longer angles, bolted and welded in position. In total there will be 4,400 holes punched in the angle profiles and the total weight of the structure will be 60 tonnes.
The statue is scheduled to take 18 months to complete.
