Kiernan Structural Steel Ltd tell Irish building magazine about their new SIN Beam System, the advantages it can offer clients and their Company services.

Composed of two steel flanges welded to a corrugated steel web, SIN Beam is a light and efficiently manufactured steel beam made by use of advanced engineering technology.

SIN Beam profiles can bridge lengths over 40m. The profiles offer great adaptability and can be cut to length and fabricated similar to standard steel rolled sections. The System will ultimately reduce costs for clients without compromising quality. KSSL intend to also sell SIN Beams to other steel fabricators in Ireland and the UK.

Savings with SIN Beam

Speaking about SIN Beam, Structural Engineer John Kiernan explained the origins of this technology, “SIN Beam was first introduced in Austria in the early 1990s. It is new technology to Ireland and the UK structural steel markets and KSSL have secured exclusivity to manufacture & supply these markets.”

SIN Beams are primarily used for:
•   Long-span portal frames
•   Long span roof structures (replacing roof trusses)
•   Open-sided multi-storey car parks
•   Pedestrian footbridges

John told us about the current projects Kiernan Structural Steel Ltd are using SIN Beam on. “We have three jobs in the pipeline that will be using SIN Beam.”

Describing the advantages of the System, John said, “There are big financial savings compared with large rolled sections. You can save 20 to 35% in weight which transfers to significant cost savings. The machine can produce 1m of beam per minute from 350mm to 1,580 mm deep.” The special design of this product is covered in the European Code of Design of steel structures: EN 1993-1-5 Annex D.

John explained, “On a traditional portal frame the main advantage is that it can eliminate the need for a having to cut and weld haunches which can provide significant manufacturing cost savings when it comes to making roof rafters.”

The SIN Beam machine consists of a de-coiler, longitudinal splitter with roll-forming unit, flange plate intermediate-storage and in-feed, assembly and welding station, as well as beam conveyors. The welding process is automatically executed by two welding robots. For the precise welding line, the surface of the corrugation is scanned by the robots using laser sensors.

To minimise the impact on the environment the SIN Beam System is a green solution as the SIN Beams are manufactured with steel plates that require less energy during the manufacturing process compared with large rolled steel sections. Also, the overall tonnages of steel required are much less. This ties in well with the Company’s ISO 14001 environmental management system objectives.

Services and Projects

Kiernan Structural Steel Ltd has become one of Ireland’s leading structural steel contractors. The Company provides a wide range of services to the steel construction industry, including structural design value engineering services. Speaking of the Company’s in-house capability and services offered, John said, “We provide value engineering services, and design and build services for clients. We have our own in-house designers and detailers. We offer fabrication, welding and painting of structural steelwork, castellated beams and steel truss manufacture, intumescent painting, safety netting, metal decking installation and shear stud welding and edge protection services.

The Company has worked on high-profile projects in Ireland, including Alexion Pharmaceuticals, BMS Pharmaceuticals, many Data centres, Dublin’s Guinness Brewery. The Company also has an impressive portfolio of UK projects in the commercial and environmental sectors including The KIA Oval Cricket Ground and the redevelopment of Ruislip for London GAA. The Company’s Irish Office is in Carrigglas, County Longford and the UK Office is in Harrow, North West London.

John described the Longford plant. “The plant is 11,500m² in area. We can produce in excess of 350 tonnes of steel a week.”

We asked him about the recent large Alexion project completed by the Company. “We have just finished a project in Blanchardstown, Dublin for Alexion Pharmaceuticals for which we produced almost 7,000 tonnes of steel. On that project, the steel received 2-hour intumescent paint off-site and in the project we manufactured the largest UB and UC sections rolled in Britain. The building was 50m in height.”

Lean Manufacturing and Lean Construction

The Company is using Lean. John said, “We use Lean in the factory to improve processes. It has improved production workflow, safety, communications, empowered staff and improved the services we offer clients. With regards SIN Beam we will provide a Lean service to the client by eliminating waste and saving them money.”

SIN Beam Information

PowerPoint presentations, images of European projects, and load design tables are available on request. Readers interested in SIN Beam and other services offered by Kiernan Structural Steel Ltd can contact John Kiernan by email john.kiernan@kssl.ie or phone him on 0868255492.