NEWBRIDGE TRAINING FACILITY

As part of a £12 million investment to enhance the safety of 60 of eastern Scotland’s communities, the new training facility is expected to be used for training more than 1,600 frontline firefighters annually.

The Level B facility will provide realistic fire training within controlled conditions using LPG-powered fires for training of medium frequency and medium-high complexity.

While Robertson supplied the headquarters building, we designed, supplied, and installed three associated training structures, including:

Petrochemical Rig – a two-storey open structure intended to house several vessels and simulate a typical chemical plant. Complete with two steel stair wells, the Rig totalled 20 tonnes of hot rolled steelwork.

Domestic Building – a two-storey fully clad structure intended to simulate domestic house environment, with two single-storey units (by others) to act as Attack and Demo spaces . The structure totalled 20 tonnes of structural steelwork, with further steel doors, windows, and galvanised trapezoidal panels to the roof and façade.

Commercial Building – a four-storey fully clad structure with maximum occupancy capacity of three fire crews, intended to provide simulations of a garage and basement, office, hotel, hospital, and commercial space. Complete with two external steel stair units, the 60 tonnes structure covered a footprint of 12.5 metres by 8.5 metres and 9 metres high.

We provided structural design service for all three structures. Our design had to consider the strict requirements of SFRS to produce smoke-tight and heat resistant structures, to be fitted by others with ducting and equipment.

Working closely with Draeger, our estimating department presented engineering input to suit the requirements (including internal drainage channels) and value engineering options. We identified additional steel requirements for vent hood supports, louvre supports, and internal partitions.

Our in-house engineering and design team engineered steel doors complete with replaceable safety glass and wood panels, and openings equipped with air-tight and smoke-sealed steel shutters to simulate windows. All doors and windows were then fabricated in-house at our Teesside facility.

All three structures contained burn areas at locations of fire cribs and vessel fires, requiring our fabrication and installation of easily replaceable linings formed from 3mm Corten steel plate. Other ancillaries that we supplied and installed include open grid flooring, 6mm chequer plate, Bilco steel floor hatches, handrail, and safety gates.