Temporary Structure, BBC Gardeners’ World Live

Requirement

For a major outside broadcast of the BBC’s Gardeners’ World programme at the NEC in May 2000, De Boer Structures erected a giant temporary pavilion of an irregular shape to house the public event.

A rapid, cost-effective and unobtrusive means of tying down the structure was required. The method used, to prevent wind uplift, also had to have the facility to be capped off and concealed below ground level for retrieval and future use.

Solution

Due to a good working relationship between De Boers and Anchor Systems, following the successful use of mechanical ground anchors with re-locatable structures at previous events, De Boers again chose to use these well proven mechanical ground anchors.

Using a Montebert 125 breaker mounted on a JCB, sister company, WT Specialist Contracts, drove 136 mechanical ground cast iron anchors into the granular, sand and gravel soil. The anchors were then locked and set to a working load of 30kN.

At the top end of the 15mm high yield bars a loop was welded to the load nut through which webbing straps were used to tie down the structure and ensure that there would be no movement.