Business North October 2021

10 | Major projects the BDX civil construction division is involved in are Kotata Rise and Port Nikau. REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT Whangārei: BDX Group BDX is now working on a number of other projects for the City Rail Link including a six-metre high hopper to assist with materials handling on site. Proud to help bring BDX Group’s innovative thinking to life. Diversity key to success from page 8 Infrastructure works are commencing at Ohakea Air Force Base for facilities dedicated to operating and supporting the P-8A fleet at Ohakea. Hamish says BDX has partnered with Conslab to design and fabricate the concrete shutting system (formwork) to pour the hardstand slabs on which the aircraft will sit. Hamish says incredibly specialised engineer- ing was required including 3-D modelling and prototyping before manufacture of the final products. “It was a unique opportunity for the BDX team to work on a challenging project. Very tight manufacturing tolerances were required so that the slabs interlocked as per the de- sign,” he explains. He says that BDX’s chartered engineer- ing capabilities give the company an edge enabling it to control design and construction works in-house on such projects. Another example is BDX’s contribution to the City Rail Link project in Auckland for the Link Alliance. This saw the BDX team fabricate thousands of steel supports for the services behind the Tunnel Boring Machine. “Staying competitive on a large scale manu- facturing job you have to pay special attention to lean manufacturing processes. It was a lot of up front planning,” says Hamish. BDX is now working on a number of other projects for the City Rail Link including a six-metre high hopper to assist with materi- als handling on site and a complex piece of fabrication to produce a seal ring for when the Tunnel Boring Machine breaks through into Aotea Station. Hamish says this will also involve tight quality control to meet the exact tolerances. A project recently completed was for Golden Bay Cement for its used tyre burner facility. This saw BDX fabricate and install all the structural steel conveyor supports for the project as well as extensive modifications to existing plant and process equipment. The six-month project was completed in January 2021 and Hamish says the tight time frame was the main challenge, demonstrating the capabilities of BDX to get the job done and successfully collaborate with the myriad of contractors involved in the project. Hamish says the biggest barrier to company growth is obtaining enough qualified staff. BDX has successfully collaborated with WINZ to place people into employment. The company has trained around 65 ap- prentices since its inception and currently has 13 in various stages.