Business South May 2021

44 | ENGINEERING Birtson Engineering “We specialise in picking up and moving almost anything to almost anywhere in the top of the South Island.” Lift N Shift Ltd 24 Venice Place, Stoke, Nelson | 03 547 0670 (24 Hours) 03 547 0671 | office.liftnshift@gmail.com Nelson • Blenheim • Christchurch • Timaru • Dunedin • Invercargill Reliable products. Trusted service. SUPPLIER OF: • Screws • Bolts • Building Products • Construction Fasteners • Washers • Bosch Power Tools • Dronco Discs O ffering specialised engineering and de- sign skills has led Birtson Engineering to gaining many significant and diverse contracts in the Nelson region. The company prides itself in delivering total solutions to customers and has in-depth ex- pertise in research and development, design, upgrades, and complete system manufacture. Birtson Engineering specialises in carbon and stainless steel ASME IX welding, Press- Fit systems, 3D Mechanical Design, stainless steel machining and fabrication, horticulture equip- ment, plant maintenance and much more. Owner Damian Birt says the company has grown on the back of the buoyant New Zea- land economy. “It creates a lot of opportunities for every- one and that’s where the growth comes from. Industries grow and they need engineers and design engineers to back up the growth.” His business includes engineers who have qualified through training schemes as well as a former Air New Zealand engineer whose exacting work background is perfect for the specialisation demanded by some of the work undertaken by Birtson Engineering. Being headquartered in Richmond near Nelson means there is an extremely di- verse range of industries nearby, including maritime, chemical, forestry, horticulture, viticulture and a burgeoning pharmaceutical industry. Damian says that Birtson Engineering can work with clients to assess the feasibility of any project and to design a customised solution. One example of a significant project was the recent major upgrade for a Nelson-based plant which primarily manufactures resins for the manufacture of wood products such as MDF, plywood, LVL, particle board and lami- nated wood products. Part of the resin making process involves vaporising methanol through a catalyst to create formaldehyde. Birtson’s work in this system involved eight staff and contractors, with a considerable amount of prefabrication completed in its workshop, with on-site installation carried out at the plant over four weeks. There is plenty of forward work booked ahead for this year, Damian says. Birtson Engineering has completed many significant and diverse contracts in the Nelson region. “It creates a lot of opportunities for everyone and that’s where the growth comes from. Industries grow and they need engineers and design engineers to back up the growth.” T Russell Fredric “There’s lots of work already approved so it’s going to be a real busy year. The next six months will be very busy.” One contract involves the design and instal- lation of a Crest Locus screen around a three million litre fuel tank. “In an earthquake, there are concerns for the potential rupture of the tanks, so we are engineering large structural frames around them. It’s a reasonable size project.” The engineering will involve about two months of fabrication to create an external frame for the tanks with the structural steel housed within stainless steel corrugated cladding. This will result in a roofless tank structure around the existing tanks, initially with two tanks under contract this year. Installation is expected to take about four weeks. “We got that contract because of our fuel services division. In this division we manage the transfer of fuel from ship-to-shore. Located in a fruit growing region, Birtson Engineering also has contracts for mainte- nance and preventative maintenance in the horticulture industry. Regardless of the scale of a project, Damian says Birtson Engineering is committed to delivering exact solutions whether for simple or sophisticated project, utilising specialised technical skills, knowledge and know-how to deliver. Delivering total engineering solutions