Hutcheon & Pearce

<p class="rteBlock">Hutcheon &amp; Pearce is a family-owned machinery and equipment manufacturer and an authorised John Deere dealer, with a history spanning three generations. </p><br><p class="rteBlock">As a rapidly growing supplier and service centre for large agricultural machinery, the business needed a spacious structure with high clearances to keep pace with demand for equipment servicing.</p>

<p class="rteBlock">The Hutcheon &amp; Pearce team had outgrown their previous facility and reached out to  Steelcorp with a requirement for a larger structure. </p><br><p class="rteBlock">The design for this industrial workshop needed to be quite high to factor in overhead crane requirements, large openings and a machinery wash bay. Maintenance of larger machinery and attachments is a key part of the business, so clear space and manoeuvrability were essential. </p>

<p class="rteBlock">Our team was tasked with designing a 6-bay workshop, including one open bay with an opening stretching the full 11.5m height of the structure. Our scope included fabrication of the hot dipped galvanised steel package, purlins and girts, external steel cladding and internal structural partition walls. </p><br><p class="rteBlock">Our design team handled the 3D structural steel drawings, engineering certificate and computations, and we also ensured the structure was designed appropriately for an overhead crane with crane rails and stubs running the full length of the enclosed area. </p><br><p class="rteBlock">Industrial roller shutter doors, industrial fire egress-compliant access doors, guttering, above ground rainwater systems and roof insulation were also part of our scope. </p>

<p class="rteBlock">Steelcorp’s Project Manager, Lane Barker, explains that achieving the required strength for the slab and footings presented a challenge, however our engineering team was able to solve this whilst also reducing costs. </p><br><p class="rteBlock">“An overhead crane installation was planned for Hutcheon &amp; Pearce’s workshop, and due to heavy loads on the column base connections (and challenging ground conditions), the design required very large pad footings measuring 1400 x 1400 x 1500mm deep,” says Lane. </p><br><p class="rteBlock">“However, rather than installing a large reinforcement cage that extended the full 1500mm depth, our team found a better solution. We applied 15MPa blinding concrete beneath the required socket depth at 800mm deep to achieve the required bearing capacity.”</p><br><p class="rteBlock">“This method allowed us to achieve the required depth while reducing both the amount of reinforcement and the amount of higher MPa concrete required. This resulted in material and installation cost savings for the client,” notes Lane. </p>

<p class="rteBlock">Hutcheon &amp; Pearce’s industrial facility is a testament to our commitment to excellence and our dedication to exceeding our clients&#x27; expectations. </p><br><p class="rteBlock">Mitchell Barber, Property and Facilities Manager at Hutcheon &amp; Pearce, notes that our quality of work and efficient communication helped the project run smoothly. </p><br><p class="rteBlock">“Steelcorp was great to deal with. Any issues were met head-on and solved with a can-do attitude,” says Mitchell. </p><br><p class="rteBlock">“After a delay due to council and a reshuffle of work, the project started on a new timeline and was finished within the time frames given. Once the council approvals were met Steelcorp delivered on time and on budget – and the quality of the work was great.”</p><br><p class="rteBlock">Hutcheon &amp; Pearce now have an efficiently designed, fit-for-purpose structure where they can continue to grow the Coleambally branch and better service their clients.</p>