Tata Steel: A new foundation for the upgrade of the Koudwals 21 Intake/Output

The upgrade of the cold rolling system (Koudwals 21) at Tata Steel’s cold strip mill required a new foundation and modifications to the existing foundations. EversPartners had the job of designing the foundation, making the calculations and drawings for the pile plan, and designing the concrete construction on which the steel construction for the cold roller would be mounted. The firm’s task also included all the work for modifying the steel structure and façades, and procuring all the required permits.

Working in a brownfield

The biggest challenge for this foundation was working on a brownfield site. The expansion of the mill (the new looper section) extended into an alley that had a large number of underground cables and lines. Rerouting these cables and lines was not an option, so the new foundation construction had to be modified to allow for them. That was on the intake side, but there were equally ‘heavy’ requirements on the output side.

There, construction had to happen above a great many basement areas and deep construction elements, so the challenge here was to keep the demolition work and the new concrete construction watertight.

Building on the design for the mill upgrade

Tata Steel set a number of very strict requirements for the upgrade – not just structural, to prevent distortions and subsistence, but also on the completion date. That left the vendor very little room for modifications, which meant that EversPartners had to create the maximum flexibility to keep the design optimal.

Our 3D design tool allowed us to import the blueprints from the other parties and overlay them on our 3D design to check whether our plans were feasible. When this revealed any issues, we could then resolve them in the design phase.

Role of EversPartners

Cees was the link between Tata Steel, the equipment manufacturer and the EP construction team. He attended the meetings with the vendors, the equipment manufacturer and Tata. He was responsible for conveying their needs to our construction team and channelling their results back to Tata and the vendor.

Current status

As of this writing (April 2020), the foundation for the intake section has been completed and the steel construction has been partially mounted on it. The foundation at the output side will be completed in the week of 20 July. The plan was for the new system to go online this summer, but that schedule has been thrown into uncertainty by coronavirus, being that many of the components are sourced from Spain and Italy.

EversPartners’ added value

We know our way around Tata Steel, because we’ve done a number of projects for them in recent years. That, along with our flexibility, has helped us to be able to meet Tata’s needs within the specifications that they set on the upgrade of the cold rolling system.

Cees van Bodegom

’This was a complex challenge! And thanks to the dedication of the whole team, we succeeded in delivering the best result.’

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