Southdown Engineers Ltd
Southdown Engineers Ltd is a family-owned transport and access firm that can trace its roots back to 1800s when ancestors were recorded as ploughmen and carters, transporting goods by horse and cart.
Today the Sussex based firm, through its road plate hire arm, is a world leading provider of road crossing and trench plates, temporary roadways and allied non-mechanical plant and it also boasts an expanding vehicle fleet with one of the most comprehensive ranges of loading transport businesses in the region.
For the Rampion project they provided medium and long term hire and supply of road crossing plates, ekki bog mats and temporary roadways to enable Carillion teams and contractors, plus their heavy equipment, to access the 27 kilometre linear construction site. They also provided low loader, heavy haulage and beavertail trucks and transport as needed, and were able to design and fabricate specialist trailers, modify route obstacles and develop delivery systems to accommodate the oversize loads, including large cable drums.
Sean Preston, Managing Director of Southdown Engineers said:
Our company heritage, skills and local knowledge ensured Carillion could count on excellent logistical support when required, without the burden of either owning, or operating, their own or issuing long term contracts for services which could be hard to quantify at the outset.
Our reputation and results, in combination with the fact we successfully passed the rigorous Carillion vendor approval process, ensured we were the ‘go to’ people for everything from miscellaneous fixtures and fittings, to safe site training venues for plant operators or machinery trails.
We have around 20 staff and the Rampion work gave them the opportunity to experience and solve a wide range of transport and access challenges. It also gave us the opportunity to expand our workforce, particularly with welder fabricators who worked on the duct delivery trailers.
Financially, the work definitely helped us to increase turnover, and our approved vendor status has meant we have been able to supply services to other Carillion projects across the country including a new hospital being built in Smethwick and the M6 smart-motorway near Stoke-on-Trent.
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