Pilotage begins for £138m construction of UK’s largest open die forging plant

The company delivers an area of ​​13,800 m² building to house the steel forging facility. It is part of the Sheffield Forgemasters recapitalization program owned by the Ministry of Defense (MOD).

A demolition program at Sheffield Forgemasters’ Brightside Lane base has opened the site for the next phase of construction, which will see piling specialist Cementation Skanska construct a 200m long secant pile wall for the new forge, ranging in depth from 8 to 10 m.

Cementation Skanska has signed a £12.1m contract for the work, which will see a total of 1,300 piles driven.

Of these, 300 will be rotary drilled, while the remaining 1,000 will be CFA piles, which are faster and cheaper to install and will help reduce carbon for the contract.

As part of the scheme, a 40m high superstructure will be built to house a new 13,000t heavy forging press, furnaces, tempering pits and cranes.

The use of basalt reinforcement for the project follows a successful trial as part of Skanska’s Cementation work at High Speed ​​​​2 (HS2) in London. It is 4.5 times lighter than conventional steel rebar, making it much easier to transport and for operators to move around the site. No sparks are produced when cutting, meaning no hot work permit is required and it will not corrode or rust.

Sheffield Forgemasters specializes in the design and manufacture of high integrity forgings and castings for complex engineering challenges.

The company operates a fully integrated manufacturing process including steel fabrication, forging, foundry, machining and testing from its single site in Sheffield.

The forging line is scheduled to be operational in the summer of 2027 and will be complemented by a new machining facility, which is currently being expanded.

Sheffield Forgemasters director of recapitalization and transformation, Craig Fisher, said: “We are now at a notable stage in our Forge project, with the site fully cleared and processed so that piling work can continue.

“This moves the project into its next phase, which is where the pace of delivery increases.”

Vinci Building Chris Winspear said: “We are delighted to have now completed demolition and prepared the first areas of the site ready to receive the substructure works for the new building.

“We look forward to the next phase of the project, working in collaboration with our supply chain partner, Cementation Skanska, appointed to carry out the piling and ground engineering package.”

Skanska Cementation Managing Director Andy Entwistle said: “We have developed a collaborative relationship with Vinci Building and Sheffield Forgemasters which has helped us to reduce program timelines and costs.

“We revised the initial design assumptions and through further analysis and testing, reduced the number of rotary bore piles, replacing them with CFA piles. They are faster and cheaper to install and also reduce carbon emissions. It really shows the benefits of bringing design and construction capabilities together from the early stages of a project.

“We are delighted to start working on site alongside our local supply chain, which helps provide jobs and opportunities for local people.”

The origins of Sheffield Forgemasters date back to the 1750s when it operated as a small blacksmith’s forge. Today, Sheffield Forgemasters is capable of producing the largest and most difficult cast and forged steel components in the world.

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