Hardy access services were asked to commission a scheme that would enable an existing lead organ chamber roof to be stripped and recovered using a stainless hard metal in St Helens.
As the process was very time consuming, a temporary roof was a necessity, but due to the location of the roof in the layout of the church, this was not an easy option. Due to the existing side aisle roof below, nave roof above and proximity of the adjacent church tower, a traditional over span temporary roof could not be constructed. So a scheme was put forward that relied on the only weight bearing structures available, the church walls themselves. Utilising multiple shear ties and beams, a design was proposed that would provide a spanned platform from which the access scaffold and temporary roof to be constructed, without bearing any weight on the lower roofs and maintain the support required to withstand the loads imposed on the temporary roof by the winter weather.
