STRUCTURAL steel firm John Reid & Sons Ltd (REIDsteel) and design and build specialists Civils Contracting Ltd (Civils) have started work on another major new business aircraft service centre at London Biggin Hill Airport. The REIDsteel and Civils partnership has been successfully delivering aircraft hangars for over 20 years. The state-of-the-art development for Bombardier Aviation will comprise a hangar of nearly 250,000 sq ft, including workshops and office space, plus 650,000 sq ft of apron area, car park and external works. The service centre will be capable of housing up to 14 Global 7500s at any one time, and provides a significant expansion of Bombardier’s service facilities at London Biggin Hill Airport. Dorset-based REIDsteel is providing design, drawing, fabrication and construction services for all steelwork, wall cladding, roof cladding, glazing and hangar doors – for main contractor Civils Contracting Ltd. Civils has already started the site works with extensive clearance, reduced dig and ground engineering works. The first steel reinforced cages are now being installed in readiness for the pouring of the foundations which have to resist the 2000T uplift loads that the 45m cantilever rafter trusses will create. The development is due to complete in 2022. REIDsteel Project Director Richard Hanson said: “From our early beginnings making hangars for the famous French airman Louis Bleriot, REIDsteel has worked with aviation pioneers. “We are proud to support Bombardier and London Biggin Hill on this latest, exciting development with Civils Contracting Ltd. “It highlights our ability to provide more than just the steel frame with design, fabrication and construction of essential parts of the building envelope, including cladding, curtain walling, decking and our own aircraft hangar doors. “Civils has an exceptional reputation and hold values to match our own. We are delighted to be working with them once again.” The new service centre will be REIDsteel’s 11th hangar at the airfield. It will use products sources from its primary/preferred supplier British Steel, including 1600 tonnes of steel and 300,000 sq ft of cladding. Nick Weaver, Civils Project Director, said: “The development of this state-of-the-art service centre marks another phase in the impressive growth of both Bombardier and London Biggin Hill Airport. “They are both icons of aviation, and we are delighted to support their commitment to providing customers with industry leading services. “Together with REIDsteel, we look forward to delivering a high-specification development which will represent a major investment in the region and boost for the economy.” Tonbridge-based Civils, founded in 1997, provides construction services across a wide variety of sectors, including industrial buildings, health and medical centre development, car parks, hangars, stores, commercial units and residential property. REIDsteel specialises in providing entire steel frame and building envelope solutions all under one roof. Thanks to its in-house capabilities and expertise, it is regularly contracted to design, manufacture and supply complete steel structures including the cladding, glazing, louvres and staircases for projects anywhere in the UK,  Europe and across the world. Visit www.reidsteel.com for more details.