With over 50 years of experience in the GRP industry, we bring extensive expertise to projects of this nature.
The St. Nicholas Abbey Heritage Railway (SNAHR) is a narrow gauge tourist railway located in the parish of Saint Peter, on the eastern Caribbean island of Barbados. Designed to preserve and showcase the charm of vintage rail travel, the steam train carries visitors on a scenic 1.5 km journey through the plantation’s historic grounds.
Mekina’s GRP Mek-Dek standard panels were used between intermediate beams during bridge construction, with additional Mek-Dek panels installed vertically to cast the deck edge. While steel was considered for the project, the risk of corrosion and the required level of maintenance encouraged REIDsteel to look into alternative options.
Durability and safety during installation played a key role in the selection of Mek-Dek panels, as well as its favourable price and design over other products on the market.
Mek-Dek Panels are modular and lightweight, making them highly manoeuvrable, therefore requiring less manpower and fewer resources for transportation and installation. Because they remain in place permanently, there’s also no need for dismantling or removal, saving valuable construction time. After determining the required panel specifications, Mekina began its custom manufacturing process. 480 panels were designed and manufactured, which included 22 bespoke panel variations to suit the complexity of the supporting structure.
Mek-Dek panels were designed to sit vertically and included 12mm diameter holes within ribs at specific locations for the installer to use as a restraint when fixing the panels for the deck edge pour.
