/ ADVERTISING /
Our website is a hugely popular digital scaffolding resource. Launched back in 2009, ScaffMag has grown in popularity to become the industry’s leading source for the latest independent trade news, current affairs, scaffolding jobs and profiling the very best from our sector.
ScaffMag gives businesses and brands an unrivalled opportunity to advertise their products or services 24 hours a day 7 days a week to a highly targeted audience. Our readership includes main and sub-contractors, manufacturers, consultants, scaffolders and many others. We offer print and digital advertising opportunities across desktop, mobile and tablet channels.
During 2023 we welcomed over 250,000 individual users to the site, generating over 760,000 pageviews. We remain amongst our industry the most followed and liked company on social media with more than 132,000 followers on Facebook alone.
– Daniel Norton, Editor of ScaffMag
Followers
Followers
Followers
Followers
Followers
Email Subscribers
Page Views
Pages/Sessions
Sessions
Avg. Session Duration
Unique Users
Bounce Rate
*Google Analytics for 2023/24
We provide businesses and brands an unrivalled opportunity to advertise their products or services 24 hours a day 7 days a week to a highly targeted audience.
For a full list of website advertising opportunities with ScaffMag please contact us and download our 2024 Media Pack.
Our Daily Download and Weekly Rundown email newsletter is essential reading for thousands of scaffolding professionals. They are sent to more than 7,200 people providing a unique reach into companies across the country and the world. The newsletter enjoys an above-average open rate for the construction sector of 38% and our list is constantly updated to only include regular readers. Our subscriber database can be made available to selected clients for direct marketing in the form of an Email Blast.
EMAIL SPONSORSHIP ScaffMag offers email sponsorship in our daily and weekly round-up emails in the form of a banner advertisement contained within the newsletter Email Banner: £300.00pcm
EMAIL BLAST ScaffMag give’s businesses and industry service providers the ability to send out their very own promotional email co-branded with ScaffMag to our database of subscribers. Email Blast: £400.00 per campaign
Interested in learning more about advertising with us? Drop us a line on 01472 476024 or email [email protected]
As a natural progression for both our loyal readership and our scaffold sector advertising customers, we have launched the ScaffMag magazine – a fresh, slick, modern, vibrant and engaging product to enjoy and to back up our ScaffMag.com community and social media following, which advertisers in the magazine can tap their brand into. Created with both the scaffolder and contractor in mind, The ScaffMag Magazine gives businesses and brands an unrivalled opportunity to advertise their products or services 24:7:365 to a large, rapidly expanding and highly-targeted audience. It’s a unique proposition in digital and print.
“The new issue of Scaffmag is packed with great articles and opinions. We’re very lucky in our industry to have such a great support and loudspeaker for everything we do! Thanks as always to Daniel Norton for putting such great content together.” – Des Moore
Impressions
Reads
Ad Clicks
*Stats from Issuu.com
To find out more about advertising in our quarterly magazine please view and download our 2021 Media Pack.
Or Call: 01472 476024 Email: [email protected]
ScaffMag continues to dominate the social media networks within our industry with the most liked/followed Facebook page in the sector. At the time of writing this, ScaffMag’s official page has 135,000+ followers and 81,000+ likes.
For an up to date view of our social media stats see the boxes below.
The London ambulance service said: “An investigation has been launched after two men were injured after scaffolding attached to Hammersmith town hall collapsed late on Wednesday afternoon.
“Officers from the Metropolitan police attended along with firefighters.”
Tube-Lock® tubes are regular 48,3mm scaffolding tubes, fitted with two cast iron Tube-Lock pieces. Because of the Tube-Lock ends, tubes can be connected with each other by a twisting motion, visibly locking them in place. No tools nor additional parts are required to make or secure the connection.
This provides many advantages.
Because the two tubes can be joined by a twisting motion, it is a fast and easy way to connect tubes together. This leads to faster erection and dismantling times for the entire scaffold.
Furthermore, no additional parts nor tools are needed. No longer needing sleeve couplers and joint pins means that there are no spare parts that need to be transported. Additionally, you don’t have to invest in sleeve couplers and joint pins as you no longer need them.
This also eliminates the risk of sleeve couplers breaking, getting lost or getting stolen. And you don’t have to service the sleeve couplers anymore. Tube-Lock connections are completely maintenance-free.
Another logistical advantage is that Tube-Lock comes in standard lengths from 1 meter or 4ft up to 4 meters or 13ft. Because of this flexibility, it prevents the necessity of cutting the tubes to length.
The maximum length of 4 meters means the maximum weight of a Tube-Lock tube is 16 kg. This leads to less strain on scaffolders, which is essential because of the strict Occupational Health and Safety regulations.
Additionally, there is no need to stagger joints, Tube-Lock is as strong as a continuous tube. The connection may even be submitted to pull force. Using Tube-Lock tubes leads to a smooth tube connection over the full length of the tube. This makes it possible to use couplers anywhere on the tube. Even on the Tube-Lock connection.
In their innovative production facility, they can turn your (used) scaffolding tube to Tube-Lock tubes! This means you can update your own material without enormous investments. Even the repair of existing Tube-Lock stock is possible. And they now offer a special discount on the conversion of your scaffolding tube!
Have a look at www.thielscaffolding.com for more information, or contact [email protected] to hear more about all possibilities!
Alan Osborn has been made an honorary member of the Access Association of Canada (AAC), recognising his growing work to put mental health higher on the agenda across the international scaffolding and access industry.
The honour was announced in Nashville during the SAIA Annual Convention, where Osborn was invited to speak about mental health in construction and the practical steps companies can take to support the people working for them.
Loud, funny and instantly recognisable in his Dr. Scaffold hoodie, Osborn spent 30 years building scaffolds before moving into business ownership, consultancy and standards work. In recent years, he has become one of the trade’s most recognisable voices on mental health.
His Check Your Mate campaign encourages workers and managers to look out for colleagues, recognise changes in behaviour and have the confidence to start a conversation when something doesn’t seem right.
“Being made an honorary member of the AAC is a real privilege, but for me it’s about what we do next as an industry,” Osborn said.
“Recognition is welcome; action is vital. If Check Your Mate helps even one person feel able to speak up or one colleague spot the signs early, then it’s doing its job. The AAC is going to change the access industry in Canada.”
Speaking in Nashville, Osborn drew on something scaffolders already understand well: looking after the person working alongside you.
“In scaffolding and access, we’re brilliant at looking after each other when it comes to physical safety. We see a loose fitting or a risky set-up and we step in immediately. Mental health needs the same instinctive response,” he said.
“If something doesn’t look or feel right with a mate, that’s your cue to check in, not look away.”
Osborn spoke about the pressures that come with working in the trade, including long hours, travel, demanding programmes and high-risk sites. He also addressed the stigma that can still make people reluctant to admit when they are struggling.
It is a subject shaped by his own experience. Osborn has previously spoken openly about his personal struggles and about losing five people he describes as brothers from the scaffolding trade.
“The pressures on our workforce aren’t going away: tight programmes, long travel, demanding sites. What can change is how prepared we are to support people through those pressures,” he said.
“Check Your Mate is simply about giving everyone permission and confidence to start that conversation.”
Osborn’s work has also received backing from Brandon Martin, President and Owner of InSite Software, who has been supporting his work and exploring how technology already used by scaffolding and access businesses could carry wellbeing prompts, training material and easier routes to support.
“Dr Osborn’s work aligns perfectly with where we believe the industry is heading,” Martin said. “Data, planning and software can help to design safer projects, but at the heart of every system are people. Supporting their mental health is not an add-on, it’s a core part of safety.”
InSite is looking at how wellbeing could be worked into the systems site teams already use during the working day.
“At InSite, we’re looking at how we can weave wellbeing into the everyday workflows our customers already use,” Martin said.
“If we can make it natural for site teams to receive prompts, access guidance, or flag concerns through the tools they’re in all day, then checking your mate becomes part of the process, not an extra task.”
Martin said the response in Nashville showed mental health was gaining a stronger place in conversations about safety across the wider access industry.
“When you have organisations like the AAC honouring Alan’s contribution, it sends a clear message: this isn’t a side issue. Mental health belongs in the same conversation as fall prevention, load management and design.”
For Osborn, much of the answer still comes back to people looking out for each other.
“I’ve seen first-hand that a five-minute chat on site can be more powerful than any poster or policy,” he said.
“When a supervisor or a colleague makes it clear that it’s okay to talk, the culture shifts. That’s the future of safety: PPE for the mind as well as the body.”
Martin believes technology can help make those conversations easier to start.
“I’m proud that InSite can play a small part in amplifying Check Your Mate,” he said. “Technology should serve people, not the other way round. If our software helps one supervisor start a conversation they might otherwise have avoided, that’s a win for us and, more importantly, for the person on the receiving end.”
The scaffolding and access contractor has recorded no reportable injuries since 2023 across its operations in the UK, Ireland, UAE, Saudi Arabia, the USA and mainland Europe.
Brogan Group said the 5 million-hour figure is the highest safety record achieved in the company’s history.
The milestone covers work carried out across a wide range of projects and regions, with the company crediting its health and safety teams, site management and operatives for maintaining the record.
Brogan said its approach has centred on planning, training, communication and day-to-day site management, with safety procedures applied across its international operations.
James Lewis, Brogan Group HSQE Director, said: “Reaching 5 million man-hours without a reportable injury is a significant achievement for Brogan Group. It is the result of the collective commitment of our people, who continue to make health and safety a priority every day.”
The company operates across several major construction markets and has continued to expand its international presence in recent years, making the Group-wide safety figure particularly notable given the number of regions covered.
The record now extends beyond 5 million working hours, with Brogan reporting no reportable injuries across the Group since 2023.
JR Scaffold has been awarded Gold status in the Ministry of Defence Employer Recognition Scheme (ERS) for its support of the Armed Forces community.
The award is the highest level within the scheme and recognises employers that maintain policies and working practices supporting serving personnel, Reservists, Veterans, service leavers, Cadet Force Adult Volunteers and military families.
For JR Scaffold, the award follows previous Bronze and Silver ERS recognition and continues the company’s work under the Armed Forces Covenant.
The company said its approach includes supporting veterans moving into civilian employment, creating opportunities for service leavers and providing flexibility for employees who continue to serve as Reservists.
John Horne, Managing Director of JR Scaffold, said: “We are immensely proud to have achieved Gold Award status through the Ministry of Defence Employer Recognition Scheme.
“This is a fantastic achievement for everyone across The JR Group and one that is particularly important to us as a business.
“Our journey through the ERS awards, from Bronze to Silver and now Gold, reflects our ongoing commitment to supporting the Armed Forces community.
“We recognise the valuable skills, experience and dedication that members of the Armed Forces community bring to the workplace.
“Whether that is supporting veterans as they transition into civilian employment, creating opportunities for those leaving the services, or accommodating colleagues who continue to serve as Reservists, we are dedicated to doing what we can to provide meaningful opportunities, and the flexibility people need.”
The Gold Award recognises JR Scaffold’s continued work to support members of the Armed Forces community through employment and workplace policies.
ScaffEx26 has completed its conference line-up ahead of the two-day industry event at Manchester Central on 10 and 11 September.
Hosted by journalist Sophie Long, the programme will bring contractors, clients, training specialists and industry bodies together for discussions covering some of the biggest issues currently facing scaffolding businesses.
Commercial pressures come under the spotlight on Thursday in Thriving in Uncertainty: Insights from Across the Supply Chain, a Question Time-style panel looking at fair payment, contract terms, workforce pressures and relationships between scaffolding contractors and clients.
The panel includes Richard Beresford of the National Federation of Builders, Danny Dwyer of PHD Access, Chris Abbey of Altrad UK, Rob Wright of Lindum Group and Fergus Harradence from the Department for Business and Trade.
Running a scaffolding company gets its own session later that day.
What Nobody Tells You About Starting Your Own Scaffolding Firm will see James Brierley of Rose System Scaffolding, Lee Marley and KAS Scaffolding directors Shane Wood and Adam Millgate discuss the realities of setting up and growing a business, including finance, contracts and company culture.
Recruitment follows with The Talent Crisis: Why You Need a Blend of Youth and Experience.
Danny Clarke of CITB, Donna Mulvihill of Altrad UK, Ashley Smith of R.A.S Scaffolding, Dan Wilson of MAR Scaffolding and Anne Pavey from the Department for Work and Pensions will examine routes into the industry and how contractors can widen the pool of people they recruit from.
Thursday will close with a project session looking behind the scenes at major scaffolding schemes.
GKR Scaffolding will present its work at 25 Canada Square in Canary Wharf, while BrandSafway will cover the Manchester Town Hall restoration. A further project is still to be confirmed.
Safety takes a larger role on Friday. Hiding in Plain Sight: The Hidden Risks of Getting It Wrong will examine fire, noise, dust and airborne contamination, with former HSE inspector Matt Greenly joined by Alice Thomson of 4-RAIL Services, Layher UK Managing Director Sean Pike and David Gilmore of ITP.
Training technology will then come under scrutiny in one of the programme’s more deliberately provocative sessions, Would You Trust a Scaffolder Trained on a Computer?
Martin Addison of Video Arts Group, Joanne Walker of CWIC Wales, NASC and CISRS Group CEO Clive Dickin and NETA’s Brian Ward will discuss blended learning and immersive technology, including where digital training can support practical instruction and where its limits should sit.
Friday’s technical programme will also turn to temporary roofing, with projects including the weather protection solution used at Huddinge municipal centre in Sweden.
AT-PAC’s Ruslan Potapov and Scaffco’s Tobias Bækhøj are among those due to speak, alongside Sean Pike of Layher UK and Alan Armstrong of Laidlaw Scaffolding.
The conference forms part of ScaffEx26, which combines the exhibition and conference at Manchester Central before the Scaffolding Excellence Awards on the evening of 11 September.
The awards will be hosted by comedian and broadcaster Dara Ó Briain. Registration for the ScaffEx26 conference and exhibition remains free.
The Oldbury-based health and safety training provider can now deliver PASMA courses covering the assembly, use, inspection and dismantling of aluminium scaffold towers.
The investment includes a dedicated training area at the company’s new centre and the recruitment of 3 specialist PASMA instructors.
PLT Training already delivers IPAF training for mobile elevating work platforms. The PASMA approval means the company can now cover 2 of the main equipment types used for work at height from the same training centre.
Operations director Kath Lang said the company’s move to its new premises had been central to securing accreditation.
“Relocation to our new training centre has been fundamental in the PASMA accreditation, giving us access to high-spec classrooms, the latest equipment and additional space to run the courses,” she said.
“To secure the internationally recognised standard, we had to be approved by a panel of associate members and successfully complete a full audit of our premises, while demonstrating that we have the industry knowledge in place.”
The company can initially deliver PASMA Low-Level Access, Towers for Users and a combined course covering both disciplines.
Towers for Users covers single-bay mobile access towers that can reach heights of up to 8m outdoors and 12m indoors.
PLT Training plans to add courses covering towers on stairs, towers with bridges and linked towers during the next 12 months.
The company said the courses are aimed at scaffolding contractors and other businesses whose employees regularly work at height, as well as schools, colleges and sports organisations.
PLT Training already works with Omega Scaffolding, Pro Scaff and Midland Metro. It estimates the expanded training offer could generate up to £500,000 in new contracts during the coming year.
“We have created 3 new roles for specialist PASMA instructors already and expect this to double as existing clients and new customers take advantage of our under-one-roof offer,” Lang said.
The new training centre supports more than 10,000 learners each year and has 6 purpose-built areas covering forklifts, work at height, manual handling, first aid and confined-space training.
PLT Training was founded by Nicc Bennett almost 20 years ago. The company now delivers more than 150 courses from its Oldbury centre and at more than 1,500 client sites across the UK.
Altrad has announced it will merge Generation Hire & Sales and TRAD UK into a single business operating as Altrad Hire & Sales from 1 September 2026.
The move brings together two of the UK’s best-known names in scaffolding and construction equipment hire under one brand, creating a business serving customers across the UK and Ireland through a combined branch network.
According to Altrad, the new business will supply a broad range of scaffolding, access equipment, temporary works, fencing, safety equipment, groundworks products and specialist construction equipment.
The company said the merger is intended to give customers easier access to equipment, technical support and specialist expertise while continuing investment in products and customer service.
The announcement follows a period of speculation within the industry after Altrad confirmed to suppliers last week that the two businesses would be brought together.
Mark Clifford, Managing Director of Generation Hire & Sales UK, said: “This is an exciting milestone for both businesses. Over the years, Generation Hire & Sales and TRAD UK have built strong reputations for service, expertise and client support.
“By combining these strengths under one brand, we can offer clients a broader and more connected range of solutions whilst maintaining the high standards they know and trust.”
The rebrand takes effect on 1 September, when Generation Hire & Sales and TRAD UK will begin operating as Altrad Hire & Sales.
The Scaffold & Access Industry Association has named the winners of its 2026 Project Awards at the President’s Gala in Nashville, Tennessee.
The ceremony closed the association’s annual convention, which drew 792 attendees to the JW Marriott Nashville. SAIA said the figure was 29% higher than its previous attendance record.
DH Glabe & Associates left the gala with two awards. The engineering firm won the Suspended Access category for its work on the SR-28 Pearl River Bridge and the Shoring category for the Honoli?i Stream Bridge in Hawaii.
BrandSafway also collected two awards.
The company won the Mast Driven Hoists and Platforms category for the US 181 Harbor Bridge project. It shared the Industrial Collaborative award with McCarthy Building Companies for work at Hangar One at Moffett Federal Airfield in California.
Hangar One is a vast former airship hangar built during the 1930s and remains one of the largest freestanding structures in the world.
The Commercial Collaborative award went to DH Charles Engineering and Performance Contracting Inc. for the SFO International Terminal project in San Francisco.
Fraco Products won the Innovation category for its work at 989 Sixth Avenue in New York, while Canadian contractor Skyline Scaffold Ltd. took the Supported Scaffold award for the Stal??w?as?m Bridge.
The gala also included SAIA’s annual individual awards, decided through anonymous peer nominations and a vote of the association’s membership.
The night’s highest individual honour, the SAIA Lifetime Achievement Award, went to Harold Gidish of Sky Climber.
Gidish is a former SAIA president and has chaired the association’s Suspended Scaffold Council for more than 20 years. Nashville was his 48th consecutive SAIA convention.
“Everything I ever did was never for me,” Gidish told the room. “It was for us.”
David Johnson received the Coupling Pin Award, while Pat Connolly was inducted into the SAIA Hall of Fame.
The Victor Saleeby Award went to Wendy Larison and Safewaze was named Outstanding Company.
The evening closed with Matt Morgan being sworn in as SAIA’s 28th president. He succeeds Mike Bredl and will serve a two-year term.
The convention also drew visitors from outside North America. NASC chair David Brown was among the UK delegates, while representatives from 8 countries attended a board meeting of the International Access & Scaffolding Association during the week.
The 2027 SAIA Annual Convention & Exposition will be held at the JW Marriott Tampa Water Street in Tampa, Florida, from 9 to 12 August.
Commercial Collaborative: DH Charles Engineering and Performance Contracting Inc., SFO International Terminal
Industrial Collaborative: BrandSafway and McCarthy Building Companies, Hangar One at Moffett Federal Airfield
Mast Driven Hoists and Platforms: BrandSafway, US 181 Harbor Bridge
Innovation: Fraco Products, 989 Sixth Avenue
Suspended Access: DH Glabe & Associates, SR-28 Pearl River Bridge
Supported Scaffold: Skyline Scaffold Ltd., Stal??w?as?m Bridge
Shoring: DH Glabe & Associates, Honoli?i Stream Bridge
Avontus has unveiled a new artificial intelligence platform designed to connect scaffold design, inventory, project management and wider business systems through a single AI assistant.
Demonstrated during the SAIA Annual Convention and Exposition in Nashville, the Avontus AI Platform is intended to allow users to ask questions across several systems without repeatedly switching between separate applications.
The platform is being developed to connect Avontus products including Quantify, Designer, Viewer and ScaffoldIQ with customers’ existing CRM, accounting, SharePoint and company knowledge systems.
Rather than creating its own closed chatbot, Avontus is using technology known as Model Context Protocol, or MCP, which allows an AI assistant to securely access approved information held within different software platforms.
The approach is designed to work with established enterprise AI tools, while allowing customers to retain control over their data, permissions and existing business systems.
A worked example presented by Avontus showed how a company owner could ask which scaffold project generated the highest gross profit during the previous quarter.
The assistant would then review information from the company’s CRM, scaffold drawings, inventory records, accounting system and ScaffoldIQ before preparing a management summary.
In the example, the AI compared what had been estimated, shipped and invoiced, while also checking drawing scope, project modifications and scaffold inspection records.
The final response was held for approval rather than being sent automatically.
This approval-based approach is central to the platform. Avontus says the assistant will eventually be able to prepare documents, reservations, emails and other actions, but a person must review and approve them before anything is completed.
During a demonstration seen by Scaffmag, Avontus showed how the technology could analyse a scaffold model, calculate areas and quantities, produce a bill of materials and group components according to their position within the structure.
The AI was then used to create a truck-loading plan based on vehicle weight limits and the order in which materials would be needed on site.
In one example involving a power station boiler scaffold, components required for the lower sections were placed on the first trucks, allowing erection teams to begin work in the correct sequence when the equipment arrived.
The loading plan could also be adjusted where trucks had different carrying capacities.
The demonstration showed how information already contained within a scaffold drawing could be used to support transport, logistics and erection planning, rather than remaining confined to the design department.
Avontus also demonstrated how its data could be combined with customers’ existing estimating spreadsheets, allowing companies to retain their own labour rates, productivity assumptions and commercial processes.
Avontus said its approach is intended to complement the systems scaffolding businesses already use, rather than forcing them to move all their information into a new standalone platform.
Quantify would continue to manage areas such as inventory, rentals, shipping and billing, while Designer and Viewer would provide access to drawings, models and material quantities.
ScaffoldIQ could supply information relating to requests, handovers, inspections and field operations, with external accounting and CRM platforms providing financial and customer data.
The AI assistant could then bring information from these approved sources together when asked a question or given a task.
Avontus believes this open approach will reduce the disruption normally associated with introducing a completely new business platform.
It would also allow customers to continue using established accounting systems, estimating spreadsheets and internal company processes rather than being forced into a standardised workflow.
Potential users include estimators, engineers, yard teams, project managers, safety staff, finance departments and senior management.
Example tasks could include checking loading assumptions before a drawing is approved, comparing drawing revisions, identifying equipment available for upcoming reservations and matching invoices against the materials shipped to site.
Security is being positioned as a key part of the platform. Avontus says customer files would remain within the customer’s existing systems, with each employee only able to access information they already have permission to view.
The platform is intended to work with established company login and single sign-on controls, meaning access could be removed immediately when an employee leaves or changes role.
Every read and proposed action would also be recorded, providing an audit trail showing what information had been accessed and what the assistant had attempted to do.
Unauthorised requests would be refused, while IT departments would retain the ability to remove access for an individual, a group or the entire organisation.
Avontus has also emphasised that nothing would be sent, posted, reserved or invoiced without approval from a person.
The underlying AI connectors demonstrated to Scaffmag are operational and can currently be installed through a controlled process. Avontus said it was preparing to include the functionality within its wider software installers, making it easier for customers to deploy.
However, the complete platform presented by the company remains under development. Some functions can currently read and analyse information and prepare outputs, but certain direct actions are not yet available.
During the demonstration, for example, the AI could prepare the information needed for a Quantify reservation, but it could not yet create the reservation automatically.
Pricing, detailed data-handling terms and the full commercial rollout have also yet to be confirmed.
Avontus describes the wider platform as a roadmap vision being developed with selected design partners.
Avontus was not the only software company using the Nashville convention to showcase new artificial intelligence capabilities.
ScaffPlan also unveiled an AI-driven workflow designed to connect scaffold design, estimating and wider project processes.
While the two approaches differ, both developments point to a growing move towards AI tools that can draw information from across a scaffolding business rather than operating solely as standalone design software.
The launches suggest software developers increasingly see AI not simply as a way to answer questions, but as a tool capable of connecting drawings, equipment, project records and commercial data.
Although the technology remains at an early stage, the Avontus demonstration offered a practical view of how scaffold-specific business data could be brought together to support planning, logistics and management decisions across an organisation.
The 2026 SAIA Annual Convention & Exposition is underway in Nashville with the largest attendance in the event’s history.
More than 750 people have registered for this year’s convention at the JW Marriott Nashville, according to the Scaffold & Access Industry Association.
The event has brought together scaffold contractors, manufacturers, engineers, safety professionals, training providers and labour representatives from across North America and overseas.
Training courses and committee meetings began before the main convention programme, which opened on Tuesday, 28 July.
Delegates are now attending technical sessions, business discussions and networking events covering safety, training, engineering, workforce development and the pressures facing scaffold and access contractors.
The sold-out exhibition hall is hosting live equipment demonstrations and new product launches from suppliers across the industry.
Several exhibitors are also using the convention to give delegates a first look at products and services before their wider release.
ScaffPlan is among the companies launching new technology in Nashville, unveiling its AI workflow to the industry for the first time.
The software has been developed to connect more of the scaffold planning and project process within one system, with further demonstrations taking place during the convention.
Other exhibitors are presenting new scaffold systems, access equipment, safety products and digital tools throughout the event.
The International Access and Scaffolding Association is also meeting during the convention, adding to the international attendance in Nashville.
Evening receptions and the President’s Gala will run alongside the conference and exhibition programme, giving delegates further opportunities to meet suppliers, contractors and industry representatives.
The record turnout follows continued growth in attendance at SAIA events and strong demand for exhibition space at this year’s convention.
Scaffmag is reporting from Nashville throughout the week, with interviews, company news and product coverage from the exhibition floor.
Around 700 tonnes of AT-PAC Ringlock scaffolding has been installed to support a major temporary weather protection system over the redevelopment of Huddinge Kommunhus in Sweden.
AT-PAC worked with scaffolding contractor Sydställningar and temporary roofing specialist Scaffco on the project, which required construction work to continue through heavy snow, wind and rain.
Two temporary roofs have been installed side by side. A Mammut roof covers the town hall, while a Scaffix system protects the neighbouring library.
The Mammut structure spans approximately 4,500m² and has been designed for a snow load of 0.60kN/m². Across the full roof area, that equates to a total load of more than 275,000kg.
AT-PAC compared the figure to the weight of around 45 fully grown mammoths.
The Ringlock scaffold forms the main support structure beneath the roof. A purpose-developed beam connection secures the scaffold to the building at a height of 12 metres, with the structure continuing another 10 metres above that point.
The arrangement distributes loads across the scaffold while providing a stable base for the temporary roof.
The Mammut system has also been installed on rails, allowing sections of the roof to be opened or closed in around 5 to 10 minutes. This gives the construction team access for lifting operations and material deliveries without leaving the building exposed for long periods.
Tobias Bækhøj, partner and head of business development at Scaffco A/S, said the use of 2 roofing systems allowed the project team to meet different span and loading requirements across the town hall and library.
“AT-PAC’s Ringlock system formed the backbone of the project,” he said.
“By combining our Scaffix and Mammut roof solutions, we were able to meet the varying span and load requirements of the 2 structures.”
Dennis Ragnar, country manager for AT-PAC Sweden, said cooperation between the 3 companies had been central to delivering the access and weather protection package.
“By combining the systems, technical knowledge and close cooperation with Sydställningar and Scaffco, we supported a safe and efficient construction process,” he said.
