The Pipemill was located within a building which originally accommodated the Warehouse facility prior to the modernisation programme of the mid 1980’s. This building extended to two bays each 30 m wide by 100 m long.
The Pipemill was designed for a capacity of 30,000 Tonnes a year with a tubular diameter limit of up to 3 m and a thickness of up to 120 mm. The rolling and welding activities within the Pipemill were divided into two distinct process lines according to the thickness of material, with material up to 50 mm and material 50 mm and above being fabricated using different welding techniques. This arrangement optimised weld volumes and production time by using processes which suited each range of thicknesses. The lighter materials were welded using a standard V preparation and the heavier / thicker materials using a U or Narrow Gap preparation.
Plate rolling was carried out on either a 4,100 Tonne plate roll, capable of rolling plate up to 4 m wide and 120 mm thick or a 1,300 Tonne plate roll capable of rolling plate up to 3 m wide and 55 mm thick. Each of the horizontal plate rolls were fed via a conveyor system leading from the Plate Cutting Shop. Upon rolling, single tubulars would follow a seam welding and jointing process according to thickness. Tubular joints of up to 16 m long could be fabricated within the mill with handling being provided using a combination of overhead cranes and conveyors.