The growth in the use of stainless steel over recent decades has been a real success story, predominantly due to its aesthetic appeal and, of course, its resistance to corrosion

However, the continuing performance of stainless steel, particularly in harsh coastal environments, relies not only on the intrinsic features of the material, but also on appropriate maintenance.

ASSDA Accredited Fabricator Bell Stainless from Kunda Park on the Sunshine Coast, Qld has had extraordinary success both nationally and internationally, being the only company in the world to have won multiple South Africa Stainless Steel Development Association Awards - one

Sydney’s Fifty Four Park Street is not your average gym. The exclusive venue recently underwent a luxury makeover requiring 250 square metres of stainless steel to fully portray the club’s intended style and class. ASSDA Accredited Fabricator Townsend Group worked with designer Blainey North to create a stunning and sustainable interior.

Mirror finished columns are a focal point of the indoor pool, featuring circular column cladding joined with chrome coloured silicon to maximise waterproofing. Two of the columns double as large features with water pumped up the centre of each, to spill out and over the top.

Townsend Group’s Mark

A weld-free installation process has caught the attention of Victoria’s caving community.

Parks Victoria and ASSDA Member Stainless Tube Mills Fences Pty Ltd recently completed a visitor access upgrade for popular tourist sites, the Royal and Fairy Caves.

STM Fences’ patented assembly process for tubular panels allows for easy installation without the need for welding.

Ranger in charge of Buchan, Dale Calnin, said using this system meant installation wasn’t damaging to the caves’ sensitive environment. 

“The stainless steel balustrading looked fantastic and is a well presented modular system,” he said.

Mr Calnin said this process would be welcomed by the

An Australian-led design consortium will put a new twist on bridge construction with a 280 metre long stainless steel pedestrian bridge spanning across Marina Bay, the foreshore to Singapore's CBD. The bridge will link the highly anticipated Marina Bay Sands resort to a bayfront promenade linking major cultural, tourist and recreational sites.

Selected from a field of 36 international teams, the design team, incorporating Australian architects the Cox Group, engineers Arup and Singapore-based Architects 61, has designed an entirely new concept in bridge construction, based on the double helix structure of DNA.

The double helix will carry a metre wide

If you’re investing in a home overlooking the water at Noosa, Queensland, you will almost certainly want the fittings to be impressive.

Sunshine Coast ASSDA Accredited Fabricator, Bell Stainless, rose to the challenge at this Noosa property by designing and building a single stringer staircase and balustrade that leaves a lasting impression.

The curved staircase features 15 timber treads which are bolted onto 6mm grade 316 stainless steel plates, which are then welded onto the stringer.

The handrail is made from grade 316 with a No 4 finish and the balustrade in-fills are made from 10mm solid rod.

Bell

Piazza Italia at the northern end of Argyle Square on Lygon Street, Carlton is Melbourne's newest public open space and meeting place was officially opened on 29 January 2006

Lord Mayor John So said the Piazza will be a wonderful addition to Melbourne's famous Italian cultural precinct.

“For generations, Argyle Square has been a place where city residents, workers and visitors have stopped to soak up the atmosphere of Lygon Street, eat gelati and catch up with friends and family,” the Lord Mayor John So said.

The northern end of Argyle Square features new gardens, traditional porphyry stone

Brisbane residents can now walk on water with the completion of the Brisbane City Council's RiverWalk floating walkway.

Stainless steel is at the heart of the 850 metre-long, 5.4 metre-wide pontoon system that effectively connects the city and the inner suburb of New Farm.

The pontoon structure, positioned 35 metres from the riverbank, has been designed to allow people to experience the feeling of being on the river - of literally walking on water.

Brisbane Lord Mayor Tim Quinn said "Brisbane is now truly Australia's River City as we're making greater use of our river system than any other state

Inspiration from Medieval Tale

The lance used by St George to slay the dragon in Medieval mythology - Ascalon - has inspired a stunning addition to Perth’s St George’s Cathedral forecourt.

Ascalon, designed by Perth artist Marcus Canning and New York based Christian de Vietri, was chosen as the winning piece from an international competition attracting 99 entries.

The sculpture features an 18m grade 316 stainless steel telescopic pole with a mirror finish, surrounded by a billowing white fibre reinforced plastic (FRP) ‘cape’, which represents St George on his steed.

ASSDA Accredited Fabricator Diverse Welding Services was commissioned by engineers

That deserves a drink!

A joint venture between two ASSDA Members has seen 21km of stainless steel pipe work installed as part of the greenfields Bluetongue Brewery recently completed at Warnervale on the Central Coast of NSW.

The $120 million Pacific Beverages brewery, which officially opened in November 2010, contains more than 2000 tonnes of stainless steel, including more than 120 tonnes of tube sourced in Australia through ASSDA Sponsor Atlas Steels.

The brewery construction was overseen by German brewery manufacturer Ziemann, who contracted ASSDA Accredited Fabricators TFG Pty Ltd and TripleNine Stainless Pty Ltd as the sole installation partners

A versatile, high strength martensitic stainless steel

Martensitic stainless steels are a less well-known branch of the stainless family. Their special features – high strength and hardness – point to their main application area as shafts and fasteners for motors, pumps and valves in the food and process industries.

The name “martensitic” means that these steels can be thermally hardened. They have a ferritic microstructure if cooled very slowly, but a quenching heat treatment converts the structure to very hard martensite, the same as it would for a low alloy steel such as 4140. Neither the familiar austenitic grades (304,

19 years plus points to stainless

A fresh focus on whole-of-life costing at Gold Coast City Council has led to the specification of stainless steel for long-term structures in the foreshore zone.

The philosophy, which was adopted following the publication of a study by Griffith University and GCCC, is likely to have flow on effects to other councils and government bodies.

GCCC’s co-ordinator of technical governance Paul Conolly said the seed was planted in 1998 when Council’s Technical Services Branch specified stainless steel for a modular toilet structure in a foreshore zone park. The material was deemed at the time

Sunshine coast stainless shines 18 months later

An impressive span of stainless steel balustrade at Bulcock Beach, Caloundra on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast is demonstrating that good design and specification achieves stunning results that last the distance.

The $8.5 million Sunshine Coast Council Bulcock Beach redevelopment, which was opened in late 2009, incorporates over 300m of grade 316 stainless steel balustrade.

PLACE Design Group’s project landscape architect and lead consultant Ben Stevens said the balustrade was a collaborative design effort between PLACE Design Group and ASSDA Accredited Fabricator Bell Stainless.

“We wanted a clean, simple design that didn’t detract from

'Remaining Competitive and Profitable' by James Johnson, Millatec Pty Ltd

Now is the time as an owner of a small or medium enterprise to move back into the coalface and be involved in all facets of your business. As a business owner, no one spends less money, identifies opportunities to improve productivity more or reduces waste better than you.

In the current economic climate it seems especially pertinent to discuss tools that can help you remain competitive and achieve break-even or be profitable.

The four key areas are:

1. Financials
2. Human resources
3. Marketing
4. Systemisation

Controlling your finances

When it comes to

For stainless apprentices

At the beginning of 2008, ASSDA was successful in its application for funding from the Federal Government for a project focused on the integration of e-learning into industry. The funding has seen ASSDA create a Workforce Development Strategy and a Flexible Learning Delivery Pathway incorporating e-learning, with plans to develop an additional e-learning module titled Practical Skills of Surface Treatment to complement the existing Gas Tungsten Arc Welding Module.

The Workforce Development Strategy provides an industry-wide framework in which to address the workforce challenges for the stainless steel industry: skills shortages, staff retention, knowledge retention. This document

Combining Strength and Style

Melbourne based designer Pierre Le Roux began working with steel 15 years ago, more recently with stainless. “I love the high-tech, reflective quality of stainless,” he said.

Le Roux’s popular custom made wine rack design has attracted clients from both retail and domestic markets. Often doubling as a wallscreen, the unique rack is fabricated from grade 304, 3mm stainless steel sheet supplied by ASSDA member Dalsteel Metals. Each bottle holder was hand polished to achieve a personal finish.

Le Roux’s company produces custom made stainless pieces including sculpture, architectural and landscape features. Stainless domestic furniture

Aussie Icon Immortalised in Stainless

A 200-year-old Australian icon has been immortalised in a new stainless steel home. The ‘Tree of Knowledge’ is cherished as the birthplace of Australia’s labour movement. It is believed that shearers gathered under the tree in 1891, striking for workers’ rights.

The $6 million timber and stainless steel memorial was officially unveiled earlier this year in Barcaldine, Queensland to house the remains of the tree following its death in 2006. ASSDA Accredited fabricator St Clair Sheetmetal supplied and installed 6.5 tonnes of mirror finished stainless steel cladding to achieve a highly reflective surface and

New Potential for Mirror Finish

A multi-award winning building design is using stainless steel to reduce its visual impact. ‘Zoo Booth’ is a small free-standing kiosk at Victoria’s Healesville Sanctuary and – thanks to its mirror finished stainless cladding – is very well camouflaged! The design concept came from Melbourne company TS1 Pty Ltd, who launched Transportable Design 1 (TS1) Pop-up Buildings in 2006.

For the unique application at Healesville, ASSDA member Stainless Sections provided grade 304, 1.2 mm stainless steel sheet, polished to a No. 8 mirror finish to reflect the organic surroundings. Stainless
Sections’ Roy Carter said mirror

Ecologically Sustainable Stainless Design

With the population boom leaving less open space available for traditional garden beds, stainless steel is helping to reintroduce Mother Nature to an increasingly unnatural environment. Ecologically sustainable design (ESD) promotes the use of existing resources to maintain biological balance. This allows for natural light and ventilation, reduced energy usage, water consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. The need for this type of specification is so apparent that the Government has established the Green Building Council of Australia (GBA) to advocate sustainable property development.

City of Melbourne was among the first to demonstrate ESD in Australia, with

Stainless protects old for young

Historic remnants from the original Australian Hotel site in The Rocks will be preserved for future generations by stainless steel grillage platforms. ASSDA Accredited Fabricator Paige Stainless supplied and fitted the platforms for Auswave Products Pty Ltd as part of the site’s recent redevelopment.

The sandstone ruins, which date from the 1800s, are now on display within the recently completed Sydney Harbour Youth Hostel Australia (YHA), which was designed by Tzannes Architects and constructed by Built Pty Ltd.

Auswave Products Director Doug Matthews said creative thinking was required to provide a

nature provides inspiration

Working with stainless could only be described as a labour of love for retired engineer and designer Allen Minogue. After a 25 year career with ASSDA Accredited Townsend Group, Mr Minogue continues to work with stainless steel, creating larger than life sculptures from the material. His latest creation, The Jumping Barramundi, has been a year in production, stands 1.125m high and weighs 75kg.

Mr Minogue said he had spent quite a bit of time in Darwin and the Kimberley, which has inspired much of his work, including the dancing brolgas featured in Australian