Rebuilding Tonga with Steel Framing – Jones Industries
Rebuilding with Steel in Tonga Using Scottsdale’s Frame and Truss Technology
The E.M. Jones Group of Companies is a family-owned and operated business in the Kingdom of Tonga (South Pacific), which was originally established in 1911 by Eleanor May Jones. The company has stood the test of time and has since expanded into a variety of different industries, such as tourism, manufacturing, retail, rental cars, and construction.
E.M Jones was introduced to Scottsdale’s light-gauge steel technology in Tonga in 2006. In 2007, there were large-scale riots in which E.M Jones suffered damage to its property, including a warehouse building used to sell hardware supplies used by subsidiary Jones Industries Limited.
After looking at options to rebuild Jones Industries’ warehouse, Daniel Jones (Mike’s son and Jones Industries’ Chief Operations Officer) approached Scottsdale to investigate options to rebuild with light-gauge steel framing.
Initially, Jones Industries sent a team to Napier, New Zealand, to visit Scottsdale and get a better understanding of the technology, as well as bring plans of the proposed warehouse they wanted to build to house Jones Industries new hardware store.
After hosting the team from Tonga, the Scottsdale team in Napier set about designing the Jones Industries building with light-gauge steel, including having the building engineered by local consulting engineers.
Jones Industries purchased a Scotpanel 7090, Scottruss 6050, and Scotpanel 5140 roll forming machines.
The Scottsdale team developed a total solution package for Jones Industries, including all factory equipment (including the Scotpanel and Scottruss roll forming systems) and tools to enable Jones Industries to manufacture and erect the building on the ground in Tonga. In fact, all materials for the building (other than the concrete slab, wall, and roof cladding) were supplied by Scottsdale suppliers and contractors for the building and shipped from New Zealand.
Jones Industries sent a team of three experts (Vai Tafea, Pita Tonga, and Lopi Kavapalu) to undertake Scottsdale’s ScotSteel design software training program and Scottsdale factory training covering machine setup, operation, and maintenance. Scottsdale also sent a team to Tonga to train local Jones Industries personnel on how to manufacture the frames and trusses and then erect the steel frames on site.
After the training in New Zealand and in Tonga, the Jones Industries team was able to complete the project with remote assistance from Scottsdale’s team in Napier, available for technical building input.
The end result was an impressive new building that would have been difficult to build on a small island any other way than using Scottsdale’s light-gauge steel frame and truss technology. The alternative would have required the importing of large quantities of expensive structural steel and portal frames that could only be carried in the bulkhead of large ships. Whereas the steel and materials for this project were sent in two 40’ containers and one 20’ container.
The local Jones Industries personnel had no previous experience with this method of construction and were proficient in frame assembly and erection within days. The project is an excellent example of the power of Scottsdale’s technology and the support it provides its customers.
Daniel Jones commented, “I found the support provided by Scottsdale’s team excellent and was very happy with the end result”.
