Thermo Fisher Scientific is constructing a new manufacturing site in Plainville, MA, to expand its viral vector development and manufacturing capacity. The $180 million expansion will aid the life sciences and healthcare firm in its efforts to develop new, transformative medicines and give hope to patients.

Marr Scaffolding Company’s (MSC) Shoring and Scaffold Divisions have been working for general contractor DPR Construction to install shoring and scaffold at the 290,000-square-foot facility – an existing structure that is being retrofitted for Thermo to incorporate state-of-the-art laboratories, production suites, warehousing, office space and more.

In late December 2020, MSC’s Shoring Division installed multiple shoring towers to support two columns tagged for removal and four columns for concrete footing replacements. A combination of Hi-Lite and Shore-X equipment was used to build the shoring towers, and each setup included four (4) 50-foot steel beams, weighing over 7,500 lbs. each, installed across the top with a 10k Lull telehandler. Daniel Marr & Son, Marr’s structural steel and precast company, assisted in welding all the custom steel channels to the columns.

In addition, MSC’S Scaffold Division installed two, 180-foot-long sections of free-standing scaffolding, 40 feet high, along two exposed corners of the new facility. The staging was built using Systems scaffolding and wrapped in Monarflex sheeting for weather protection. Due to the instability of the unfinished structure, the scaffolding was designed to be freestanding and built parallel to the façade using a system of tubes and clamps and cables that tied into jersey barriers on the ground.

The scaffold and shoring will remain in place through April of this year. The facility is expected to open for business in 2022.