Pioneering with work tents: this how we do it at Van Ginkel Groep

If you click on our services you will see them; work tents. Large, heated, illumintated work tents, in which you can keep working while you’re protected from the weather and out of sight of traffic. The tents are available in widths from 3.5 to no less than 17 meters and can be connected up to 850 meters long. They were developed by Van Ginkel Groep for Van Ginkel Groep, but they are now also used by clients such as Strukton, BAM and Ballast Nedam. You mainly see them during bridge maintenance, but you can also come across them at Center Parcs. Why? Marcel Moes, expert in work tents at Van Ginkel Groep: “We are trustworthy and we say what we do, and if the tent doesn’t fit, we’ll make it fit.” And yes, sometimes a grinder is used…

Developed by the target group

Van Ginkel Groep has traditionally been a mobile blasting and coating company. The work tents have been developed in the spirit of the family business: are you facing a challenge? Then come up with an effective solution! And if, like the Van Ginkel Groep, you regularly carry out maintenance on and next to the road, you want to do so without the burden of technical circumstances, such as weather and traffic. That is perhaps the best argument for renting a work tent from Van Ginkel Groep: after all, they have been developed by the target group itself.

Custom-made and quality

Work tents are always delivered perfectly tailored to the client. “At Center Parcs, for example, we place the tents over the wild water rides”, says working foreman Marcel Moes. “We then blast the track’s polyester and then clean up the blasting waste. Another company then applies new polyester, which is officially called lamination, and then the track is all nice and smooth again. Every five years, we clean such a wild water ride. We have been doing this for years at Center Parcs. I think that’s great work, because such a wild water course goes from left to right and in a circle. You cannot place a standard tent there, because you will not get it waterproof. We have standard poles that go into the tubes of the tent and if such a pole is too long, we take the grinder and then we just remove 20 centimeters. One way or the other: we make that tent waterproof, period.”

Rent a work tent? We calculate everything for you

Every situation is different. When a request comes in for the rental of a work tent, Marcel gets to work: “I go to the location and I measure the work. I take pictures and I investigate how and where the work tent can be placed.” With that information, Marcel goes back to the office. “I have a chat with the work planners and we determine whether we can carry out the assignment. Work preparation makes a quotation using my information and if the client agrees, then we will make the work, as it’s called.”

Fast delivery

Making that work usually goes quite smoothly. “Depending on the size, the transport will be prepared a day in advance. Small tents can be set up in a day, but large tents with heaters, fans, generators, compressors or lighting are reserved and transported to the location. The larger the tent, the more fun it is to set it up. “The longest work tent  I installed was 450 meters long. You really get a kick out of it when it’s standing. That wasn’t done in one day. We have been working on that for two weeks, including preparation.”

Work tents are often used for bridge maintenance

That 450 meters long work tent was located over the Tacitus Bridge near Ewijk. Work tents are often installed on bridges during maintenance. The Ketelbrug, the Muiderbrug and the Moerdijkbrug have all been maintained at some point using a Van Ginkel Groep work tents. Such large facilities remain in place for weeks and form a kind of tunnel into which trucks and asphalt pavers can drive.

A solution for every challenge

The work on the Tacitus bridge proves that customization at the Van Ginkel Groep doesn’t mean just shortening a tent pole. “One of the tents we worked with was a tent that was 17 meters wide and 125 meters long. We tried to get that tent from A to B as quickly as possible. In that case, working with rails is the easiest. We made the tent mobile by placing it on carts and we placed them in 300-meter rails, so that each time a forklift truck could pull it a little further. After that, it was possible to work under shelter for another week. In the meantime, we removed the rails that were free behind it and put them back on at the front. We also encountered another challenge in the middle of the bridge. There were pillars that the tent could not pass by 10 centimeters. So we had to think. Breaking down that tent takes time and we didn’t have that time. We then ground away a piece of rail near the pillars, so that those carts ran off the rails. We pulled up the tent with a steel iron along it, so that it went out and in again. The tent didn’t like that, but we liked it and it worked well. That was the best job I’ve ever done.” In addition to supplying the work tent, Van Ginkel was also responsible for blasting and coating the steel deck of the Tacitusbrug

Pioneering with work tents

Joshua Riemers, working foreman at Van Ginkel Groep, is also very enthusiastic about building work tents and that all has to do with the challenge of the work, which Marcel can’t stop talking about: “I remember a tent we set up at Schiphol. That was a tent of 10 by 24 meters and it stood on a beam frame. We had mounted tires on it that we had to inflate and then the whole tent with frame went up. We pulled that entire structure behind a truck across the runway at Schiphol to go to the departure halls. There were stelcon plates where sealant had to be replaced. And right there, there was a plane that turned on the engines, so that the whole tent was flattened by the wind. That was so cool to see! Well, it’s also a bit of pioneering with those work tents”,  Marcel says laughing.

Do you also want to pioneer with work tent at Van Ginkel Groep?

That’s possible! Keep reading, because we know who we are looking for: for starters, we are, of course, looking for a very fun colleague. That’s what we all are here. And that’s very important for the atmosphere. “You also have to have a passion for it”, Marcel says. “You shouldn’t think too lightly about it, because you build up a work tent in good weather, but it has to be able to withstand bad weather. That’s something you should always keep in mind when building up such a large tent. You also need to have an eye for detail and you really like a challenge.” Does this sound great and is it right up your alley? Then take a look at our jobs page!

Marcel Moes, expert in work tents, has been working for the Van Ginkel Groep since 2000, with the exception of two small other jobs. Marcel: “My work feels like family. I like to say Van Ginkel Groep is my second wife. We take care of each other here. If you have problems, they will help you and if there are problems business-wise, we will help them with a rush job or whatever is needed.