TEESSIDE is playing a big part in a ground-breaking challenge to set a new world land speed record.
Steel processed by Tata in Hartlepool is being used to help build the rocket and jet-powered Bloodhound Super Sonic Car (SSC) that will attempt to travel at a record-breaking 1,000mph in 2013 – faster than a bullet.
Steel plate for the project was manufactured in the company’s Scunthorpe plate mill in North Lincolnshire, before being delivered to a profiling company for further processing.
Tata Steel also produced a specially-shaped steel section to meet the project’s exact requirements. The box section was made from steel strip manufactured in Llanwern in Wales, and processed in Hartlepool and Corby, Northamptonshire, before being cut to size by Tata apprentices.
All the steel was delivered to an engineering firm in Stockport which will use the plate and box section to help build a 6-metre long chassis assembly frame. This critical frame will enable the Bloodhound SSC team to build the rear part of the car which will ultimately house a Eurofighter Typhoon jet engine, a rocket engine and a Formula 1 engine.
“This is a ground-breaking challenge that will push engineering boundaries to the limit,” said Tata Steel’s long products business director, Jon Bolton.
“Tata Steel is proudly supporting this record-breaking attempt by supplying high quality, high strength steel.
“We share the Bloodhound team’s ambition to inspire young people in engineering, and we’re proud to have contributed to this world-record attempt which will increase awareness of the exciting world of engineering.”
Bloodhound’s education message is being delivered to nearly 5,000 schools across the UK in parallel to the engineering challenge.
Conor La Grue, product sponsorship lead for Bloodhound SSC, said: “The Bloodhound project is hugely complex , so it was great to be able to have had such a speedy response from Tata.”