Calder Industrial Materials is a UK-based manufacturing company specialising in lead ballast weights and lead radiation shielding for the offshore oil and gas sector.
Accredited to ISO 9001, 14001 and 18001, we employ more than 150 people at our dedicated manufacturing facility in Chester, where we have been making lead components for 125 years.
Ballast weights for the offshore sector
Calder has a renowned reputation for quality and reliability. Our ballast weights are used on subsea cables, platform piles, pipeline end terminals (PLETs), pipeline end manifolds (PLEMs), remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) and support vessels, as well as any fabrication that is required to sit on the seabed.
Lead shot and fabrication services
In addition to casting and extruding lead, we have a full CNC machine shop and a carbon steel fabrication department.
We are able to manufacture fine lead shot ballast, from 0.3mm diameter weighing a few grammes, to complicated cast weights individually weighing 80t.
Our customers are major companies that use our lead ballast weights on oil and gas projects worldwide.
Lead radiation shielding
Calder offers a range of bespoke radiation shielding products for the offshore sector.
As well as conventional shielding, such as lead bricks, chevrons and blankets, Calder provides bespoke shielding solutions to meet specific and unique requirements.
Our specialist design engineers use their extensive lead engineering experience to work with you to resolve the most demanding of radiation shielding challenges, from concept through to design, manufacture and installation.
Lead shot ballast
Calder’s lead shot is manufactured using a state-of-the-art, automated, shot-spinning plant and then machine-graded to guarantee consistency of size and quality.
In addition to its consumer applications, our fine-grade lead shot has many commercial uses; it is blended with epoxy resin and used as ballast, mixed into concrete to provide radiation shielding and used in the manufacture of free machining steel.
Our lead shot is available from 0.3mm to 7mm in diameter. Alternative sizes can be manufactured if required.
Lead ballast for offshore applications
Calder’s lead ballast ranges from less than a gram to 80t. Our PVC-coated lead ballast blocks are manufactured in line with the requirements of DEF STAN 02-168 issue 2.
Other applications for our lead weights include electronics, bespoke machinery manufacture, bridge building, sports equipment and many more.
Fabrication for the offshore industry
Calder specialises in fabrication, with extensive skills in lead and mild steel products for demanding markets.
From a one-off to production batch runs, our large-scale facilities ensure that fabrications up to 5m x 5m x 10m and weighing up to 10t can be easily accommodated.
Welding teams, fully qualified in MIG, TIG and conventional stick welding, ensure the integrity of each structural steel or sheet metal fabrication. Our steel welders are complemented by the largest team of lead welders (lead burners) in the UK. Uniquely, these two areas of expertise enable us to combine complex lead fabrications with steel structures in one manufacturing facility, producing unrivalled bespoke radiation or x-ray shielded enclosures.