Skip to main content

Remote working for Avery Dennison on the island of St. Helena

Constructing the airport on the remote island of St. Helena has been one of the largest projects for a South African construction group. It’s the site of one of Avery Dennison Refiective Solutions most remote traffic sign projects. The 121km² island is a British Overseas Territory in the southern Atlantic Ocean, just under 2,000km from Angola on Africa’s southwest coast and 4,000km from Rio de Janeiro on Brazil’s east coast. St Helena is noted for being where French Emporer Napoleon was exiled in 1815 af
March 22, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
Constructing the airport on the remote island of St. Helena has been one of the largest projects for a South African construction group. It’s the site of one of 1540 Avery Dennison Refiective Solutions most remote traffic sign projects.

The 121km² island is a British Overseas Territory in the southern Atlantic Ocean, just under 2,000km from Angola on Africa’s southwest coast and 4,000km from Rio de Janeiro on Brazil’s east coast. St Helena is noted for being where French Emporer Napoleon was exiled in 1815 after his defeat at the Battle of Waterloo. He died there in 1821.

Today, the island’s population of just over 4,500 is hoping that the new airport – when opened - will boost tourism to make the island self-sufficient. To replace the five-day boat trip from Africa, the UK government ploughed upwards of US$346 million to build the airport which has yet to open because of remaining concerns about wind shear affecting landing aircraft.

However, the road infrastructure for the design-build-operate airport project is in place, thanks to work by Basil Read. Deon De Jager, Basil Read’s director for St Helena, contracted Repro Signs, a South African traffic sign fabricator, to supply signage for the project. Repro Signs chose products from Avery Dennison Refiective Solutions.

Avery Dennison products, sent by Repro Signs from South Africa, included reflective sheeting and sign-converting supplies required to create all of the project’s highway signs. Given the sea voyage delivery time, all orders had to be filled perfectly first time every time, said Johan Winterbach, southern Africa area business manager for Avery Dennison.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Perlini beats Italian blues with plans to use local partners in Brazil, China and Russia
    January 6, 2017
    Rigid hauler manufacturer Perlini is setting up three new manufacturing businesses in China, Brazil and Russia, working with local partners to supply these growing markets. This is a new approach for the Italian family-run firm, which began setting up the new deals two years ago after a change in management. “Our old management was very conservative,” said managing director Maurizio Perlini. “But it was a case of go with partners or close the company. We did not have a choice.”
  • Perlini beats Italian blues with plans to use local partners in Brazil, China and Russia
    April 17, 2013
    Rigid hauler manufacturer Perlini is setting up three new manufacturing businesses in China, Brazil and Russia, working with local partners to supply these growing markets. This is a new approach for the Italian family-run firm, which began setting up the new deals two years ago after a change in management. “Our old management was very conservative,” said managing director Maurizio Perlini. “But it was a case of go with partners or close the company. We did not have a choice.”
  • Improved runway facility for Florida’s Fort Lauderdale Airport
    August 18, 2015
    Florida’s Fort Lauderdale- Hollywood International Airport (FLL) is now benefiting from an upgraded runway. A key portion of the work has been carried out using equipment from Minnich. The airport handles about 23 million passengers/year and with about 3 million of those from international flights, there was a need to develop the facility to cope with the larger aircraft used on international flights. The Broward County Aviation Department was responsible for the work and specified that the runway exp
  • Improved airport for Thimarafushi atoll
    August 29, 2014
    Thimarafushi forms part of the Thaa Atoll lying in the Indian Ocean but access has been limited in the past. However the construction of a new airport planned by the Maldives Government will help develop the tourist trade, boosting the local economy. Most visitors previously used the country’s two international airports, using these as hubs for flights to the country’s six domestic airports. This has limited travel to only a few of the country’s 1,192 islands, of which around 200 are inhabited. As a result,