Membrane Structures for Medan and North Sumatra

Medan is the economic centre of North Sumatra, with a client mix you do not find elsewhere: plantation companies, industrial estates, the port, and commercial buildings across the city. For membrane work the deciding factor here is not the design, it is how the material gets there. Before the detail, the honest part: AeroSpan has no completed project in Medan. This page explains how we serve North Sumatra from our Bogor workshop and what changes when delivery goes by sea.

Shipped by sea, not hauled down a toll road

For cities on Java the material simply goes on a truck. Medan runs a different route: from the workshop to a port on Java, onto a vessel, unloaded at Belawan, then overland to site. The clearest consequence is time. Sailing schedules, loading, and discharge at the destination port put delivery on a scale of weeks rather than the days a road run takes. None of that is a problem as long as it is planned from the start, and we deliberately leave a gap between the shipping date and the crew departure so nobody sits idle waiting for material.

Packing changes once cargo goes on a ship

Sea freight asks for different handling. Steel members longer than a standard container are normally split into segments with bolted splices designed in from the start, rather than cut short at the quayside. Membrane fabric is packed to keep moisture and salt air off it during the voyage. Bolts, connection plates, and hardware are grouped and labelled by installation zone, because losing one small box on the other side of the sea is a far bigger problem than losing it on a Greater Jakarta site. All of this goes into planning before fabrication starts.

Medan rainfall drives slope and water paths

Rainfall in North Sumatra is high and often arrives hard over a short window. The question is not only whether a surface leaks, but how fast water can get away. Fabric slope, flow direction, gutter capacity, and discharge points are set during design so nothing ponds mid-span. Wind arriving with the rain goes into the load case too, particularly for exposed areas such as factory yards or open grounds with no surrounding buildings to shelter them.

Typical clients in Medan and North Sumatra

• Plantation and processing facilities: loading areas, vehicle holding yards, and covered walkways between buildings.
• Industrial estates around Tanjung Morawa, Mabar, and the Belawan corridor.
• City commercial buildings: mall entrances, restaurant outdoor areas, and shophouse canopies.
• Parking canopies for offices, hotels, and health facilities.
• Sports and school facilities: court covers and assembly areas.

A realistic schedule and the project threshold

The process matches any other project: a first estimate from photos and dimensions, a survey visit, 3D design and structural calculations, full fabrication at the Bogor workshop, then delivery and installation. What differs is a longer timeline on the delivery side, and the scope really should be final before the crew flies out. A second trip to Medan to patch up a scope that shifted mid-job is expensive for everyone, so we would rather spend the time in design than fix it in the field.

On cost, plainly: a minimum project value applies nationally, and for sites outside Greater Jakarta the material transport and crew mobilisation are calculated separately and appear as their own lines in the quotation. The official figures live on our rate card. Because Medan delivery goes by sea, the sensible project threshold sits higher than for cities on Java. A single small canopy almost never makes economic sense. What does work is a larger project, or several structures in one location built together under one shipment and one crew mobilisation.

← See our projects