Blog posts tagged with 'Architectural & Structural Steel Bending'

Albina provided 109,000# of bent steel for the Eli Lilly San Diego Biotech Center in La Jolla, CA. Eli Lilly doubled the size of its research facility to 300,000 square feet during this project.

Materials included:

8" X 8" X 5/8" ANGLE A36- half of the parts rolled leg in and half of the parts rolled leg out.

Tube Steel 8" X 8" X .500" WALL A500 GR B

8 5/8" OD X .625" WALL A500B

Wide Flange W16 X 57# A992- Split into WT8 and rolled some parts stem in and rolled some parts stem out.

Wide Flange W24 X 103# A992- DOUBLE split to a finished height of 8¼" tall.  Albina then rolled some parts stem in and other stem out.

In honor of our 80th Anniversary, Albina has created a museum on site, called “The Smith-sonian”, which honors the family name and houses one of the first ever pieces of equipment that Albina owned and used to bend materials. John Smith, Brian’s grandfather, built the “Model-T” bending machine in the early 1940’s utilizing the transmission and differential from a “Model-T” Ford. This machine was used to roll/bend various materials such as pipe, tube, and square and rectangular HSS (hollow structural steel). The machine would pull material around a bend die resulting in a smooth radius finished good. The “Model-T” was in operation at Albina until the 1990’s when it was replaced by more efficient bending equipment. “The Smith-sonian” is ready for visitors. Stop by to see us! Cheers to 80 Years! You can check out a virtual tour on YouTube.

This master bender machine offers the new and innovative iRoll camera system, allowing operators to view the part being bent compared to a radius template on the control screen. This is a new way to make quality and consistent parts. Another innovation with the master bender is the machine’s ability to “learn and remember” how different materials bend, where the rolls need to be positioned, and how much spring back is associated with a bend / material. This machine is a great fit for our shop, its size puts it right between our current Roundo R7 and R11 machines. Allowing us to reallocate work from two machines to three machines which should certainly help with our scheduling flexibility. The MCP30 will allow us to bend up to 8” x 8” angle, 9” square HSS, W16 the easy way / W12 the hard way and 14” Sch20 pipe / 12” Sch40 pipe. [caption id="attachment_1716" align="aligncenter" width="420"] Brian and Jaime Smith by the Davi Machine[/caption]

Albina provided 41,000# of bent steel to a Arizona fabricator for the St. Augustine Cathedral Square Conference Center and Offices project located in Tucson, AZ. Albina was responsible to bend 13 different materials including angle, square tubing and rectangular tubing. Sizes ranged from 2” x 1½” angle up to TS 16” x 4” rectangular tubing. This project shipped on multiple trucks, but to help reduce freight costs to our customer we were able to combine the different releases with other goods shipping to the area allowing our customer to pay for partial trucks vs. full trucks. The bent steel is part of a $12 million, 50,000 square foot four story complex (click here to see rendering). The first, third and fourths floors will house the cathedral offices, while a 500 seat conference and education center will reside on the second floor.

Sponsored by the American Institute of Steel Construction, the Innovative Design in Engineering and Architecture with Structural Steel (IDEAS2) recognizes projects where structural steel has been utilized in an innovative manner. We have been an integral part of many award winning projects, but this year, our curved steel was featured on the award-winning project of the UC Davis Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art. In honor of this years award winners, the AISC produced a high quality coffee table flip Book of the winners. The UC Davis Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art is featured on pages 39 and 40 Feel free to check out the whole book to see the entire list of winners. [caption id="attachment_1092" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Curved Steel Entry [/caption] [caption id="attachment_1091" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] 50,000 Square Foot Permeable Roof[/caption] [caption id="attachment_1093" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Overview of Curved Roof Structure[/caption]

We recently completed bending 3 lengths x 45 feet of Wide Flange W8 X 35# A992 Bent the easy way to a 16’ 6” radius. 120° of content. Albina rolled, trimmed, drilled and assemble complete the three lengths displayed in the front of these images. These large span bends were for one of the leading formwork and scaffolding companies in the construction industry.  

Albina bent 55,000# of wide flange W24 X 76# A992, W30 X 108# A992, W36 X 135# A992, W36 X 170# A992 for the Murray Park Amphitheater in Salt Lake City, Utah. Over a planning period that lasted several years, the city received input from patrons and citizens that focused on the needs and wants for improvements to the amphitheater. The largest improvement to the amphitheater was a curved steel roof over the stage and orchestra pit. “In the summer, we have microburst storms that roll in at around three or four in the afternoon and rain out events,” Sorenson said. “The stage can also get very hot, which limits what you can do in the afternoon. If we had a roof, we wouldn’t have to cancel. It would allow us to keep events running.” One of Albina Co., Inc.'s slogans over the years is "We've Got You Covered" and in this instance, we truly did! The wide flange was all bent the hardway to a radii range of approx. 90 ft – 100 ft. and it was all bending to AESS (Architecturally Exposed Structural Steel Standards).

We spent this last weekend in Seattle as we took our son and some friends up to a Mariners game. We had Saturday morning to spend in the city, and everywhere we looked, we stumbled upon projects containing curved steel that we have been a part of! The Jimmy Hendrix Museum, The Spheres and Spiral Staircase at The Spheres, the New Spiral Staircase in the Space Needle, the Canopy at the Seattle Great Wheel, the Dale Chihuly Garden and Glass Museum, the pedestrian bridge at the Museum of Flight, and art projects outside of corporate offices. The list goes on! What a true experience to see Brian showing the kids all of the curved steel projects Albina has done over the years! It was a great teaching moment to explain how the entire process works from the beginning of a project to the end and how all the different players work together to accomplish one final product. We were extremely proud to be the steel bender of choice for these amazing projects in the Pacific Northwest. And stay tuned, there are great things happening in the PNW and many more high profile projects coming up!