Often times when you visit a museum, you are looking at the objects of historical, scientific, artistic or cultural significance on the inside of the building, but the BUILDING ITSELF is often very eye-catching, interesting and artistic as well! The same can hold true for your local amphitheater. Yes, you are there to focus on the band or production occurring under the amphitheater’s structure, but take a moment to also appreciate the structure itself.
Oh, The Places You’ll Go- “Congratulations! Today is your day. You’re off to Great Places! You’re off and away!” -Dr. Suess. I know we are all anxiously awaiting the day that we can back out on the roads, in the skies, on the rails, or whatever your preferred form of travel may be. Keep the faith and check out a few of the transportation projects we have been a part of over the years.
Thanks to Viva Railings LLC (Photo credit & Glass/Railing Fabricator) we have received some final installation pictures of the circular staircase at the "Trinity Complex", home to American Airlines Headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas. We spiral bent Tube Steel 16″ X 16″ X .625″ WALL A500 GR B bent down to a an 18 foot radius, using our induction heating process to create the spiral stringers for the staircase. In addition to the 16″ square, we produced another set of spiral stringers consisting of Tube Steel 14″ x 6″ x .625″ wall REALLY tight, exposed and bent to a 5′-6″ radius on a 45° pitch. These are the type of bends that ONLY Albina can do! The 1.7 million-square-foot complex, dubbed the “Trinity complex,” consists of four seven-story buildings. It cost nearly $300 million to build and houses over 6,500 employees. There were 10 tower cranes on the project and more than 1,000 construction workers on-site during the peak of the project.
Thank you to Avant Arc Quality Fabrication & Design, and Ninkasi Brewing Co., for giving Albina the opportunity to bend some cool parts for the Ninkasi Bar in Eugene, Oregon. Albina bent: 2" OD X .120" WALL HREW- 10 lengths x 20 ft to net 50 bent pieces- various degree bends all on a 12” radius. 2" OD X .120" WALL HREW- 4 lengths x 20 ft to net 40 bent pieces- various degree bends all on a 4” radius. 4" OD X .083" WALL T304 S/S- 2 lengths x 20 ft to net 2 bent pieces x 90° on a 55” radius and 2 bent pieces x 90° on a 44” radius.
Albina recently completed 233 pieces of 4" SCH40 A53B ERW bent in a Double 90° configuration on a 9" centerline radius for bollards for the back area of the new SoFi Stadium-Home of the Los Angeles Rams and the Los Angeles Chargers (loading dock, VIP parking, etc.) The bollards will be used for protection of the main structural columns at the stadium.
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.
Albina bent 45,000 lbs. of steel for the Chase Center- Home of the Golden State Warriors. Materials bent included Tube Steel 2" X 2" X .250" WALL A500 GR B, Tube Steel 14" X 14" X .500" WALL A500 GR B, Tube Steel 3" X 3" X .375" WALL A500 GR B, and Tube Steel 12" X 12" X .500" WALL A500 GR all bent to a 270 ft radius. The stadium is located in the Mission Bay area of San Francisco.
Albina elliptically bent 50,000# of 14" XH pipe, all material exposed, to extremely tight tolerances for the Wagon Creek Pedestrian Bridge in Mt. Shasta, California. The McConnell Foundation partnered with Siskiyou County by awarding a $600,000 grant for the Wagon Creek Bridge, and the bridge is considered the crown jewel of the Lake Siskiyou Trail.
Carving pumpkins is a family tradition in the Smith House, a tradition that started 20 years ago with one of mine and Jaime's first dates. But like most events in our household, it is not something we just do without thorough planning and preparation. We follow a strict set-up, we have our designs in mind before we start, we have all of the tools we need at hand, we tackle challenging designs, and most importantly, we have Chinese food waiting for us when we are done! But in all seriousness, the steps we go through to carve pumpkins are very similar to the ones we go through when dealing with a project involving a curved steel component.
1) Plan Ahead: Buy Your Pumpkin Shortly Before Halloween
2) Buy Your Pumpkin from a Pumpkin Patch or Supermarket
3) Select a Healthy Pumpkin Free of Nicks, Bruises and Cuts
4) Pick the Size You Need
5) Choose a Design Before You Start Carving
6) Choose a Method for Carving Your Pumpkin
7) Trace Your Design on the Pumpkin
8) Set Up a Spacious Work Area
9) Select the Right Tools
10) Remove the Filling
11) Carve Your Design
12) Display Your Pumpkin
1) Plan Ahead: Early Involvement of Key Players, especially Your Bender/Roller.
2) Buy the Steel: Have Us Quote Your Job Labor + Material or Purchase Your Own Steel from a Service Center and Have it Delivered To Us
8) We have a 50,000 sq ft Shop with Ample Room to Handle Large Structural Projects and Smaller Repeat Orders.
9) We have the Right Tools with State of the Art Bending Equipment, Bend Dies, Fab Equipment and a QC Department.
10) No Need to Remove the Filling! We DO NOT fill your HSS with other Structural Members. We are able to Bend HSS Members WITHOUT adding extra Material and Weight.
11) Bend, Roll, Spiral, Fabricate, Form!!
12) Erect, Assemble & Display Award Winning Projects Featuring Curved Steel Members for the Steel Industry to See!
The college tours continue and a few weekends ago, we had the pleasure of visiting Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon and seeing the curved steel canopy at the Student Experience Center.
The project was bent out of TS 20" X 12" X .500" WALL. Bent the hard-way to the tightest radius of 101'-8" inside. Always fun to see our handy work in person!