“The Spheres”, the recipient of the AISC 2019 IDEAS2 Presidential Award for Excellence in Fabrication grace the cover of the August Issue of Structure Magazine! The article focuses on the inspiration, the vision and the design of “The Spheres.” Albina bent 750,000# and 1,050 pieces rectangular tube steel bent the easy way and a portion bent off-axis for this project. Almost 8 miles of welding work and grinding was avoided because of Albina’s ability to bend a portion of the project. Almost NO correction was needed during fabrication or erection as the bends fit to the fixtures within 1/32nd of an inch! Numerous Pacific Northwest businesses collaborated to make The Spheres possible.
Curved Steel Sections of The Spheres Erected“The Spheres” Seattle, WA.
Albina recently rolled 89 pieces of plate to various radii (with holes) to fit on concrete columns for the Stonestown Galleria mall in San Francisco. Our customer recently shared the below photos of the rolled plates and had this to say, “I just wanted to share that every single plate has fit phenomenally with no issues. I appreciate your companies attention to quality control and detail. We look forward to continuing to work with Albina on future projects.”
The last few years have been sensational for Albina Co., Inc. We have seen a great deal of change in our industry and have been fortunate to recognize growth in our capabilities, capacity and in both our shop and office team members. We are excited to introduce the newest member of our Estimating / Project Management team, Joseph (Joe) Daniels. Joe is joining Aaron Hughes, Mark King, Brad Lund, Stuart Hasman and Brian Smith in Albina’s Sales department. Joe has many years of experience in the steel and fabrication industry and has worked in Albina’s shop, as an Ironworker, since July 2014. Joe has developed an outstanding reputation at Albina and will be a welcomed addition to our outstanding sales and estimating team. Joe possesses a comprehensive work ethic and will service Albina’s customers just as you have grown accustomed to from the other members of our team. We are confident Joe’s commitment to quality and integrity will make him a valuable resource as our company and your business continue to grow. You can contact Joe or any of our other existing sales staff with your estimating and technical needs at 503-692-6010. Joe’s email is jdaniels@albinaco.com. Thank you for your continued support.
I’m proud of
my hard work. Working hard won’t always lead to the exact things we desire.
There are many things I’ve wanted that I haven’t always gotten. But, I have a
great satisfaction in the blessings from my mother and father, who instilled a
great work ethic in me both personally and professionally. –Tamron
Hall
Father’s Day is upon us! Father’s Day is particularly important to me as I lost my father, Bill, over 8 years ago, and there isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t think about him or get a reminder of him while at work. It can be a phone call from someone in the industry who used to work with him, it can be an old quote I see come across my desk with his name on it, it can be my daily rounds through the shop where I can still see him problem solving with a machine operator on a particularly challenging job. Whatever it may be, I always remind myself that I am a representative of the Smith Family and the steel bending business that my grandfather and father helped to build. Jaime and I have been building on their values for many, many years now and feel great about where we have been able to take the business. All three generations have worked in both the shop and office during our careers. A fourth generation spends their summers pulling weeds, washing windows and doing database entry in their spare time. We have four generations of family who believe in the steel industry and believe in the value of hard work. I have no idea if my son and daughter will be interested in taking over the family business some day, but if they do, I am confident that they will work hard, be honest and carry on the traditions we have lived by for the last 80 years! I am a proud business owner and a proud Father. Happy Father’s Day to all you Father’s out there!
Check out the cover spot and three page feature article on Albina Co., Inc. in the June Rocky Mountain Edition of A2Z Manufacturing Magazine. Pages 18-20! We had such a great time working with Linda and Kim to highlight and showcase all of the amazing curved steel projects we have done in Colorado, Utah, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. Some projects featured in the article include:
Sun Valley Music Pavillion in Sun Valley, ID. 220,000# of pipe rolled ranging from 10″ Sch80 to 10″ XXHCustom Signage at Entrance to Yellow Stone National Park Attraction “Buffalo Bill Cody Stampede Park”Ellie Caulkins Opera House Denver, CO. 210 lengths 1-1/2″ x 1-1/2″ x 3/16″ angle rolled to numerous compound radii
Candidate must have extensive steel fabrication and estimating (bidding) experience (a minimum 5 years’ experience). It would be ideal if the candidate has actual shop fabrication or bending experience as well. Candidate must be well connected in the bending and fabrication industry and have a strong reputation for customer service. High-level ability to use Geometry, Trigonometry, AutoCAD and computer based Excel spreadsheets.
Duties include: Read & interpret shop drawings to come up with bending and fabrication estimates. This candidate is responsible for all levels of the bid process as well as post-bid project management. Work with a team of estimators and project managers to initiate improvements in our current bid process and develop new standards / rules for estimating bending and fabrication.
Compensation DOE. This is NOT an entry-level position.
Please email or fax your resume Attn: HR Director: dwilson@albinaco.com or 503-692-6020 (fax)
Albina Co., Inc. is drawing a lot of attention locally and nationwide as we celebrate 80 years in the steel bending business. Our story is one of the unique ones as we span three generations of Smith owners! Check out the article on the Portland Business Tribune website.
We recently joined the USFA (Utah Steel Fabricators Association) to assist in the effort to support and improve the steel fabrication industry in Utah. USFA members are comprised of steel distributors, steel processors, steel fabricators, and providers of many products and services related to metal fabrication. This is an exciting opportunity to network with other folks in the steel industry and to help strengthen the educational core in Utah’s steel industry.
Albina Co., Inc., located outside Portland, Oregon, has been providing customers with innovative, quality curved steel services and products since 1939. A family owned and operated, third generation business, run by Brian Smith, specializes in structural steel, tube and pipe bending, plate rolling and fabrication. Albina produces virtually any metal component that needs to bend or curve without the use of pre-formed fittings. Albina has provided curved steel for many high-profile buildings, stadiums and structures in the United States and Canada. Albina was the steel bender of choice on the recently completed Amazon Spheres in Seattle,Washington.
Albina is an industry leader in research and development and in 2018, purchased an MCP30 by Davi, the first type of bending machine in the United States with a “iRoll” smart camera system, allowing operators to view the part being bent compared to a radius template on the control screen. The machine has the 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.
Brian and Jaime Smith by the Davi Machine
Albina also purchased a Bend-Tech Dragon A400 Plasma Cutter, a commercial grade CNC tube cutting ,engraving, and marking machine with the world’s most powerful CAD/CAM software. Other new equipment included new welders, jib cranes, induction heating coils, an electric forklift and 40 sets of tooling.
Albina was an instrumental player in the development of the first ever Design Guide of its kind in the United States offering information on the fabrication, design and detailing of curved members. Design Guide 33 “Curved Member Design” was released in October 2018 by the AISC Bender/Roller committee and is an invaluable resource for the industry!
Albina not only has one of the newest, most technologically advanced machines on the market, Albina also has one of the oldest, custom made bending machines ever created! In honor of the 80th Anniversary, Albina created a museum on site, called “The Smith-sonian”, honoring the family name and housing one of the first ever pieces of equipment that Albina owned and used to bend materials. 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 until the 1990’s to bend various materials such as pipe, tube, and square and rectangular hollow structural steel. “The Smith-sonian” is ready for visitors. Cheers to 80 Years!
Albina worked on a custom spiral staircase for the Ritz Carlton in Sunny Isles, Florida. This high profile spiral staircase was for a great customer out of Florida. When a top of the line luxury hotel needed top of the line bending, Albina was contracted. Yes! We shipped from Oregon to Florida to service the needs of our customer!
Albina bent TS 16″ X 4″ X .500″ WALL A500 GR B down to a 12’ inside radius (for the stringers and the landings). All bends were to AESS standards. Click here for images of the spiral staircase and the newly renovated hotel.
