We recently completed a unique curved stainless steel art project for Camelback Commons in Arizona. Albina Co., Inc. bent 8 pieces of 3" SCH40 T304 Stainless Steel. All parts were bent to a full scale layout and all points needed to be hit +/-½”. The tightest radius was a 36” centerline. Camelback Commons are multi-level buildings with an open atrium for businesses as well as apartments, just walking distance from the high-dollar Arizona Biltmore. Photo Credit: Creative Machines., Inc.
The National Council of Structural Engineers Associations (NCSEA) recently announced the 2019 Excellence in Structural Engineering Awards in the December issue of Structure Magazine. The Rufus 2.0 Spheres in Seattle, WA. Was awarded the “Outstanding Project” for New Buildings $20 Million to $100 Million. We worked with some of our amazing partners in the PNW on this project! Albina's portion included bending 750,000# and 1,050 pieces of 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!
The color of the season around here is Red! Usually you wouldn't want to have the color red associated with a small business (ha!), but the signature red color we are seeing a lot of this season is our new DAVI MAV Variable Geometry K30 2-1/2” x 10 ft plate roll! The machine arrived in our shop a few weeks ago and will be up an operational by 12/31! This is our gift to you as this machine will drastically increase our capacity for plate rolling and we are excited about the opportunity to bid your plate rolling needs! The overall capacity for standard A36 plate is 10 ft x 2½”. For higher yield material (example 60 ksi) the machine can pre-bend and roll the following examples:
10 ft x 1 5/8″ thick to a 61″ outside diameter.
9 ft x 1 3/4″ thick to a 96″ outside diameter.
10 ft x 3/4″ thick to a 30″ inside diameter.
DAVI MAV Variable Geometry K30 2-1/2” x 10 ft plate roll
With 2019 wrapping up, we also wrap up our 80th year in business. What an amazing accomplishment. Most businesses are not fortunate enough to see this type of longevity. 2019 has been a strong year for Albina where we have seen our national “footprint” expand into states where we were not previously providing bent materials. I think it is safe to say that Albina has a presence in almost every state in the US, which is a tremendous accomplishment for a company that started as a small, local shop. We would not be where we are at as a company without the efforts and dedication of the Albina team who strive to exceed your expectations in quality workmanship, on-time delivery, customer service, communication, equipment and procedures. We are so very fortunate for the amazing customers and vendors we work with as well. You make coming to work every day a pleasure. We are looking forward to 2020 and all the new opportunities and unique jobs we hope to work on together!
Happy Holidays from Brian & Jaime Smith, and Family
We were fortunate enough to be part of a unique urban renewal project in Dallas, Texas this year. We bent 30 lengths of 12" SCH40 (.406" WALL) 6061-T6 Aluminum material, a VERY rare material to get out of a mill, that were used to help create a unique overhead structure at the Pacific Plaza Pavilion in Downtown Dallas, Texas. Pacific Plaza is part of an urban renewal project transforming surface parking lots into neighborhood parks. Albina Co., Inc. bent, trimmed and marked top dead center on all parts. Material was bent to AESS standards and very tight tolerances.
Curved Aluminum for Pacific Plaza Pavilion in Dalas, TX.
As we near the end of our 80th Anniversary celebration, and during this holiday season of Thanksgiving, we wanted to give a special "Thank You" to our employees and provide them with a modern, state of the art, relaxing place for them to enjoy breaks and lunch together. We decided to create an elevated lunchroom up on our mezzanine level, giving the employees a retreat away from the production floor and opening up more production space below the mezzanine. This new production space opens up many opportunities for new equipment and capacities, just like the DAVI MAV K30 Plate Roll we just purchased! More information to come on that next month. Jackson-Barrett Construction did an amazing job on the project! They were professional and efficient and produced an extremely high quality room for us. With their help, we also commissioned a local company called PDX Wraps to create custom wall wraps for both the exterior and interior of the room. Such a cool product! In addition, we surveyed our crew to find out what was most important to them when creating this new space. Items included cell phone and laptop charging stations, multiple microwaves and refrigerators, and ergonomic chairs.
We had the pleasure of attending FABTECH this week and purchased a new MAV Variable Geometry K30 2-1/2” x 10 ft plate roll! The machine is due to arrive in our shop next week and we will have it up and rolling soon!
The overall capacity for standard A36 plate is 10 ft x 2½". For higher yield material (example 60 ksi) the machine can pre-bend and roll the following examples:
10 ft x 1 5/8" thick to a 61" outside diameter.
9 ft x 1 3/4" thick to a 96" outside diameter.
10 ft x 3/4" thick to a 30" inside diameter.
This machine will drastically increase our capacity for plate rolling and we are excited about the opportunity to bid your plate rolling needs!
Albina recently had the pleasure of teaming up with Ed Carpenter and his team to help create the Barbara Walker Crossing Wildwood Trail Bridge at West Burnside in Portland, Oregon. The bridge is 178’ long measured at the center of its curving deck. Its basic structure is a tri-chord truss of rusting and painted steel, Carpenter’s design evokes imagery of the sword ferns and vine maples lining the entire length of the Wildwood Trail This is a project of the Portland Parks Foundation in partnership with Portland Parks & Recreation (PP&R), Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT), and Metro. Albina bent 3½" SCH80 A847 and 5" SCH40 A847 all rolled to various radii, as well as 1" SCH40 A53B, 1½" SCH40 A53B, 1½" SCH80 A53B all rolled to various radii. Bridge Design and Photos by Ed Carpenter.
A shout out to these awesome guys for all their hard work and dedication! The shop is super busy right now and they are churning through the work creating top quality steel bends for our customers! We are so busy that we are looking for qualified candidates that want to join us in our steel bending adventures. If you are interested in learning more about the available positions in our shop, please contact HR dwilson@albinaco.com.
Candidate must have extensive knowledge of the steel industry. With a minimum of 5 years’ experience purchasing and shipping in the steel industry. Candidate must be self-motivated and able to manage multiple projects at any given time. Must be well connected in the steel industry and have a strong reputation for customer service. High-level computer and math (geometry) skills required.
DUTIES:
Read & interpret shop drawings and shop data to determine how items are going to ship. Candidate is responsible for shipping and purchasing decisions (with direction from project managers). Work with a team of estimators, project managers, production managers and yard managers to successfully perform duties.
Compensation package based on experience. This is NOT an entry-level position. Please email your resume Attn: HR Director: dwilson@albinaco.com.
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
Steps for Steel Bending
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!
