Strongwell’s COMPOSOLITE® FRP building panels were used as scaffolding for a bridge reconstruction project in New Jersey. The FRP scaffolding served as working platforms when construction workers replaced the Driscoll Bridge’s bearings. It also functioned to catch debris that fell off of the bridge deck during the work.
The COMPOSOLITE® panels were pultruded in a safety yellow color and a fine grit surface was added for skid resistance. The lightweight FRP scaffold was fabricated on the ground and then the completed unit was hoisted into place where it required less vertical supports. Both steel and plywood alternatives would require more supports to stabilize them as mandated by State specifications. The corrosion resistant fiberglass scaffolding can be easily disassembled and reused in the next bridge repair project.
In October, Strongwell participated in the ACMA’s (American Composites Manufacturers Association) Composites and Polycon show in Tampa, Florida The event highlighted the latest products and news in the composite industry. Strongwell received the ACMA’s Infinite Possibility award for the innovative application of COMPOSOLITE® as bridge repair scaffolding.
A recent bridge project in Black River Falls, Wisconsin made interesting use of Strongwell’s SAFPLANK® decking. The contractor chose the FRP panels to serve as a concrete forming system.
The interlocking fiberglass panels were installed upside down and the concrete was poured directly on top of the panels. Unlike wood forms, the corrosion resistant and light weight SAFPLANK® did not have to be removed. There was also no need to form between the concrete girders. This saved the cost of labor to remove the forms and resulted in a faster installation.
In 1998, Cordova Park near Des Moines, Iowa, chose to re-purpose a decommissioned water tower into an observation deck for sightseers. EXTREN® Series 525 from Strongwell was selected for the project due to the expense of steel or aluminum structural work. Strongwell engineers collaborated with project engineers to combine a composite spiraling stairwell with their steel design.
After almost a decade, the composite application is as strong and safe as when initially completed. Calhoun-Burns and Associates report that the 170 step structure has required little maintenance, demonstrating FRP’s ability to withstand corrosion from the elements. Park visitor’s scaling the 106 ft. structure can rest assured that the resilience of the fiberglass structure beneath them will continue to provide safe access to the marvelous view.
The School of Business and Information Systems for Vocational Training Council in Tsing Yi, Hong Kong needed a versatile solution for their new air-conditioning platforms. DURADEK® I-6000 fiberglass grating was selected to not only serve as a platform, but also to function as a visually appealing louver, concealing the air conditioning units.
The FRP solution was chosen over steel, wood and aluminum because of its resistance to weathering. DURADEK®’s lightweight properties help reduce the load exerted onto the structural members. In addition the lightweight DURADEK® resulted in a much easier installation. DURADEK® I-6000 provided a long-lasting, safe platform and the facility maintains a pleasant and rust-free outlook.
The United States Fish and Wildlife Service has established the Craig Brook National Fish Hatchery in East Orland, Maine to propagate and stock juvenile Atlantic salmon. The hatchery takes great care in the repopulating efforts for the endangered salmon. Therefore, an easily maintainable and corrosion resistant environment is essential where restoration efforts rely on producing healthy salmon offspring.
The Craig Brook National Fish Hatchery uses crowding pools to raise the young salmon, or fry. The hatchery’s existing roof frame systems, located over the crowding pools, had succumbed to years of environmental corrosion and were in need of replacement. In the spring of this year, the choice was made replace the dilapidated roof frames.
Because the environment surrounding the crowding pools is moisture rich and unheated, Apex chose Strongwell’s EXTREN® structural shapes. The fiberglass structural shapes solved the low maintenance challenge and also provided the non-corrosive environment necessary to produce the young Atlantic Salmon.
The fiberglass framed structures were built on top of the existing concrete tanks. The EXTREN® shapes were combined with stainless steel gusset plates to form the corrosion resistant roof framing. The result was a unique and appealing appearance. The initial investment in FRP provides the Craig Brook National Fish Hatchery a maintenance free future with improved cost effectiveness over time.
Clint Smith (Manager of Engineering & Quality – Strongwell's Bristol Division) and coauthor Stacy Brooks of Technick won the ACMA’s Best Pultrusion Technical Paper award.
The paper titled “The Impact of Release Agent on Pultruded FRP” was published in the ACMA 2007 Conference Proceedings.
DURAGRID® R-8300 1" fiberglass grating is specially designed for use in environments such as cooling towers where maximizing air flow is important. The smooth rectangular bar construction yields 83% open space allowing excellent airflow while still providing 60 lbs. per square foot load capacity on a 36" loading span.
DURAGRID® R-8300 grating can be safely used for maintenance walkways and access platforms. The bearing bars are produced with a synthetic surfacing veil to enhance corrosion resistance and to help protect the bar from particles in the air passing through the grating. DURAGRID® R-8300 is produced in a safety yellow color to provide good visibility.
For more information about the new DURAGRID® R-8300 grating, visit Strongwell's online literature library to see the DURAGRID® R-8300 Grating Flyer.
John Tickle, President of Strongwell, has taken office as President of ACMA (American Composites Manufacturers Association), and will serve as President until June 30, 2009. Tickle succeeded Bill Kreysler, President of Kreysler & Associates.
"My goal is to find positive solutions that will encourage growth and success for everyone in our industry. That is sometimes difficult given the variety of businesses that comprise our association, but I am looking forward to the challenge over the next two years." said Tickle.
John was featured in the July edition of Composites Manufacturing magazine. The article offers an insider’s look into his life – both within the composites arena and at home.
The American Composites Manufacturers Association is the world's largest trade association serving the composites industry. ACMA’s goal is to provide a forum for the composites industry to develop and enhance shared opportunities and address common challenges. ACMA has offices located in Washington D.C. and is comprised of more than 1,000 members from across the globe. ACMA unites manufacturers with their suppliers, distributors, end-users, and other industry stakeholders to harness the power of a united industry.
Architectural handrail has never been so easy to assemble and install! Strongwell is proud to unveil its latest product line – STRONGRAIL™ Architectural Handrail! STRONGRAIL™ architectural handrail systems are a strong, attractive and safe solution to your structural needs. The standard systems are fabricated from pultruded fiberglass components produced by Strongwell and molded thermoplastic connectors. The railing systems are particularly well-suited to corrosive environments like those found in commercial structures with urban and salt air corrosion. Systems can be made to meet ADA requirements, adding safety and beauty to your property.
STRONGRAIL™ architectural fiberglass handrail systems are:
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- Corrosion resistant
- Structurally strong
- Impact resistant
- Lightweight
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- Easy to field fabricate
- Low in thermal conductivity
- Low electrical conductivity
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Product literature is available for STRONGRAIL™. Visit our Literature Page to view a PDF of the newest brochure or email the Strongwell Media Center at mediacenter@strongwell.com if you would like to receive a hard copy.
DURASHIELD HC® is one of the newest members of Strongwell’s broad line of problem-solving fiberglass products. DURASHIELD HC® is a hollow core pultruded fiberglass panel that features a simple tongue-and-groove construction.
The panel is: |
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- Lightweight
- Easy to install
- Corrosion resistant
- Low in conductivity
- Strong
- Flame retardant
- Transparent to electromagnetic emissions
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Typical applications for the DURASHIELD HC® panel include:
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- Cladding
- Cellular screening
- Enclosures
- Covers
- Buildings
- Roofs
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Product literature is now available for DURASHIELD HC®. Visit our Literature Page to view a PDF of the newest brochure or email the Strongwell Media Center at mediacenter@strongwell.com if you would like to receive a hard copy.
Several apartment buildings in downtown Los Angeles chose a unique architectural application for Strongwell products.
To achieve a more “modern” look, the Savoy Apartment buildings were in need of steel trim for balconies and walkways. Gary Williams, Project Manager from Trammell Crow Residential said, “The project specified steel, but we wanted something that would be maintenance-free.”
Savoy Apartments researched options and chose gray EXTREN® FRP shapes instead of steel to trim the edges of the street-front apartments. "EXTREN® was the most similar to the specified steel in properties and aesthetics,” said Williams. Eight-inch EXTREN® C-Channels matched the steel properties and even offered more benefits! The channels could simulate the metal beam supports under balconies and as aesthetic trim at exterior walkways.
The channels were mounted approximately 1” away from the face of the building as specified to allow rain water to run behind it. Since the trim would constantly be exposed to weather’s elements, maintenance was crucial. A deciding factor in choosing EXTREN® was that it will not rust and no annual repainting will be needed – saving on maintenance time and money.
Williams said that installing the FRP structural shapes also saved time because the material was so much lighter than steel. “Two men could even install it, without the use of cranes or heavy duty lifts.”
A busy East Didsbury Train Station in Manchester, England has received a new look with Strongwell products. PIPEX Structural Composites Ltd., an international distributor of Strongwell products, helped the owner and operator of the United Kingdom’s rail infrastructure, Network Rail, revamp two existing concrete station platforms by supplying and fabricating a structural FRP deck over a new steel support frame.
Strongwell’s SAFPLATE® bonded to DURAGRID® pultruded grating, along with EXTREN® angle, were chosen last year to replace the surface of approximately 367 feet of concrete platforms at the station. The SAFPLATE® provided a non-slip, gritted walkway while maintaining the aesthetic properties of the station. The “state-of-the-art” installation also provided a gritted “bright white” edge and a tactile strip to aid visually impaired commuters.
Supply, fabrication and installation of the platforms were all cost-effective and time-saving. The destruction of the old concrete platform and the installation of the new steel deck with FRP surface went much easier and quicker than expected. Work was completed and the station reopened in seven weeks — right on schedule! The successful and speedy installation reduced disruption for travelers.
The platforms have a life expectancy of 60 years and were designed as a modular system that can be added to in the future. PIPEX, Managing Director, Simon Eves said , “The use of structural composites for this application marked a major milestone for Network Rail and PIPEX was proud to be chosen for the design, fabrication and installation of the new station deck.”
Network Rail’s regional General Manager Jo Kay said, “It is a tribute to the hard work and dedication of all parties involved that the first phase of work was completed on time and on budget with the station completely transformed by November.” With such success, plans for similar renovations within the Manchester line are currently underway.
The Franklin County, Ohio Road Department recently upgraded a very corrosive storage area using Strongwell products.
The Road Department stores the bulk road de-icing chemicals in outdoor storage tanks. Safe access was needed to and from the tanks for filling and inspection. Therefore, it was necessary to build platforms using materials that were non-corrosive and safe.
Strongwell products were chosen for the job because they are light weight, corrosion resistant and most importantly, the builders wanted to assemble the components together themselves without the need for heavy lifting equipment.
The platforms were built using EXTREN® 525 Series 6” beams and I-6000 DURAGRID® 1” grating for walkways and stair treads. Square SAFRAIL™ handrail with a toe plate was added to surround the edge. To reach the platform, a stairway was built using EXTREN® 525 Series 10” channels for stairs and 2” equal leg angles for lateral bracing. In addition, roof access was required, so a SAFRAIL™ walkthrough ladder was also installed. The assembly and erection using FRP shapes saved time while assuring that the materials will last much longer in the corrosive environment than traditional building materials.
Mill Ruins Park in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota utilized Strongwell’s fiberglass grating on new walkways. The park is the centerpiece of the revitalization of Minneapolis’ historic West Side Milling District and is still being further developed with theatre, culture, history and entertainment venues.
L. S. Black Construction, the contractor for this project, used T-1800 DURAGRID® 1” grating and T-3300 2” for stair treads. As you can imagine, aesthetics are important to the beautiful area, so FRP grating was the best choice. The grating installation was completed June 2006.
The park is listed on the National Register of Historic Places because of the deep history surrounding the mills that once inhabited the area. The park is also prepared for ongoing development of residential and other private and public uses in area, including the Minnesota Historical Society’s Mill City Museum.
An FRP bridge deck by Strongwell solved logistics and maintenance problems by replacing a conventional wooden bridge deck on Tangier Island.
Deterioration forced the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) to replace the rotting wooden bridge and deck on Tangier Island in Virginia’s Chesapeake Bay. When considering the best materials to replace the deck, VDOT required that the materials be non-corrosive for the salt-water environment, lightweight because of the limited access to the bridge site, and extremely durable because of the difficulty in maintaining or replacing the deck in the future.
All materials had to be shipped to the island on a barge since there is no truck access from the mainland. The deck was off loaded and hauled to the bridge site on a special access dolly, and erected with a light-weight all-terrain crane.
The FRP bridge deck was chosen for this unique bridge restoration not only because the lightweight characteristics of the EXTREN® system, but also because of its extreme durability. The 56-foot long deck was shipped in five separate sections that were shop-fabricated and assembled at Strongwell’s manufacturing plant in Bristol, VA. Each section consisted of 4” EXTREN® tubes and 3/8” plate. North Star Construction Corporation was the contractor for the bridge and deck and Strongwell’s Corporate Chief Structural Engineer served as the Engineer-of-Record for VDOT on the EXTREN® deck.
Chalk another one up for the time-saving COMPOSOLITE® Secondary Containment System! This type of containment is essential for substations. It is even mandated by the EPA because of the potential for oil leakage from transformers that may flow into adjacent bodies of water.
Recent installations of these kits have proven extremely successful, including an installation at Xcel Energy’s Bergen Park substation in Evergreen, Colorado. The installation took place in August of 2006 and impressed the crew because of its easy and quick installation.
Vic Garcia of Pipe Valve and Fitting Company, a Strongwell distributor, visited the site and talked with the construction crew. They said the installation was “very slick.” The crews were delighted to use the FRP Secondary Containment System kit because it took them one day and only a few hours of the second day to install it. According to the crew, the same type of job in concrete would have taken them over a week to do!
It is proven that the COMPOSOLITE® Secondary Containment System exceeds the traditional concrete system benefits by being less costly – especially in remote areas – in addition to being easy to install!
The power to design with Strongwell products is now available on the internet. Access the online version of the Strongwell Design Manual with ease by logging on to
http://www.strongwell.com/designmanual.
- Register for 24-hour access to the most
up-to-date design information!
- Receive emails when updates have been
made to the Design Manual!
- Login from any computer with internet access!
The Strongwell Design Manual contains more than 400 pages of engineering data for the design engineer. The manual is based on years of manufacturing experience, extensive product testing and structural design and fabrication experience from Strongwell and numerous academic institutions.
Additional information is included about fabrication, specifications for FRP products and fabrication, corrosion resistance, project worksheets, metric system conversions and a design example.
To register and use Strongwell's up-to-date online Design Manual, click
here.
An all-composite double leaf bascule bridge recently installed in Bridgetown, Barbados, was built using Strongwell’s
COMPOSOLITE® building panel system,
EXTREN® structural shapes and a custom heavy-duty building panel. The bridge superstructure itself is made entirely of
COMPOSOLITE® system components and custom building panels, while various sizes of
EXTREN® square tubes were used to create an attractive architectural railing system.
The Chamberlain Bridge measures 29 feet (8.86m) wide, 38.5 feet (11.7m) long and about 3 feet (1m) deep.
The bridge was fabricated by Strongwell and shipped in four sections that were assembled on-site using adhesive and
COMPOSOLITE® toggles and 3-way connectors.
The drawbridge is mainly used by pedestrians in this tourist destination, but it is designed to support vehicular traffic. Strongwell’s pultruded composite materials were selected to replace a dangerously obsolete steel structure mainly because of the excellent strength-to-weight ratio of the pultruded parts. Heavier materials would have required the city to rebuild the lifting mechanism and other materials were not strong enough. The composite materials also offered the benefits of corrosion resistance, low maintenance and high aesthetic appeal.
The Chamberlain Bridge is an excellent example of how composites can be used to replace steel in vehicular superstructures, especially in corrosive saltwater environments.
Strongwell has partnered with Virginia Tech and the Virginia Department of Transportation to install a new composite bridge decking system on a severely deteriorating historic bridge.
The 106-year old Hawthorne Street Bridge in Covington, Virginia, consists of a concrete deck that has been periodically replaced due to severe deterioration. The truss bridge was built in the early 1900’s and is on the National Historic Bridge Register. This type of bridge was specially constructed by the Phoenix Foundry, which cleverly developed tubular chord bridge systems with pin and strap strut interior members. Although hundreds of these bridges were constructed at the turn of the 20th century, very few are still in existence. Hence, special care was taken to restore the Hawthorne Street Bridge.
Current highway codes require load capacities to meet AASHTO HS 20 city requirements. Unfortunately, replacing the concrete deck on the antique bridge would still not meet the requirements. In order to reconstruct this delicate bridge structure, project engineers agreed that refurbishing the steel truss system with a fiberglass composite system was the most economical means of increasing the bridge capacity and extending its life. Strongwell’s corrosion resistant, light weight deck system required minimal construction time and was ideal for the project.
EXTREN® square tubes and plate, adhesives and galvanized steel connection hardware were used to create the tube decking system. The existing concrete deck was removed and replaced with eleven 22’-10 x 7’6”
EXTREN® deck sections of 6” x 6” x 3/8” square tube and 3/8” plate. A removable
sidewalk was also added using 1”
SAFPLATE® panels.
Transportation officials agree that the FRP renovation will improve the life expectancy of the bridge deck, even when exposed to salt and ice in the winter. The composite deck not only exceeds the life expectancy of the previous concrete deck but is also 70% lighter weight than a concrete deck. The deck allows the service load capacity of the bridge to be increased as well.
More than 10,000 square feet of Strongwell’s fiberglass operating platforms and walkways were recently installed at a copper refinery in Piedras Verdes, Mexico.
The refinery uses a process called solvent extraction electrowinning (SXEW) to extract copper from the ore. An electrolyte liquid used in the process is highly corrosive to aluminum and steel, so corrosion resistant FRP grating, handrails and structural platforms were a natural choice for the project.
The FRP platforms are much more durable than aluminum or steel and the low electrical conductivity of FRP makes the operating platforms much safer for workers. Additionally, the lightweight FRP shapes, grating and handrail made the installation easier and faster.
FRP platforms are a much better solution for corrosive operating environments like those found in SXEW copper refineries. As a result, fiberglass has become the material of choice for such operations.
The Avila Beach Pier in California has been reconstructed using Strongwell’s pultruded fiberglass structural materials. The 1,685-foot public pier was in need of a large stairwell at the end that would allow public access for landing boats and unloading guests.
The pier is constantly exposed to a harsh saltwater environment and is always under attack from the corrosive elements. In fact, parts of the new stairwell are entirely submerged in saltwater at all times. Strongwell’s fiberglass materials were chosen over traditional building materials because of the superior corrosion resistance and strength that FRP offers.
The pier now features a walkway that was constructed using
EXTREN® I-beams and channels at the base of the pier for extra support. In addition,
DURADEK® pultruded grating, stair treads and SAFRAIL™ handrail were installed. Pat Dalton Construction was pleased with the project and reported the FRP solution is far superior in performance to wood and steel materials previously used.
The pier reconstruction project is part of a local initiative responsible for growing tourism at Avila Beach after an oil spill in the 1990’s destroyed much of the land in that area. Strongwell is pleased that its FRP materials helped to restore the pier and will help it last for years to come!
Strongwell’s
DURASHIELD® foam-core structural panels were recently used to help a cheese-making factory comply with USDA sanitation standards. Switzerland-based Roth-Käse, an award-winning cheese manufacturer, used
DURASHIELD® panels for walls in its U.S. location in Southern Wisconsin. As part of a renovation project at the factory, 1”
DURASHIELD® panels were used to create interior walls and a ceiling. Three-inch panels were used for the exterior walls.
The foam-core panels were chosen because they are lightweight and can easily be removed for cleaning and moving equipment within the factory. The panels were also quick and easy to install, eliminating the need for insulation, paneling or painting.
The result of the building project allowed the factory to quickly and easily comply with USDA’s sanitation standards. Mark Bechen, project manager for Roth-Käse, USA, commented that he was “very satisfied” with the “nice and clean” fiberglass solution
Strongwell Employee Shares ACMA Award