Albina Co. Inc., Tualatin, Ore., bent the steel canopy at the Oregon State University (OSU) Student Experience Center in Corvallis, Ore. The 8,000-square-foot glass canopy linking the new center with the Memorial Union is not only functional-allowing for a protected space when it is raining during outdoor events-but is also a signature structure on the OSU campus.
The bending portion of this OSU Student Experience canopy required very large hollow structural steel (HSS) rectangular tubing to be bent consistently from piece to piece with little to no deformation. Albina bent 8 lengths of TS 20 inches by 12 inches by 1/2-inch wall A500 Gr. B, all over 70 feet long. Albina also bent 44 lengths by 60 feet and 23 lengths by 25 feet of TS 6-inch by 3-inch by 0.313-inch wall A500 Gr. B. The 6-inch by 3-inch material was double bent the easy way and the hard way. Structural steel fabricator Fought & Co., Tigard, Ore., teamed up with Albina to successfully produce the required canopy; Albina was tasked with the bending, while Fought was tasked with the fabrication. The biggest hurdle Albina faced was bending to Architecturally Exposed Structural Steel (AESS) standards while maintaining very tight tolerances.
All of the HSS members were exposed to the naked eye. Not only could the bent material be seen clearly, but it was also painted. Painting often highlights any imperfections that might be visible on bent materials. Whenever one bends large HSS members, the material has a tendency to naturally distort (crush and/or wrinkle).
In the case of the TS 20 inches by 12 inches by 1/2-inch material for the OSU canopy, Albina utilized an incremental hot bending technique. This hot bending technique was developed and mastered by Albina, allowing the company to bend the largest HSS members with little-to-no distortion. This bending technique heats sections of material, allowing Albina to bend the heated sections incrementally. When finished, the sweeping radius is one continuous bend. Utilizing the in-house-developed bending technique, Albina was able to provide Fought with the required AESS materials for the project.
The second critical issue for this project was consistency from one length to the next. It is industry practice to bend each length of material to an agreed-upon tolerance. A project consisting of multiple lengths could be bent to the high and low end of a given tolerance range. This could result in inconsistencies in radius from one length to the next. For many applications this radius inconsistency does not pose a problem. However, when bending for an AESS canopy, like the OSU canopy, radius inconsistency is critical as there can’t be height variations throughout the canopy sections. Albina bent the first length to an agreed upon tolerance and every subsequent length was bent to a much tighter tolerance based upon the actual radius of the first length bent. This bending procedure resulted in bent lengths that were consistent in radius to one another.
Albina’s schedule for the OSU canopy ended up being extended beyond what was an acceptable date, and Fought was not satisfied with the proposal. As soon as I learned about the schedule conflict I communicated directly with management at Fought to remedy the situation. Fought was concerned about our ability to perform on time, as this was a critical project with potential liquidated damages if delivery was delayed. Not satisfied with a simple phone call, I arranged a meeting with key personnel at Fought to resolve the problem in person and discuss opportunities for delivery improvement. After the meeting we adjusted our schedule to work additional day, night and weekend shifts, and was able to ship partial loads to Fought per an established priority schedule, alleviating the delivery concerns. At the conclusion of the project, we shipped the last truck earlier than the original due date and even sooner than the newly agreed upon due date. Our willingness to offer creative scheduling solutions and its dedicated crew working long hours remedied the potential scheduling problem.
After the project was complete and installed, I followed up with Nick Slyter, a project manager at Fought, to ask how the project turned out. “The project turned out well,” said Slyter. “I was dreading the installation, but it went in without a hitch … Thanks again for all your hard work.”
This feedback is what Albina strives for on every project; our staff is not satisfied unless their customers are satisfied. I believe that Albina’s customers are truly members of the Albina family and should always be treated as key members. This philosophy has been practiced at Albina through three generations of Smith ownership and is engrained into its daily approach to business. With a combined 35 years of experience, it was Albina’s staff’s vast knowledge base and dedicated employees that helped deliver the OSU Student Experience canopy.
—
Brian Smith is the president and CEO at Albina Co. Inc., Tualatin, Ore. Since 1939, Albina is an industry expert in bending pipe, tube, square/rectangular tubing, plate, bulb flat and all forms of structural steel (wide flange, channel, angle, bars, etc. To learn more, visit www.albinaco.com.