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SSPC Structure Awards Honor Projects

Monday, January 31, 2011

More items for Program/Project Management

From the soaring new Hoover Dam Bypass to the historical statue of the god Vulcan, outstanding coatings achievements took center stage Monday (Jan.31) at the annual SSPC Structure Awards, presented at the Annual Conference and Exhibition of SSPC in Las Vegas, NV.

The Society for Protective Coatings honored several major commercial and industrial projects and their owners, contractors and suppliers for achievements in innovation, durability, complexity, craftsmanship, aesthetic merit, techniques and products.

“We are thrilled to recognize these exceptional projects,” said JPCL editor-in-chief Karen Kapsanis, who presented the awards at SSPC’s first annual meeting and awards program at SSPC2011 featuring GreenCOAT, in Las Vegas. “The range of craftsmanship, commitment and ingenuity displayed in these projects reflects the best of the best in our industry.”

“The selections this year were very, very difficult.”

The winners are:

Crone Knoy Award: Hoover Dam Bypass/Colorado River Bridge

For two years, employees of United/Anco Services Inc. worked to paint 67, 30-foot-long handrail sections of the new Colorado River Bridge. They also painted the bearing plates and nuts that tie the steel spans to the concrete columns, catwalks between the spans, and the structural steel support members that strengthen the girders, and repainted damage done to the interior and exterior of the tubs and spans by the other crafts.

The work took place 900 feet above the churning Colorado River in desert temperatures of 95-110 degrees most days and winds of 15-20 knots.

The work was completed on time, under budget and with no recordable OSHA incidents. Coatings materials were supplied by Superior Products International (SPI) and PPG. The Federal Highway Administration owns the bridge.

The Crone Knoy Award recognizes outstanding achievement in commercial or industrial coatings work that demonstrates innovation, durability or utility.
 
Charles G. Munger Award: Brown Screen Building

International Paint / Devoe Coatings developed a coating system in 1991 to assist the International Association of Bridge, Ornamental and Reinforcing Iron Workers in Alberta, Canada, and the Iron Workers of North America in their construction of a pulp and paper mill.

The system consisted of a zinc primer, epoxy anticorrosive and polyurethane coating system applied to structural steel abrasive-blasted to SSPC-SP 6 commercial standard. Waiward Steel Fabricators Inc. applied the system to some 400 tons of structural steel used for the construction of the Brown Screen building at the Tembec Pulp Group, Skookumchuck, BC. The urethane finish coat was spray-applied with polyolefin beads to provide a safe, anti-slip coating system for ironworkers.

In a recent letter to Devoe, Reliability Group Superintendent Gordon Hillier reported that “the coating continues to perform exceptionally well, with no sign of deterioration.” He noted that the structure is in a hot, humid area and is frequently exposed to splashing by caustic chemicals.

The Munger Award recognizes an outstanding industrial or commercial coatings project that demonstrates longevity of the original coating.

William Johnson Award: Chiller Central Plant 

The California State Department of General Services called on contractor CB&I and coatings supplier Tnemec Company for recoating of the Central Plant Renovation Thermal Energy Storage Tank in Sacramento.

The 4.25-million-gallon tank is part of the chilled water system that serves 22 state buildings in the downtown Sacramento area. Its unique design enhances the aesthetics of the area. The Design Build project was coated on the interior, exterior and exposed architectural features with Tnemec high-performance coatings systems.

The plant, including the tank, is on track to receive LEED Gold certification.

The Johnson Award recognizes outstanding achievement demonstrating aesthetic merit in industrial or commercial coatings work.

George Campbell Award: 3 Winners

The Campbell Award recognizes outstanding achievement in the completion of a difficult or complex industrial or commercial coatings project. Three winners were honored this year.

1st Ave. Bridge at Maple Canyon

Techno Coating Inc. applied coatings from the Sherwin-Williams Co. to the 1st Ave. Bridge, owned by the City of San Diego, CA.

The complex industrial structure had challenging specifications and historic status; the 1931-era arch truss spans the environmentally sensitive  Maple Canyon habitat, and the project involved lead paint removal, complete containment, third-party inspections and tight safety, weather and time issues.

The LaSalle Causeway, at the southern end of the Rideau Canal in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, is owned by Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC). Harrison-Muir Inc., of Ontario, applied coatings supplied by Carboline Canada.

“The age, complexity, degree of corrosion and difficult access would make this a complex blasting and coating bridge project in normal weather and shut-down conditions,” the applicants said. “The actual conditions in which it had to be done earns it, in our opinion, a definite 10 on the scale of difficulty.”

The challenges included Canadian winter conditions, with average daily temperatures of 34 degrees and single-digit average temperatures overnight, risking freezing of equipment, abrasive, and potential winter storm damage. It was also a very wet winter, and traffic and pedestrian lanes had to remain open the entire time. Environmental controls were critical, and the project was completed in three phases from December 2009 to April 2010.

Vulcan Statue, Birmingham, AL

Vulcan Painters Inc. used SteelCon and Tnemec High-Performance Coatings Systems as well as some ingenuity to tackle repainting of its namesake Roman god at the Vulcan Park & Museum. The statue is owned by the city of Birmingham.

Vulcan is the world’s largest cast-iron statue, standing 56 feet tall on a 124-foot 1938 WPA-era sandstone pedestal. The pedestal had been covered with marble cladding for 30 years before the latest major renovation, but this covering was removed to give the statue a more authentic look. The stone and mortar of the pedestal proved much more porous than anticipated, and water seeping through the pedestal damaged the inner staircase and marble lobby. The job was to prime peeling places on the statue and give him a complete refresher coat, and to clean and seal the sandstone pedestal.

In addition to figuring out how to rig the job using the steel structure on the interior of the statue, the contractor had to work with Vulcan’s busy social schedule, which was packed with school trips, visitors and company parties. The work proceeded through freezing temperatures, wind, rain and lightning.

In the end, however, “the leakage on the interior of the pedestal was stopped, and the iron man is ready for visitors for years to come,” the contractor reports.

Editor’s Note: PaintSquare News will report on all of the SSPC Award winners throughout this week. JPCL will also feature the winners in its April issue.