wrn_jun2011

June 2011www.wireropenews.com

Gulf area supplierstalk about the spillstory on page 8

San Francisco’s triedand true cable carsstory on page 22

Advertisers IndexPage 79

Photo courtesy of VERSABAR Lift Specialists

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Size: FULL PAGE Wire Rope NewsTrim: 8-1/4” (8.25”) x 10-7/8” (10.875”)Bleed: 8-7/16” (8.4375”) x 11-7/16” (11.4375”)Specs: 4/c RRED • 133LColors: CyanMagentaYellowBlackSEND:Program: Hi-res PDF

11 Issue1: Dec(&Jan) of Each YearDeadl: 11/20/10Issue2: Feb(&Mar) of Each YearDeadl: 01/20/11Issue3: Apr(&May) of Each YearDeadl: 03/20/11Issue4: Aug(&Sep) of Each YearDeadl: 07/20/11Issue5: Oct(&Nov) of Each YearDeadl: 09/20/11

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Wire Rope News & Sling Technology June 2011 7

Gulf area suppliers talk about the spill ................ 8Concerns for area businesses and new demands for products grew during the spring and summer of 2010’s Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

Getting a clearer view of thewindow cleaning trade ........................................ 16

WRN talked to a few window cleaning professionals to get the scoop on the equipment, tools, and challenges they face.

San Francisco’s tried and true cable cars ............ 24The city of San Francisco sticks with the tried and true technologies to keep their cable cars moving.

The state of domesticwire rope manufacturing ..................................... 30

The few wire rope manufacturers who were left standing after the arrival of cheap imports in the 1960’s.

Accentuate the positive ........................................ 36Four experts give their advice on how to turn a negative worker into a positive performer.

Cover photo:Eighteen spreader bars and a variety of sling lengths and sizes are used to lift a 448-ton module at a Texas refinery. Featuring eighteen connection points, such a complex lift re-quires accurate weight and center-of-gravity measurements in order to calculate precise rigging arrangements. The lift was engineered by VERSABAR Lift Specialists; the slings were manufactured by Yarbrough Cable Services of Memphis. Photo courtesy of VERSABAR Lift Specialists

June 23, 2011

Publisher & Editorial DirectorEdward J. Bluvias

Contributing EditorBarbara McGrath Spencer

Circulation DirectorPatricia Bluvias

Graphics & LayoutDon Tywoniw - 2D Graphics

Website: www.wireropenews.com

ISSN 0740-1809Wire Rope News & Sling Technology is pub-lished by-monthly by Wire Rope News, LLC, 511 Colonia Blvd., Colonia, New Jersey 07067-2819. (908) 486-3221. Fax No. (732) 396-4215. Address all correspondence con-cerning advertising, production, editorial, and circulation to Wire Rope News, LLC, P.O. Box 871, Clark, New Jersey 07066-0871. Subscription rates: $20 per year, do-mestic: $30 per year foreign: $25 per year, Canadian. Quantity discounts of three or more subscriptions available at $15 each per year, domestic: $25 each per year, for-eign: $18 each per year, Canadian. Single copies $4 per issue, domestic: $6 per issue, foreign; $5 per issue, Canadian. Copyright © 2011 by Wire Rope News, LLC, 511 Co-lonia Blvd., Colonia, New Jersey 07067. All rights reserved. Publisher reserves the right to reject any material for any reason deemed necessary.

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Email: [email protected]

Vol. 32, No. 5

Contents

Features

Advertiser’s Index .......................................................79

Steel Industry News ...................................................39

The Inventor’s Corner .................................................63

People in the News ....................................................75

New Products .............................................................76

Classified ....................................................................80

Departments

Wire Rope News & Sling Technology June 20118

continued on page 10

Gulf area supplierstalk about the spill

By Peter Hildebrandt

The spring and summer of 2010 will no doubt go down as the season of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. As the country waited, watched in horror and frustration and waited some more, service and supplier companies in the region found things shaken up more than a bit. New demands for products involved with boom construction grew especially urgent and then with the on-again, off-again, on-again Gulf oil drilling moratorium, more fears and concerns for area businesses and suppliers were thrown into the mix.

For now, the spewing well is capped. The damage done by months of spilling of un-

told millions of gallons of oil may never be completely known. And for those dealing with day to day equipment and supply needs, the future of offshore drilling is un-clear. WRN talked to several sup-pliers in the Gulf region to find out if and how their businesses were affected by the spill, and what they’re up to now.Keeping a Handle on True In-ventory Needs

“We’re driven by the offshore oil industry, whether we want to admit it or not,” says Bob Co-meaux, president of Dominion Steel Specialties, Inc., an im-porter and wholesale distributor of wire rope, chain and chain fit-tings, rigging hardware, castings, forgings, and many other related products. “We’re trying to stay ahead with our inventory just to be ready for the anticipated up-swing. But there’s a basic quan-dary. No one is really sure what to do right now. The downturn’s not horrific, but it’s not at the same pace it normally is.”

The oil spill increased business for a month or two, according to Comeaux. Now they’ve moved on to the problem of collecting for all the materials sold during the height of the spill; that’s a huge dilemma for them right now. A tremendous amount of material was on the way to them. Overseas and do-mestic factories were booked solid with all of their capacity going to producing 5/16 and 3/8 chain and 5/16 GAC.

“It also created a huge problem; particularly with the secondary sup-pliers who had contracts directly with BP and which were not being

honored. Cancellations are abundant now,” explains Comeaux.

Twenty percent of Dominion Steel’s business is with domestic chain and wire rope manufacturers. They try to give their customers what they’re look-ing for, according to Comeaux. But there will be an adjustment period that will produce a huge excess of certain inventories for quite some time in the future.

Comeaux has found that there are now far more companies in the boom manufacturing business than there were five or six years ago, and any-one in an awning-type business or

firms that had sewing machines jumped into the boom manufac-turing business. And many of them jumped in at the last min-ute, had huge contracts and are finding themselves stuck with materials and cancelled orders. Our involvement with these products didn’t reach the point where we created a problem for ourselves.”

Dominion Steel currently has some minor headaches because of the spill, but nothing that would jeopardize what they do on a daily basis. “There were companies that put everything they had and be-yond into things involving a com-mitment from BP. Of course, that changed dramatically when the capping occurred.

“At best you hope a catastrophe such as this is short-lived and hope it doesn’t have an impact that will own you for the future. We’re poised to go back to a regu-lar business.

Dominion has a location in La-fayette, Louisiana which is more heavily tied to the offshore oil in-dustry. During the oil spill, they

used the employees they had. Not be-ing a manufacturer they had literally a three to five month wait to get things from overseas. Fortunately what they have in stock is typically what they sold and they never were extended much beyond what they had in their inventory.

“The product selection we’re involved with has changed right now. But we maintain the inventories and are op-timistic things will go back to normal soon. I couldn’t see exposing ourselves for something of such an unknown length. We knew we couldn’t make a

Doug Worswick, CEO “Hands on quality management”


continued from page 8


substantial difference in addition to the riskiness of having lots of materials ar-rive just as the problem was alleviated.

“We never ordered anything special as we knew we’d go through everything we had in stock. We did fairly quickly and obviously experienced a gap in materials – but everyone else in the country did too. Beyond that we nev-er extended the risk, betting that the problem would remain. We stay on the conservative side business-wise.” Staying Diverse Helps During Tough Times

“At the time the spill first happened, everyone and his uncle, aunt or cousin was calling everyone to try to find rope for booms, says Dan Pockman, owner Buccaneer Rope Company, Scottsboro Ala-bama. “They want-ed polypropylene rope and not that many companies in this country make that any-more. But we, in fact, do not make polypropylene and could not help all the people calling us, unfortunately.

“Many compa-nies were contact-ed for materials. Some were told their rope or work didn’t meet stan-dards, but toward the end I think they were just trying to get out of their contracts and a number of companies were stuck with material. I felt sorry for them. They were big companies that those manufacturing the booms were dealing with, so there wasn’t much they could do toward the end when all of a sudden they didn’t meet standards.”

Though it’s not a huge part of their business, Buccaneer Rope supplies some mil-spec rope to military vessels in the Gulf, mostly to Northrop-Grum-man shipyards. This is all put out for bid or sometimes the various distribu-tors will contact them.

The pleasure marine market actu-ally forms more of their business in the Gulf. “In addition to pleasure marine and government work we sell a lot to people who fabricate things for the gov-ernment. Right now the government work is the biggest part because every-

thing else has slowed down.“We have one customer who makes

aluminum boats for the military and they purchase quite a bit from us too. Though they are small 20-30 foot boats, we supply mooring ropes, anchor ropes and various related products to them. We have a distributor in the Gulf who does a lot in the pleasure marine area, and commercial marine, including the oil field business, commercial fishing and other areas. They’ve had a slow-down due to a drop in the commercial fishing. The economy, more than any-thing else (including the oil spill) has been the major factor for us.”

Nationwide, Buccaneer Rope sells to many different markets. “Being diver-

sified has been the key for us. When you’re in as many different markets as we are, when one section slows down, everything else doesn’t necessarily slow down,” says Pockman. “We know others who have had just one or two markets and things are pretty slow for them. But most rope companies are di-verse in their product line; it helps all the way around.”New Opportunities in Wake of Spill

Doug Worswick, CEO with Certified Slings® & Supply, Casselberry, Flor-ida, had some unique opportunities with the Gulf oil spill disaster. During the height of the spill, Certified Slings became involved in a new application of their equipment and skilled labor.

The company was approached by someone needing them to build oil ab-sorbent booms for use in shoreline pro-tection and oil spill clean up. “We had quite an operation going here for about

a month,” says Worswick.They worked on the project in con-

junction with ACF Environmental, headquartered in Richmond, VA with offices in Orlando. The absorbent booms were purchased in mass quan-tities by both BP and even individuals through retail outlets like ACE hard-ware stores, for protecting their per-sonal boats in private marinas.

Because of immediate need for this specialty manufactured product, Certi-fied Slings was tasked with recruiting and pulling together, within 48 hours, a specialty work force of 21 employees, including industrial sewers and assem-blers. Certified Slings also aided in the specific design process of the oil booms

for quicker, more efficient response.

“Amazingly, in a time where most U. S. manufactur-ing jobs have been lost to Asia or other off shore destina-tions, there still ex-ists a small group of entrepreneur-ial manufacturing companies here in the USA that have the willingness to adapt their skills and invest their re-sources into manu-facturing products to respond to an immediate and passionate need,” says Worswick.

Certified Slings continues to be

a successful industrial sling and syn-thetic webbing manufacturers located in the Orlando area, according to Wor-swick. “We were established in 1958, and have gone on to become an award-winning manufacturer, distributor and retailer in the State of Florida. Our chief products include rigging, over-head lifting, load securement and con-tractor supplies. We’re also the Sling-max® Rigging Solutions Dealer for Florida with locations in Tampa, Cas-selberry, Fort Myers, Miami, Orlando and Ocala.”Synthetic Ropes and their Grow-ing Role with Offshore Oil Rig Needs

Dennis Sherman is the Technical Sales Director for the Offshore Division of Samson, handling everything on the commercial and technical side, a rela-tively new division for Samson. They

Certified Slings Team Members - fabrication department.


continued from page 10were very active Samson pioneered single point moorings and was the first company to provide a synthetic SPM in the North Sea in the offshore industry back in the 1970’s and 80’s primar-ily with single point moorings (SPM). But they’d sold off the offshore busi-ness and equipment to a UK firm and as part of the non-compete agreement they signed, this resulted in them not being able to be involved in the offshore industry.

By 2008 they started the process of entering the offshore business again, with a 35,000 square foot expansion to their Lafayette facil-ity and the addition of a 2,000 mm 12-strand braider enabling them to build up to 203 mm ropes. That particular machine is one of the largest of its kind in the industry incorporating features that make it unique to the industry, according to Sherman. They also have a 48-strand horizon-tal cover braider able to cover up to 264 mm jack-eted ropes on this partic-ular machine. This is to support winch lines and mooring lines for offshore structures.

“Polyester is really the fiber of choice for syn-thetic moorings of off-shore structures,” explains Sherman. “On the 12-strand braider, we primar-ily build large HMPE (High Modulus Polyethylene) ropes. Dyneema and Spectra are the two fibers available; we use Dyneema fiber.

“The Gulf right now is fairly quiet. Everything in the news down here right now deals with the drilling mora-torium, including a lot of conflicting information in the media. Many of the drillers are sitting tight waiting for something to happen. But it’s anyone’s guess as to when that might be.

“This all certainly affects our deci-sion-making from a market and re-source allocation standpoint. We have three master fabricating distributors in the world, one in the Gulf, one in Holland and one in SE Asia. Southwest is a very large customer and they are sitting waiting to see what happens. We do have some projects, one involv-ing some maintenance work in the Gulf. But it doesn’t involve new drill-ing. They have enough diversity that if things quiet down in the Gulf there are

other things going on.”Samson is expanding staff in both

Asia and Europe. These folks will work directly with Gaylin International and Endenburg on projects happening there, in Europe, SE Asia and in West-ern Australia. “We’re active in the min-ing industry and there is much min-ing taking place in Western Australia, replacing wire with synthetics,” says Sherman I need to leave out any men-tion of mining for now as work we’re doing is covered by an NDA.

Delmar is another big customer, a mooring installation contractor that sets pre-sets for mobile offshore drilling

units or MODU units. The moratorium affects them directly. And anything in-volving deepwater drilling is very quiet at the moment, according to Sherman.

Samson is a diversified company. “We’re not going to dry up and blow away if the moratorium’s not lifted. But it sure would make things easier for us. Despite all this emphasis on oil, we’re also quite active with wind projects, as synthetic slings are very popular in wind farm construction for lifting and setting of the mono piles offshore.

Samson recently did a huge project with Seaway involving the setting of mono-piles using synthetic slings. Proj-ects involving renewable wave energy are also going on with the help of syn-thetic rope technology. Another large area of work involving synthetic slings is the de-commissioning of oil rigs in such places as the North Sea. These are the thick jackets which now sit on the seabed in only about 500 feet of water.

“The European Union simply used to leave the rigs out there, perhaps re-

moving the tops and sinking the jacket which in turn was used as an artifi-cial reef. The large HMPE rope slings are useful for the application due to both the heavy loads involved and the lengths required to do the lifting,” says Sherman. “But now the EU has placed a moratorium, directing that all jackets must be removed. There are ships spe-cifically used for this function.A Safer Future is the Goal

“From what we’re hearing, there are a lot of new safety requirements com-ing to the Gulf,” says Eric Johnson, vice president of Delta Rigging. “They’re probably going to look at safety on the

rigs, from top to bottom, and every design change that can improve safety without adding to costs or time is going to be impor-tant to the industry.”

Delta Rigging is much like other firms with con-nection to the Gulf oil and gas industry; they are ea-ger to see everyone getting back to work. But they’ve also developed a new, pat-ented “Shackle-Loc Thim-ble,” that could help make work in the Gulf safer.

“With a sling set, the shackle always needs to be the right size for the wire rope,” says Johnson. “But what happens in the field often, is that the shackle is taken off and replaced

with something else. Because it may not be sized correctly the integrity of the sling set can be compromised. In the past the companies tried to prevent this by welding a bar on the thimble to hold the shackle in place, but that puts torch temperatures next to the wire rope, and that can compromise the in-tegrity of the set as well.

With the Shackle-Loc Thimble, the right size shackle is always put on when the sling set is assembled and the certificate of compliance is issued. The thimble locks the shackle in place with-out welding, so it cannot be removed and you avoid torch temperatures near the wire rope.

“It’s a clever design that really im-proves safety without adding cost or time. You also only need one compli-ance certificate for the sling set.”

It’s just one little thing, but at Delta Rigging and Tools, we feel that when-ever any one of us in the industry can show safety improvements, it’s going to be beneficial to everybody working out in the field, and that’s important.” WRN

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Getting a clearer view of the window cleaning trade

By Peter Hildebrandt

Window cleaning can be a challenging and dangerous occupation, between the large pieces of glass, the necessity of hanging from ropes fastened to sometimes unfamiliar equipment, and the need to stay steady enough to get glass streak-free while hanging many feet above the ground in imperfect weather. Though the equipment a window cleaner uses can be fairly basic: a bucket, cleaning solution and a squeegee, the rest of what is needed consists of reliable scaffolding and wire or synthetic poly ropes and slings – and of course the worker’s fearlessness of heights and the guts to do the job. WRN recently talked to a couple of window cleaning professionals to get the scoop on the equipment, tools, and challenges they face on a daily basis.

The Colorado Civic Center in Colorado.

John Bjork, owner of Per-fection Win-

dow Cleaning, San Diego, California, has worked in the window cleaning industry for 22 years. In 2004 he decided if he was going to be doing this dangerous work, he’d like to be better compen-sated for it, so he started up his own company.

His business now covers the entire San Diego area and he does a mixture of both commercial and residential win-dow cleaning.

Bjork says that lately, over-design of equipment on the tops of some new buildings has become an issue for win-dow washers. This equipment often proves heavier, bulkier and more dif-ficult to maneuver, assemble or service than such equipment used only a de-cade or more ago.

“They’ve now put huge davits on the top of newer buildings. The wire rope is attached to the davits. But they’ve gone overboard as they’re always cracking down on towers. They want to totally maximize the amount of weight that would be acceptable for any type of load for any building. They go way over the limit needed because they don’t want to be responsible.

“I feel it doesn’t have to be that over-designed, heavy and with all these un-necessary moving parts. These pieces don’t have to weigh 500 pounds. You’re only as strong as your strongest point and your strongest point is your wire rope and the smallest of fittings like the shackles, not some massive piece at the top of the building.” Because of the difficulty of using such heavy equip-ment, Bjork will shy away from such buildings.

Back in the 1980s and 1990s they made the attachments on the build-ings just right, according to Bjork. Then the parts were much smaller and easier to work with. Some of the davits then were a fifth less than the size of a

basketball. These were akin to a hol-low metal cane, shaped much like a candy cane. These contained simply a bolt with an eyelet to which the wire rope rig-ging clips directly.

“You put them in a little pivot, put it up and stick the cotter-style pin in and that’s it,” says Bjork. “Though they don’t make them like that anymore, those are the best, real-ly, the older ones.”

The tallest buildings in San Diego are approxi-mately 45 stories

high. Bjork finds that a number of the newer buildings, those featuring rounded, concave glass can be espe-cially challenging. Since the wires are connected on top and the further down the workers get to the bottom the more play there is, this makes the swinging during work at the lower levels quite daunting.

The wire ropes they use have small mechanisms to help with plugging the rope into the building. They are hooked to the cables on each side of the scaf-fold or sling as a worker descends. It ties the window washer in.

“A lot of the older buildings I’ve worked on had those plug-in holes,


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continued from page 14making them relatively easy to work on as you are then tied safely to the building,” adds Bjork. “A number of the newer buildings, however, do not have those holes. One six year old building I work on does not have the female parts to place the cotter pins in; those holes were never installed. Every time I wash the windows on this building – and this is a one-rope job, not a two – I spin like a top and must use my hand to stabilize myself. At the end of the day I’m exhausted from holding myself straight on this building. If I let go I will spin – and all because those holes were not installed on the building.”

The situation for Bjork leads him to comment that out of every ten build-ings he works on, six of them will have something wrong with the equipment, either making it unusable or requiring him to rent his own equipment. Having technicians come out to a building and load-test the equipment onsite is very expensive, sometimes up to ten thou-sand dollars.

“Load-testing must be done, or you cannot rent equipment to go over the side of the building,” says Bjork. “Gen-erally the equipment I often see on a high rise building is made in some in-

The Leprino Building in Colorado.

correct way and does not have any pur-pose suited for the building.

“For example, on one 15 story build-ing I do here in San Diego, there is an extra section of stage that’s sup-posed to be put together and make the weights handling the scaffolding work

properly. If you use one at a time, it differs with the equipment because you have to figure out how to make it work and in some cases the stage won’t even work or one of them will and the other one won’t. As a result, half of the

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equipment is not even being used on this high rise; it’s just sitting there in the sun, oxidizing”

This high rise has responded. But he had to pull his teams off of another building. He started it around Christ-mas, 2009 and it’s still not completed, as Bjork is still waiting for it to be fixed. The first time he went out to go back to work on it the mechanical pul-ley system started getting hot on the ascent all the way up and then started to jolt. “I had to stop and wait and hold

myself. I’d go again, wait ten minutes, it would go up and then start sputter-ing. I would stop again, wait, try again until I finally got up.

“It’s my job to hang from the equip-ment, and it’s got to work right. I guar-antee every other window cleaner out there has these same woes.”

The new equipment pieces on the newer buildings are sectional; they come apart. There is a collar pull-ing apart fairly far and it hangs on a straight pole. But often even the indi-vidual pieces tend to be very big and

very heavy. Buildings usually want workers to be quiet while they’re work-ing on the roof, but that is impossible as these pieces are too heavy not to clunk around while up there, accord-ing to Bjork. It takes two workers ex-erting themselves at the extent of their strength to move them around. “Be-cause they’ve gone overboard on the equipment on some of the newer build-ings you slow down on the job because the davits are hard to lift, so you have to bid higher for the job and everything is tied up due to this, when it doesn’t have to be.”

With the complexities involved with worker’s compensation and the costs of keeping an employee on the outside of a building Bjork has found it is quite hard to find someone really worthy of the job who knows how to hang 30 sto-ries up. So when he gets a big window cleaning job he has a subcontractor he will call to help him out. All the work-ers are legit and have been checked out before the job starts.

“This work is like anything else,” says Bjork. “When you get a call for a job you go and check it out to see if it’s worth your time.” The high-rise win-dow cleaning market is a tough one to be in, according to Bjork. You need to have a lot money beforehand as it can take a month or even longer to get paid.

“In San Diego, though a lot of win-dow cleaners advertise that they han-dle high rise buildings, in reality they won’t do them. Those several other out-fits in San Diego that do high rises, are successful at this and have the backing needed to perhaps take on even more of this work.”

“Usually with a high rise you have to rent all the equipment and it can be complicated. It has to be executed just right and is a very sensitive area of window cleaning. It pays well when you are done but there is just a lot to deal with when you are doing it, loads, being certain all your equipment is working right because when you’re out over that edge swinging around 20 or so stories up, you’re just hanging there – that’s it – you’ve got to get the job done.” Help from Local Supplier Keeps Things Running Smoothly

All the equipment, wire ropes, con-nections and scaffolding is rented. What Bjork owns himself are the safety ropes, safety harnesses, lanyards hook-ing to the ropes and harness and the buckets and squeegees. When Arise/Waco gets him his wire ropes and equipment, it has all been properly


continued from page 18stored and checked out before he gets it and starts working with it.

Arise/Waco Scaffolding & Equip-ment, Bjork’s main supplier, was founded in 1958 to service the ship re-pair and commercial scaffold markets in San Diego, California. Wire rope and manual or motor-powered suspension products have been in their product line since the beginning, according to Paul Zimmerman, Arise/Waco assis-tant branch manager.

“Our main clients and customers are ship repair contractors and commercial wall systems contractors,” says Zim-merman. “Additionally we serve all manner of industrial maintenance cus-tomers from the San Diego City Water Department to the power companies in the area.”

Arise/Waco has about 100 employees in the San Diego Metropolitan Area. Their particular business location serves San Diego and Imperial Coun-ties in California. Their typical day in-volves figuring out solutions to various problems their customers, like cleaners of high rise buildings, encounter. In a nutshell, they provide workplace ac-cess solutions for their customers.

The materials they supply to window cleaning businesses runs the gamut. It includes the supplying of all types of supported and suspended scaffolding equipment and accessories.

“We are far and away the leaders in our market in supplying wire rope and synthetic safety line to those in our area that use suspended scaffolding equipment,” adds Zimmerman. “We are a factory-trained repair station for all the major powered climbing equipment manufacturers. One gadget or product that’s been a favorite in our business is the ‘Hold Me’ synthetic safety line termination device that simplifies the termination of the line.

“One enjoyable part of the business is the challenging applications that come up. There is never a dull moment and every day in this work is different and satisfying. For example, we enjoy our work with John Bjork of Perfection Window Cleaning. We help him and his business out by supplying any of the equipment, supplies, repair work, training involved as well as all his in-stallation labor needs. We in turn pur-chase all of our wire rope that we use in our business from a local source here in San Diego, the Bee Access Company.”Flexibility Works for Year-Round Service

Bob Popp Building Services, Inc., Denver, Colorado provides window

cleaning services for commercial office buildings, cleans high rise windows, power sweeps parking lots, piles snow and also does a great deal of caulking repairs on windows.

Workers are sent out in crews of two, according to owner Bob Popp. Much of their rigging supplies come from both Spider and Tractel. They use a descent control system and on some jobs, a power-suspended platform and boom or personnel lifts. On the big buildings they normally use 22-inch squeegees to do their cleaning work, although the squeegees are available in virtually any width desired.

Popp echoes Bjork’s observation that buildings have increased the size and weight of the davits for handling the window cleaning operations. “This is definitely becoming a common com-plaint,” says Popp. “The systems are much bigger than they used to be and we are hearing a lot more complaints from employees.

“The architecture used in the con-struction of some of the newer build-ings now often makes the access on the exterior of the structures much more difficult, a lot more challenging with their various architectural features and points. Curved sides and windows can be tough to work on.”

Weather is also a big concern for Popp as they’re right at the base of the Rockies and the weather comes right down off of the mountains. They get wind issues, falling temperatures and a great deal of lightening. In the winter they have to make sure they have anti-freeze in their cleaning buckets too.

Those employed in the window caulk-ing work are a separate division. Dur-ing the winter months caulking cannot be done very effectively so those indi-viduals at that time work with the win-dow cleaners. All workers are hired in house; there is no outside contracting of the labor force.

Popp has an in house safety director and everyone goes to safety class once a week in addition to a lot of training in the field for the journeymen and super-visors. The firm has 80 employees and works on any of the buildings in Den-ver, some up to 60 stories high.

“Our insurance company will not let us have anyone under 21 driving our vehicles, so that is the minimum age of our workers. At the other end we have some employees in their 50s. I think people have an innate sense of whether they have a fear of heights and if so, do not apply or consider such work. The job is definitely not for everyone. A few of the guys here do mountain climbing,

so this is a great job for them.”Long-Term Reliable Relationship Equals Consistent Safety

Bob Popp Building Services uses tem-porary suspended access equipment rather than permanently-installed gear, requiring its own total separate regulation as far as the wire rope con-struction and changing out, according to David McCombs, operations man-ager with Spider in Denver. “Typically with the permanently installed access equipment, it needs wire rope that has a 10:1 safety factor for the hoist motor capacity. So for a 1,000-pound hoist you would have to have a 10,000-pound minimum breaking strength on your wire rope.”

“With permanently-installed window cleaning equipment on a building 300 feet tall or taller, every time they’re going to wash the windows, the swing-stages deploy from the roof down. This equipment is owned by the building or property manager. That’s where the line gets drawn. Bob owns a Spi-der fleet; he doesn’t rent a whole lot of equipment from me. With the tempo-rary access equipment, which we rent, the safety factor required by OSHA only needs to be a 6:1,” according to McCombs.

Popp typically relies on McCombs for supplying him with 5 by 26-construc-tion fiber core, galvanized rope, with a 5/16-inch diameter. “He replaces his wire ropes every year,” says McCombs.

“Bob is a great customer. He’s had a long relationship with us. For Bob our biggest challenge is staying on top of wire rope inspections and the crimping we do for his thimble eyes as well as other tasks of a similar nature, such as standard wire rope maintenance. This includes both protection and lubrica-tion, depending on which wire rope he’s got.”

Spider has been around since 1947 and consumes in excess of 1.5 million feet of wire rope annually in its opera-tions nationally. Wireco is the primary supplier and local vendors, such as Denver Wire Rope & Supply, builds them assemblies to Spider’s specifica-tions. Spider maintains rigorous stan-dard work inspections (SWIs) on the wire rope it uses in its rental fleet to as-sure reliable operation of its suspended platform equipment. .

Spider has some 100 different ac-counts in the Denver area. These in-clude glazers, glass installation, iron-workers, concrete finishers, drywall businesses, the wind turbine industry, coal burning power plants, coal mines and other types of mining. WRN

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San Francisco’stried and true cable cars

By Mark Glover

Advances in technology continue to power new designs in industry but some entities stick with the tried and true — such is the case of the wire rope used to propel the cable cars in the city of San Francisco.

San Francisco Municipal Railway Cable Car on the California Line that uses at 21,700 foot endless loop single spliced length of 1-1/4 in diameter 6x19 right Lang lay modi-fied Warrington wire rope supplied by WireCo WorldGroup.Photo: Courtesy of E. J. Glover

“The Cable Car Division has stayed with this type of wire rope for many years and

with the on-going support of the best brains of the wire rope industry they never found any reason to change,” said Christopher Hill, recently retired manager of Propulsion and Mainte-nance Department in the Cable Car Di-vision of the San Francisco Municipal Railway.

SF Muni uses a 1-1/4 inch diameter 6 x 19 right Lang lay modified War-rington on all four of their trunk routes, a rope design that has been around for nearly a century.

“It gives the most contact area for our dies and grips, with the strands and wires in the strands, running in the same direction, this presents the best metal to metal contact surface, therefore the best friction and trac-tion,” Hill said.

The right Lang lay modified War-rington wire rope is supplied by WireCo WorldGroup and manufactured at their Sedalia, Missouri plant, a facility that has been making wire rope since the 1890’s when it was originally known by the Broderick & Baskin brand.

“The cable cars are one of the lead-ing tourist attractions in San Francisco and they don’t want that system to be down,” said Senior Vice President of Sales John Josendale of WireCo WorldGroup. “They require a high quality, highly specified wire rope and it’s been our pleasure to provide that to them over the years.”

The San Francisco Cable Car Divi-sion inspects the wire rope on their cable cars daily. They also maintain wire rope records dating back to the inception of the cable car system in 1873. Life expectancy of each cable per trunk line has been averaged back to 1984. These records show that the most popular line, Powell Line, averages 80 working day of cable life before it is re-placed. Mason Line averages 175 oper-ating days and both Hyde and Califor-nia Street line average 200 days before replacement is necessary.

During normal operating days, the cable on each line will travel approxi-mately 190 miles.

The single endless loop lengths vary from 9,300 feet for the Powell Line to 21,700 feet for the California Line.

The Cable Car Division contracts for single un-spliced lengths for each line. The splice needed to make the endless loop is done by SF Muni personnel at the cable car barn.

“It’s a critical splice and their very specific specifications have little room for tolerance,” Josendale said.

Occasionally they have to shorten up the wire to allow for stretching in the inner fiber core or other changes in the trunk line system.

The wire rope consists of six strands closed around a fiber core. Each strand must be fabricated in one process with-out breakage or splicing. All wires in the rope must comply with the lat-est American Iron and Steel Institute specifications. The rope lay is 8.5 inch-es and the minimum diameter of the

rope is 1-1/4 inches with a maximum diameter of 1-5/16 inches. The strand lay is 3-1/4 inches with a strand diam-eter of 0.4375 inches and a helix height of 1-5/32 inch. The core diameter is 19/32 inch nominal composed of three strands right lay.

A fiber core is used and sisal of Yu-catan, African, Java, or Maritius origin is required. The high commercial grade sisal must be clean and free of waste as well as saturated with Pre-Lube 19 at 12 -16% per weight basis.

The outer crown wires have a mini-mum wire tensile strength of 160,000 psi and a maximum of 210,000 psi. To avoid excessive martensite transforma-tion, a maximum carbon content of .36 % is specified. The maximum variation of any one wire strength is set at +/- 15% and the minimum torsion for outer wires calls for 32 revolutions per 100 wire diameters length. The finished ca-ble has a minimum accepted breaking strength of 117,000 pounds.

All the wire rope used is manufac-

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tured in accordance with Federal Spec-ification RR-W-410D dated April 25, 1984 and Amendment 1 dated April 21, 1988 for Type 1 Class 2 cable. All wires have to meet AISI wire rope steel speci-fications for improved plow steel.

The invention of wire rope in the first half of the 18th century revolutionized many industries of the time including mining, merchant shipping, and rail-roads and spawned new industries like San Francisco’s cable cars.

In the mid 1830’s the experimenta-tion of wire in England was well un-derway in both the railroad industry and as rigging in merchant sailing ships. Andrew Smith of London, was influenced by the earlier drawings of William Albert, a German govern-ment employed mine inspector who worked at the silver, lead, zinc and copper mines of the Hartz Mountains and published rather than patent, specifications of stranded wire rope in 1831. Smith appeared to be the first to register patents in the Unit-ed Kingdom for stranded wire rope in 1836. However his patent did not include the use of inner cores, which have proven over the years to keep the metal strands equally separated and prevent chafing within the machine

of the wire rope. Moreover, Smith’s application for patent may have been legally miswritten. Other wire rope manufacturers were springing up and along with Smith they were con-verting hemp cordage machinery to manufacturer wire rope. R.S. Newall competed with Smith to supply the London and Blackwall Railroad, the world’s first cable – operated railway, with their wire rope requirement.

Newall went on to fix the London and Blackwall Railroad contract in 1837 and later supplied “metal cordage” for an innovative new maritime project, the S.S. “Great Britain.” Newall’s wire rope was used for the vessel’s stand-ing rigging. Smith served Newall with a patent infringement claim but the case received little traction. Newall’s wire rope was comprised of six strands, each containing its own hemp fiber core stranded around a central hemp fiber core, made on a Newall de-signed machine called the “strander.” Smith’s rope was noticeable inferior as suggested by the following editorial comment printed at the end of an ar-ticle on the subject in the Mechanics Magazine in 1842:

“…Some of the evidence for the plain-tiff certainly is, on the face of it, of a

most suspicious description… …We have always understood that Smith’s wire rope, so far from answering the purpose on this line (London and Blackwell Railway) had proved a fail-ure and that another sort patented by Mr. Newall had been substituted for it… Ed. M.M.”

An article written by D. Forester-Walker in History of the Wire Rope Manufacturers in Great Britain, (1952) seems to pinpoint the problem faced by Smith’s product:

“These were first the necessity of avoiding twist in the individual wires forming the strands, and secondly, the necessity of ensuring equal stress upon the individual wire and strands, which in turn, required that these compo-nents should be accurately held equi-distant from their respective centres. This was achieved by forming the wires and strands around hemp cores prop-erly maintained in position.”

Smith’s company struggled and even-tually went bankrupt in 1849.

In California, the Gold Rush was on and the bankrupt Andrew Smith and his son Andrew H. Smith sailed on a passenger schooner from the port of London on the Thames to

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continued from previous pageSan Francisco for another shot at wealth. As it was for most folks in that famous migration, wealth was hard to come by and Andrew Smith returned to London a year later. But Andrew H. stayed on, changed his name to A.S. Hallidie and brought British wire rope technology to the gold fields. Working numerous jobs including gold miner, blacksmith, surveyor and builder of bridges, Hal-lidie was taken on as a consultant at a gold mine in 1857 at American Bar in the Mother Lode country near Sac-ramento. He encouraged the mine owner to make the investment to change from hemp rope to wire rope and with that change came a para-digm shift in the industrialization of the California Gold Rush.

But the Gold Rush was short lived and soon with gold getting scarcer, Hallidie moved to San Francisco and opened A.S. Hallidie & Co., the first full scale wire rope manufacturer in California.

According to a cable car chronology issued by the San Francisco Cable Car Museum, Hallidie witnessed and was later inspired by a horse-car accident in 1869 at the top of Clay Street. On a typical damp summer day five horses

were dragged to their deaths as their footing gave way under the load of a full car and tumbled backwards down the steep street’s cobble stone.

Three years later, in 1872, Hallidie, with the help of engineer William Ep-pelsheimer, opened the Clay Street Hill Railroad, a single car powered by an underground rotating stranded wire rope with a fiber hemp core that propelled the city’s burgeoning popula-tion up the killer Clay Street Hill. The father of the San Francisco cable car system patented his designs and unlike his father before him, the patents were well drawn up and protected.

History tells us that Smith died a rich man in 1900.

Today each line’s cable is powered by a 380 KW stationary electric motor situated in the cable house and looped via a set of self-adjusting sheaves that maintain, depending on the load, a relatively constant speed of 9.5 mph. The cable car begins to move when the grip or clamping device is connected to the moving cable. The car is stopped by releasing pressure on the cable and ap-plying brakes.

The San Francisco system is one of the few remaining cable cars that are still operated manually. The driver

of the car is known as a gripman and requires above average upper body strength needed to smoothly operate the grip and release cable lever. Hand – eye coordination to know when to brake, power or coast are also talents required of the gripman. Much coast-ing is done on the routes to avoid crossing cables, places where the cable does not follow the track and to anticipate possible collisions with vehicular traffic.

Annual classes and test are given for the gripman position but few pass (30 %) and to date only one grip woman, Fannie Mae Barnes, has been hired.

In 1949 the Mayor of San Francis-co proposed to close down the cable cars. But a citizens group challenged the idea and forced the city to main-tain the charter.

Since the 1950’s the cable car system has seen extensive shut down periods for various upgrades. In 1982 the cable car system was closed for a complete re-build and the effort to raise the 60 mil-lion dollars upgrade repair costs was led by then Mayor Dianne Feinstein. The system reopened on June 21, 1984, just in time to host the Democratic Na-tional Convention. WRN



The 1960’s saw the arrival of cheap imports wiping out much of domestic wire rope manufacturing. The few left standing, however, are still standing tall. Here’s a report on how they have survived, and how they are succeeding.

The state of domesticwire rope manufacturingA report on those left standing

By Thomas G. Dolan

It’s no news, in fact it’s now history, that the U.S. was once the unchal-lenged leader in wire rope manu-

facturing. But then, during the 1960’s, as the result of the demise of U.S. steel mills, many of which owned many of the well over a dozen wire rope man-ufacturers, coupled with the flood of imports, from first Japan, then South Korea, then China, as well as many others, most domestic wire rope mak-ers went under. Though the initial on-slaughts were dictated by price alone, the quality of the imports gradually improved. How much the imports did or did not improve has been the subject of some debate. But it’s clear that they did not gain their staying power simply by dumping consistently inferior prod-ucts at cutthroat pricing.

Here are the reports from the big three domestic wire rope manufac-turers still left standing, Bridon American, Wirerope. Works Inc., and’WireCo World Group; along with the largest of the second tier survi-vors, Loos & Co., Inc.

BRIDEN AMERICAN, Wilkes Barre, PA; “It’s definitely a global mar-ket, but this has not helped U.S. indus-try,” says David Sleightholm, technical director. “Wire ropes come in from all over, and the U.S. steel industry is not what it used to be. It’s a basic industry, but very small, and a lot of what there is is under foreign owner ship .

“At one time U.S. buyers of wire rope wanted domestic products, but this is much less of a factor than it once was. Certainly the U.S. market is very ac-cepting of imported products and much more willing to buy them. And we don’t do a great deal of exporting.”

Sleighthold says that “general pur-pose rope sales are not what they used to be, and those as well as small di-amter ropes are not what they used to be 10-years ago, but we’re holding our own. We’re trying to keep up with

changes in the industry by putting more effort into high performance rope, such as mining and oil field and cranes. Mining and oil is still fairly decent, but construction is way off, which has a big effect on the crane business.”

In terms of the recession, Sleightholm says, “it’s obviously affected us. As far as a turnaround goes, once in a while we see some glimpses of hope, but they don’t appear to be long lasting.

There doesn’t appear to be any real strength in the economy, or significant uptake, that’s for sure.”

When asked why Briden American has survived, Sleighthold replies, ironically that “We are associated with the Briden Group in the U.K., so we have a strong consistent ownership behind us.”

WIREROPE WORKS, INC., Wil-liamsport, PA; “We wish we didn’t have all of the foreign competition, but we do,” says Virgil Probasco, executive vice president. “Foreign manufactur-ers are very competitive against us on any product which depends primar-ily on pricing. But whenever there is engineering involved, and quality is involved, as well as delivery, we gener-ally do very well.”

When asked what has contributed to his company’s survival, Probasco responds, “We’re a bit unusual and unique in that we service all markets for wire rope, both in terms of the in-dustries that buy the rope as well as all the products. We’re the only domestic market and one of the very few in the world that services all markets.”

This has provided diversification. For, as he explains, “although general purpose rope sales have fallen off dur-ing the recession, including aerospace, we have remained strong in mining and structural strand, as well as el-evator maintenance. Marine fell off in 2009 but came back in 2010. I know that offshore oil has been somewhat

soft but we deal more with land-based energy, which has proved to be stron-ger in 2010 than 2009.”

It’s often been said that the hope for U.S. manufacturing in the future rests upon the quality this country can pro-vide. This is true, to an extent, but it’s not quite as simple as that, Probasco suggests. “There certainly has^ been a push for quality around the world; but, having said that, the Asian ropes, pri-marily, have come up in quality, and, obviously, the European ropes have al-ways been high quality.”

Yet Probasco sees a bit of leveling off of Asian imports. The reason is because of the large growth of the consumer market in Asia. The wire rope industry in Asia is having trouble keeping pace with the Asian economy, at least in the high end. “As long as the market in Asia keeps growing, we’ll do fairly well,” says Probasco. “Asian manufacturers have to supply Asians in what they are consum-ing, especially high quality and high strength ropes, which I see continuing through 2011. The result is that Asians have less product to ship to the U.S. and Asia represents a growing market for high end U.S. wire rope.”

Probasco explains that the Asian im-ports “came as a big blow at first. But now the situation is more complex and it can go both ways. The price wars which have taken their toll have now somewhat stabilized. Not that there isn’t still price pressure. But I think we’re not going to see so much price erosion in the future. Frankly, if some-one is only looking for wire rope on a casual basis, and is only purchasing ev-ery other year or so, then price will be the main issue. But if you have a com-pany or entity buying wire rope on a regular basis, then these other quality considerations come into play as well.”

Probasco not only sees the economy, in general, gradually improving, but

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continued from page 26also says that “Even in 2009, we had a decent year in spite of the recession go-ing on. We’ve been able to maintain our volume and even increase it in 2010, and look for a steady improvement in 2011. We like the markets we’re serv-ing, have a very strong customer base, and are planning a capital expansion in our plant. So we’re very comfortable with where we’re at.”

WIRECO WORLDGROUP, Kansas City, MO; “I think when you look at the general trends in the market, 2009 was a very difficult year for everyone, with pretty substantial cutbacks in produc-tion, and inventory levels, as well as reductions in the labor force and work hours,” says Dave Hornaday, chief ad-ministrative officer. “We’re all aware of the difficulties in the construction sector. But as we look forward I see a gradual rebound in construction and industry.”

Hornaday also says that 2010 was al-ready “a very nice rebound for us, and that’s been led primarily by the energy and mining markets.”

Hornaday acknowledges the adverse impact of imports starting in the 1960s, but adds, “We know imports are a fac-tor in the marketplace, but we don’t

spend much time worrying about it. Instead we try to focus on what’s nec-essary for us to compete in both the do-mestic and foreign markets.”

In terms of the domestic market, a key area WireCo has, over the past decade, put a considerable empha-sis in becoming a leader in the struc-tures market. “Over the past few years we’ve become a predominate supplier in that area,” Hornaday says. “We are currently shipping suspension cables for the San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge. And we are shipping replace-ment cables for the Manhattan Bridge in New York. These are two of the larg-est structure projects going up any-where. There’s nothing magic about it. When we find a market need we set out to provide unsurpassed technical and engineering support, with high per-forming products, as well as all of the possible service.”

Hornaday says WireCo’s response to the import has “been to adapt and separate ourselves as much as pos-sible from the commodity market by adding value.”

Another interesting way WireCo has done this, Hornaday explains, is by opening up facilities abroad or purchas-ing existing ones. WireCo has recently

acquired its second wire rope and syn-thetic wire facility in Portugal. WireCo also has two facilities in Mexico, one in Germany, and one in China.

“Ten years ago we were completely reliant on the U.S. market for almost all of our business. Today over half our business is outside the U.S.” By estab-lishing facilities abroad, WireCo is, in a sense, not trying to break into foreign markets. It becomes a part of that mar-ket, its facility becoming a part of that community, using the indigenous labor force, while increasing distribution ef-ficiency and reducing costs.

“It’s safe to say that this movement into the global market has strength-ened us,” says Hornaday. “.It’s created market diver sity and contributed to our financial stability. We’re actually doing well and have great plans to con-tinue to grow in the future.”

LOOS & CO., INC., Pomfret, CT; Michael Wallace, vice president, sales/marketing, describes the industry as generally broken off into two seg-ments. He characterizes the big three, as detailed above, as general purpose wire rope, with the second segment, to which Loos belongs, specializing in aircraft and small diameter specialty


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cables.“General purpose manufacturers

speak in terms of volumes of tons of wire rope,” Wallace says. “These manu-facturers still have their roots in the steel mills which owned them, and they still have the steel mill mental-ity. In our segment, however, we never concern ourselves with tons. We only look at how many feet of wire rope are being sold, which the general purpose manufacturers don’t concern them-selves with.”

Of this smaller segment, Loos is by far the largest, with about 80 percent of the market share. The smaller play-ers, some new, some who have been around for awhile, work to find their own niche.

This smaller diameter segment has also been decimated by imports, no less than the general purpose manufactur-ers. “For those of us who have stayed in business, we’ve had to become the specialists,” Wallace says. “Aviation is certainly one area of speciality, espe-cially military specifications. We export aviation and specialty cable products because, even though foreign manu-facturers have improved their general quality, they still can’t attain our level

in the areas. This tends to take price out of the equation.”

Another area of speciality cable Loos focuses on is that for fitness equipment. Loos sells this cable to other countries, for, as Wallace explains, the buyers in those countries can’t get the same qual-ity from their local manufacturers. By the same token, U.S. makers of fitness equipment are much less inclined to purchase these cables from abroad, no matter what the cost savings. “Nobody wants the supports holding up a couple of hunrdred pounds of weight over your head to snap,” Wallace says.

In terms of Loos removing itself from the commoedity market, Wallace says, “I use the analogy of Asian manufac-turers providing large amount of Brey-ers vanilla ice cream, whereas, we pro-vide a smaller amount of a much richer Ben & Jerry’s.”

But to compete at this level, to take pricing out of the equation, Wallace says, “You have to have the systems in place to produce quality products with which you can excel in the world market. People will pay for quality and service.” As a result, Loos is not a victim to the machinations of foreign manufacturers, many of whom achieve their low costs through extremely

cheap, even slave labor. Instead, by focusing on the value-added, Loos sells its aviation and specialty small diam-eter cable, especially in the area of fitness equipment, all over the world, to China, Russia, Europe, and South America. Having achieved a comfort-able niche might tend to make a com-pany a bit complacent, but this is not the Loos way, Wallace says. “It’s easy to become stagnant, and that makes you vulnerable to the ups and downs of the economy,” he maintains. “We have a very aggressive sales and marketing force, and have made an investment to broaden our scope to cables for medical devices.”

Due to this aggressive stance, Wal-lace reports that even though 2009 saw a 40 percent drop in sales compared to 2008, due to the economy, the company still made money. “In 2010 we certainly did see a rebound in use and consump-tion in our markets,” Wallace says. “It still hasn’t gotten back to where we were in 2008, but we’re confident, that as the economy gains momentum through rebounding both domestically and globally, that 2011 will bring us back to the levels achieved in 2008 and then beyond. We’re bullish about the future.” WRN


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Accentuate the positiveFrom negative worker to positive performer

Workers with negative attitudes! Just when you need them to shift into overdrive they throw on the brakes. Most businesses have picked up their share of negative employees over the years. And their machinations can bring customer traffic and business profits to a new low. Left unattended, bad attitudes only get worse and spread to the workforce at large. But you can take steps to turn around negative attitudes. Just how is detailed by four experts in this article.

By Phillip M. Perry

Sam makes snide remarks about customers. Andy misses dead-lines. Sally frowns behind the

boss’s back. And Bill laughs at his co-workers’ ideas.

Do those people sound familiar? Workers with negative attitudes can stall progress at any organization. And today the problem seems especially acute as employees come under in-creasing pressure in their private and business lives.

High unemployment is a chief factor. “Our economy is creating a lot of stress among workers,” says Bonnie Mattick, president of Unforgettable Outcomes, a Phoenix-based consulting firm (www.unforgettableoutcomes.com). “Very often people will bring problems from home into the workplace. If a spouse has been laid off, for example, the remaining wage earner will feel a lot of pressure.”

It’s tempting to ignore negative be-haviors and hope things turn around. But letting things slide can be costly.

“Negativity, like enthusiasm, is contagious,” says Lenora Billings-Harris, president of Excel Develop-ment System, Greensboro, NC (www.lenoraspeaks.com). “It spreads quickly through any organization. And that affects the bottom line since employ-ees cannot be creative and productive when they are negative.” Negative be-havior can even drive away customers, she adds: “Customers who do not want to deal with negative people go some-place else.”Go positive

So negativity’s bad. But how do rid your workplace of its sour atmosphere? Take that fellow Sam from our opening paragraph. Suppose he’s made another snide remark about a customer who just left the building. And maybe other customers have overheard what he just said. What do you do?

Here’s some help from Dana Barz,

president of danamics, a Portland, Or-egon human resources training firm (www.danamics.net). Try her “Four As” technique on Sam, and on any oth-er problem employee:

1) Assess the situation Before you say anything to Sam, fo-

cus the issue in your own mind. What are you specifically upset about?

“Remember that assessing another person’s negativity is really a judgment call,” says Barz. “So identify the specific behaviors that are causing problems.” In this case, write down a report de-scribing exactly what Sam said about the customer and how other customers reacted to the statement.

Then consider what factors may be affecting the activity. Are other indi-viduals or departments involved? “Also ask if you as a manager have contribut-ed to the negativity,” says Barz. “Have you perhaps made your own negative comments about customers which have been overheard by your employees?” Examine the emotions you are feeling as well. Have you allowed your own frustrations to affect how you have in-

teracted with Sam in recent weeks?Write down your findings on all the

above and review what you have writ-ten to see if you have covered all of the factors surrounding the events.

2) Address the problemWith facts in hand, it’s time to ap-

proach Sam to obtain some feedback. Before starting a conversation, though, assess Sam’s current state of mind. If he’s stressed right now because he had a bad time with a customer or ven-dor, he will not be in the best mental posture for your discussion. Suggests Barz: “You might tell Sam I need to talk with you about something. Is this a good time? Then either move to an of-fice for the conversation or decide on a mutually convenient time.”

“Start the conversation on a posi-tive note,” suggests Barz. You might use words such as I really like work-ing with you and you are enthusiastic about customer service, and here is a problem I am currently facing. Don’t use the word “but” in that sentence, cautions Barz, because it seems to ne-gate what you just said.

Then explain what happened, says Barz. “Don’t just say You were rude with a customer. Instead, state specifics such as this: Yesterday I heard you say that a customer who had just left the store was a ‘pain in the neck.’ Another customer standing nearby overheard you. His eyebrows raised and he shook his head at what he heard you say.”

Then state how this might affect the business: I felt very frustrated because we may have lost a good customer and that means we may not meet our monthly sales goal.

3) Always listen to the other sideTime for some feedback. “Give Sam a

chance to tell his story,” says Barz. En-courage him to open up by asking him a question such as What do you think about that?

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Use good listening skills. Don’t in-terrupt Sam while he’s speaking. As-sure that you are listening by nodding. And at appropriate places, paraphrase what you have heard to make sure you understand.

4) Agree on a course of actionFinally, encourage Sam to become

invested in a solution, says Barz. Ask How will we move forward? or How can I help you avoid doing that again?

Conclude your meeting on a positive note. Say something such as Thank you for listening, for helping me out and helping me to make this work.

In the days and weeks after the meet-ing, take steps that help Sam eliminate negativity. Use positive reinforcement when you see Sam communicate posi-tive feelings about customers.Motivate workers

As Sam’s story suggests, successful counseling invests the employee in a solution. “When you say you can turn around an employee it implies you can change that person-- and you really can’t,” cautions Jack Altschuler, presi-dent of Fully Alive Leadership, North-brook, IL (www.fullyaliveleadership.com). “Threats and sticks can create compliance but will also be dispiriting: You are guaranteeing you will not get a

person’s best efforts using those tools.”Real change is an inside job, says

Altschuler. “If a person is dedicated to being negative there is no one who can change that except that person.” Your counseling should be geared to inspir-ing that change.

Whatever you do, don’t wait too long to counsel your employee, says Altschuler. “Hold a meeting before emotions get the better of you. Avoid falling into a situation in which you and the employee get more and more angry, and then instead of conversa-tion there is an explosion.”

Confronting negative employees can be a daunting challenge. See this ar-ticle’s sidebars for some more scenarios to help you along.

Creating a group of motivated work-ers protects your bottom line. “Nega-tivity leads to low moral which leads to decreased productivity and perfor-mance,” says Mattick. “So it’s impor-tant to address the problem before it gets out of hand.”Bill the Bottleneck

Bill continually misses deadlines, throwing the workplace into turmoil. And he always seems to have a good excuse.

Solution: “Hold a conversation with

Bill,” suggests Jack Altschuler, president of Fully Alive Leadership, Northbrook, IL. “But come with curiosity, not accusa-tions. Conduct the conversation in a way that allows something productive to hap-pen. Bill knows he is missing deadlines but he is doing the excuse dance in his mind. He is blaming others.”

Altschuler suggests opening with words such as these: Bill I can’t help but notice you have been a bottle-neck… tell me what is going on. Bill will respond with a list of excuses, says Altschuler. “Listen to Bill’s responses, then ask him what steps need to be taken to resolve the problems. What do you need so we can count on you? People are being let down.”

A cooperative effort may solve the problem. Offer to take steps required to get Bill back on track. And be will-ing to adjust your own management style if the evidence warrants. “As much as the conversation is about Bill it is even more about leadership,” says Altschuler. “Bill is missing deadlines because leadership is tolerating it. The behavior you tolerate is the behavior you get. So if you want Bill to not miss deadlines you need to set clear limits and make it stick. Leaders have to be

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continued from previous pageaccountable first.”Nellie the Naysayer

Nellie shakes her head whenever a co-worker suggests a new idea. You know this is starting to keep people from speaking up in meetings.

Solution: “Don’t just walk up and tell Nellie she is being rude,” says Dana Barz, president of danamics, a Port-land, Oregon human resources train-ing firm. “Start by writing down de-scriptions of exactly what happened at recent meetings.”

Schedule a talk with Nellie and start the conversation on a positive note, suggests Barz. Try words such as these: One thing I appreciate about you is how you get your projects done on time. That means a lot and I need your help in solving a problem.

Then say: When you laugh at some-one with a new idea, that is really frus-trating to me and I see the frustration in the faces of other people. Then I see fewer people willing to share ideas and that means we get fewer ideas for cus-tomer initiatives. I am wondering how

do you think about this?“After this, let Nellie explain her side

of things,” suggests Barz. “Then come to an agreement about specific behaviors.”Carl the Critic

Carl likes to compare your busi-ness—unfavorably—with a competitor down the street.

Solution: Ask some questions de-signed to open up Carl, suggests Bon-nie Mattick, president of Unforgettable Outcomes, a Phoenix-based consulting firm. “I would ask Carl first off, What makes XYZ company so outstanding in your mind? Give me some specifics. Is it better on-time delivery? Customer service? What is causing us to not per-form at that same level?”

Then ask Carl for ideas, says Mattick. “Ask him to submit a report with some recommendations, then follow up and see which ones can be implemented.”

Consider assigning Carl duties to take advantage of his skills. “Sometimes the negative worker is crying out to be rec-ognized,” says Mattick. “He feels as if his talents are not acknowledged.”Donna the Dark Cloud

Donna is always saying things are go-ing to turn out badly. Even when good news is announced she has a message for everyone: “Don’t get your hopes up.”

Solution: “If someone is always pre-dicting rain when the skies are blue try engaging the person in a produc-tive conversation, suggests Lenora Billings-Harris, president of Excel De-velopment System, Greensboro, NC. “If you start with a critical comment such has Donna, you are always so negative, Donna will put a wall up. Instead try to get Donna to open up with words such as Tell me why you think that. Help me understand what evidence you have that will make that so.

“People usually talk in broad generali-ties when they are negative,” says Bill-ings-Harris. “They will use words like Ev-ery time and always. You might respond with Is it really every time…? When was the last time that you saw that?

If they make those comments in a group setting, try turning to someone who tends to be positive. Here’s one approach: John, what are your expe-riences in this regard? What are your feelings about this?

Explain to Donna how her comments are affecting co-worker attitudes and thus business profits. Ask her to sug-gest specific steps the organization can take to turn things around.

“Finally, set timelines with Donna to work on changing her behavior, and give positive reinforcement when you see im-provements,” says Billings-Harris. WRN


Preliminary steel imports increase 3% in AprilImport market share rises to 22%

Based on preliminary Census Bu-reau data, the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported that the U.S. imported a total of 2,535,000 net tons (NT) of steel in April, including 1,915,000 NT of finished steel (up 3% and 2%, respectively, from March final data). Annualized total and finished steel imports in 2011 would be 26.9 and 20.8 million NT, respectively, up 12% and 10% vs. 2010. Finished steel import market share in April was an estimated 22% and is 21% year-to date.

Key finished steel products with sig-nificant import increases in April 2011 compared to March include reinforcing bar (up 52%), line pipe (up 51%), hot dipped galvanized sheet and strip (up 38%), plates in coil (up 25%) and hot rolled sheets (up 14%). Major products with significant year-to-date import increases vs. the same period last year include oil country goods (up 58%) and reinforcing bar (up 54%).

In April, the largest volumes of fin-ished steel imports from offshore were from South Korea (309,000 NT, up 28%), India (126,000 NT, up 137%), Turkey (118,000 NT up 138%), Japan (106,000 NT, down 6%) and China (96,000 NT, up 42%). For the first 4 months of 2011, the largest offshore suppliers were South Korea (951,000 NT, up 71%), Japan (478,000 NT, up 12%) and Germany (336,000 NT, up 16%). Below are charts on estimated steel import market share in recent months and on finished steel imports from offshore by country.

March steel shipments up 14.9 percent from FebruaryUp 9.6 percent year to date

The American Iron and Steel Insti-tute (AISI) reported that for the month of March 2011, U.S. steel mills shipped 8,006,015 net tons, a 14.9 percent in-crease from the 6,967,481 net tons shipped in the previous month, Febru-ary 2011, and a 4.7 percent increase from the 7,646,938 net tons shipped in March 2010. Shipments year-to-date in 2011 are 22,502,151 a 9.6 percent increase vs. 2010 shipments of 20,537,822 for three months. 2011 shipments through March would annu-alize at 90 million tons.

A month-to-month comparison of shipments shows the following chang-es: hot dipped galvanized sheet and

strip, up 19 percent, hot rolled sheet, up 14 percent, and cold rolled sheet, up 13 percent.

AISI strongly commends the passage of legislation to increase energy production from domestic resources

The American Iron and Steel Insti-tute (AISI) applauds the passage of H.R. 1229, H.R. 1230 and H.R. 1231, three bills aimed at expanding oil and natural gas production in the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS).

“Because steel is an energy-intensive, trade-exposed industry, an affordable and abundant supply of energy is criti-cal to maintaining our international competitiveness,” AISI President and CEO Thomas J. Gibson said. “Natural gas, in particular, is a reliable source of energy that will help lower costs for do-mestic manufacturing, such as the steel industry. Furthermore, since steel pipe and tubing—products that U.S. steel-makers actively supply--are integral to both the gathering and transmission of natural gas, expanding the market will help create valuable and much-needed

U.S. jobs. These three bills provide an opportunity for us to explore and de-velop our offshore resources, and they represent an important step forward in developing a comprehensive national energy independence strategy.”

H.R. 1229, “The Putting the Gulf Back to Work Act,” ends the de facto moratorium in the Gulf of Mexico by requiring the Secretary of the Inte-rior to act on a permit to drill within 30 days of receiving an application and after conducting a safety review. H.R. 1230 requires the Administration to conduct offshore lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico and offshore Virginia. H.R. 1231 requires the Interior Department to move forward on the 2012-2017 OCS lease plan in areas containing the most oil and natural gas resources.

American Iron and Steel Institute releases2010 Annual Statistical ReportLongest running statistical series in manufacturing

The American Iron and Steel In-stitute (AISI), the primary source of statistical information on the North



American steel industry, announced the release of its 2010 Annual Statisti-cal Report (ASR) today. The 126-page book, the most comprehensive refer-ence of its kind for the American steel industry, provides statistical data for the United States steel industry plus a variety of selected statistical data on the Canadian, Mexican and world steel industries. The report is the longest running statistical publication series in all of manufacturing, dating back to 1868. The ASR has been published without interruption since 1914.

The ASR has proven to be an indis-pensable reference tool for the indus-try, media, academia, steel analysts and others who are interested in track-ing steel industry trends. The most popular charts, in terms of inquiries re-ceived by the Institute, include Select-ed Statistical Highlights on shipments, apparent supply, imports, employment and raw steel data over a 10-year pe-riod; Selected Financial Highlights on income and cash flow data; shipments by products and markets over a 10-year period; raw steel production (state distribution and capability utilization); and imports and exports data.

The report is preceded by an execu-tive summary that highlights recent and historical trends in the North American Steel Industry. The sum-mary is comprised of 10 pages of charts and graphs on steel production, ship-ments, imports, demand and operating efficiency. Recent steel market trends in the U.S. and NAFTA region are il-lustrated.

AISI’s 2010 Annual Statistical Re-port is available by e-mail or hard copy. To purchase it online ($450 for a hard copy or $400 for an electronic version) visit www.steelfacts.org. To order it over the phone, call 412.860.5342.

AISI voices strong support for the Infrastructure Jobs and Energy Independence ActLegislation aims to invest in energy and rebuild our transportation infrastructure

The American Iron and Steel Insti-tute (AISI) voiced strong support for the bipartisan Infrastructure Jobs and Energy Independence Act introduced today by Reps. Tim Murphy (R-PA), Bill Shuster (R-PA), Jim Costa (D-CA) and Tim Walz (D-MN). The legislation focuses on expanding access to Ameri-ca’s domestic oil and natural gas sourc-es, and rebuilding America’s transpor-tation system.

“As major consumers of energy, our member companies in the steel indus-

try are negatively impacted by high energy costs,” AISI President and CEO Thomas J. Gibson said. “This legisla-tion will lower energy costs not only for our industry, but our suppliers and cus-tomers, while allowing us to maximize our international competitiveness. Steel plays a vital role in the gathering and transmission of oil and natural gas through the use of steel pipe and tub-ing. Additionally, this legislation aims to rebuild America’s crumbling trans-portation infrastructure, which will create manufacturing jobs in the short and long term. We urge members of the House of Representatives to co-sponsor this job-creating legislation and make it a key part of a comprehensive na-tional energy independence strategy.”

AISI serves as the voice of the North American steel industry in the public policy arena and advances the case for steel in the marketplace as the preferred material of choice. AISI also plays a lead role in the development and application of new steels and steelmaking technolo-gy. For more news about steel and its ap-plications, view AISI’s Web site at www.steel.org.

I&I Sling moves to Norwood, Maine

I&I Sling, Inc. is proud to announce their New England plant has moved into a new and larger building at 1400 Providence Highway in Norwood, MA. The increase in sales for the branch re-quired not only a larger facility but also the installation of the “Iron Maiden,” a 300 ton x 80’ Chant Testing machine. Scott Woodward, manager of the plant, explained that customer response to the QIST program and to new prod-uct innovations like the Check-Fast® Inspection System made the move es-sential. Quality, Innovation, Service and Training are the requisite goals of the business to facilitate the safety and productivity of clients throughout New England. More information is available from the I&I Sling web site under loca-tions.

I&I Sling Inc. operates six plants on the east coast of the United States cov-

ering an area from Maine to Florida. All I&I locations are part of the Sling-max® Rigging Solutions group.

Sling, Rigging And Fall Prevention Seminar, a tremendous success

The Sling and Rigging Seminar hosted by Lift-it® Manufacturing was a tremen-dous success. Participants representing many diverse industries and geographic locations attended the seminar.

The Synthetic Sling Safety Program was presented by Mike Gelskey, CEO, Lift-It ®Manufacturing and featured basic and advanced rigging.

The “A, B ,C’s” of fall prevention and product demonstrations were presented by Mark Langford, Capital Safety. A tour of the Lift-It production facility with fabrication and testing demonstra-tions was also included on Day One.

Day Two featured classroom and hands on sling inspection. Harley Gist, Rigging Institute presented Hands-on Rigging. Participants determined load weight, centers of gravity and calcu-lated sling tension.

Day three featured a Train-the-Trainer program which provided con-siderations and instruction in the pre-sentation of the Sling Safety Program.

The attendees were extremely com-plimentary in their post conference evaluations. One prevailing comment was that the seminar imparted a tre-mendous amount of useful information.

Mr. Gelskey has educated thousands of sling users and inspectors over the last thirty years. He remarked, “We were particularly impressed by the interaction and participation of the attendees. I was also very grateful for the kind words from many of the par-ticipants during the shop tour”. It was also very inspiring to see outstanding attendance at a time when travel and safety related expenses are being cut by many businesses”.

The next seminar is scheduled for October 25 and 26, 2011 and will fea-ture preparatory training for Rigger Level 1 and Signalperson. The Train-

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continued from previous pagethe-Trainer Program, which is also a professional development course will be featured on October 27. Early regis-trations are encouraged. The class size is deliberately limited for maximum benefit and participation. The specific details are available at www.Lift-it.com or by contacting Conference Coor-dinator, Michelle Brown at (323) 582-6076 x 715.

Applied Fiber Manufacturing attains ISO9001:2008 certification

Applied Fiber’s quality management system received the International Or-ganization for Standardization ISO 9001:2008 certification by Det Norske Veritas Inc (DNV). This certification

reflects Applied Fiber’s ongoing com-mitment to a consistently high stan-dard of quality in the manufacture of its products.

“Customer satisfaction is our number one priority. A robust quality manage-ment system is essential to ensuring our customers’ needs and expectations are met consistently” stated Richard Campbell, CEO of Applied Fiber. “ISO registration supports our pursuit of continuous improvement and an on-go-ing commitment to provide our custom-ers assurance of product quality.”

Located in Havana, FL, Applied Fi-ber provides terminated solutions for performance-based synthetic fiber sys-tems. The company manufactures rope and cable assemblies for both high vol-ume mass market applications, and low volume specialty applications. Applied

Fiber’s termination technology provides extensive fitting options for any fiber type, construction, and diameter.

Australian Patent Office issues patent to FIRST® Sling Technology for The Inspectable Roundsling™

The Commonwealth of Austra-lia’s Patent Office issued the Patent on March 17, 2011. The Inspectable Roundsling™ (roundslings with a transparent cover) is proud to bring this US invention and advancement in lifting safety to Australia’s diverse industries.

FIRST®, Full Inspection RoundSling Technology, has been introduced in Western Australia in recent months, but the issuance of the patent brings opportunities for building a preferred team of licensed manufacturers and authorized distributors for FIRST® Polyester-FP, and High Performance-FHPZ roundslings to serve their lifting and rigging industries.

Murdock Webbing Company weaves and supplies the Clear Cover® and Filtec Precise the polyester and EHP® high performance yarns for the li-censed FIRST® Manufacturing Team worldwide. www.firstsling.com.

Emmert International, Barnhart and Tradelossa win SC&RA Hauling Job of the Year Awards

The Specialized Carriers & Rigging Association (SC&RA) has announced the winners of the Hauling Job of the Year Awards. The awards went to Em-mert International, Clackamas, OR, in the Moving category, Barnhart Crane and Rigging, Memphis, TN, in the Hauling over 160,000 Pounds (net) cat-egory and in the Hauling under 160,000 Pounds (net) category and Tradelossa, Monterrey, Mexico, in the Hauling over 160,000 Pounds (net) category. Mov-ing jobs feature specialized equipment such as self-propelled transported dol-lies and crawler assemblies. Hauling jobs involve regular licensed tractors and trailers, moving predominantly via public roadways.Emmert transports four immense steam generators through envi-ronmentally sensitive area

Immediately after winning the con-tract to transport four replacement steam generators from the Port of Long Beach, CA to San Onefre, CA, Emmert International, Clackamas, OR, began a detailed planning and engineering pro-



cess that required nearly three years to complete. Emmert worked closely with the client, federal and local envi-ronmental agencies, the U.S. Marine Corps, California Department of Trans-portation, as well as federal and local security and law enforcement agencies. Each generator measured 67 feet long, 23 feet 8 inches wide and 21 feet 1 inch high and weighed 1,352,300 pounds.

After three months, Emmert con-cluded that the optimal solution in-volved a 15-mile route incorporating unimproved access roads, Interstate 5, through a State Park area and a beach. The entire replacement project at the power plant, including transporta-tion, was subject to a permit from the California Coastal Commission, which required an extensive Environmental Impact Report. Independent biological monitors controlled all work and move-ments in areas designated as environ-mentally sensitive, which included vir-tually the entire route.

Most of the route passed through areas supporting endangered and fed-erally protected species of flora and fauna, and the focus was to avoid any impact on these. During the active nesting season for sea birds from ear-ly spring until September, beach op-erations are prohibited, which further complicated scheduling.

Emmert received the generators on a barge it provided after they were shipped from a Japanese manufactur-ing plant. The barge was then towed in the open Pacific Ocean to Del Mar basin within the confines of the U.S. Marine’s Camp Pendleton. To avoid se-vere rip currents in the tidal basin, the voyage took place at night.

After others dredged the heavy-lift dock, Emmert offloaded the barge us-ing a 16-axle double wide Goldhofer PST to cross a 30-foot ramp. From there Emmert moved across the Marine base on asphalt roads to a staging area pro-tecting underground services along the way with steel plates and lowering or shielding overhead cables as the load passed below.

For the next stage, a 7-mile move along the beach, Emmert used two 700-ton capacity transporters mounted under a steel platform holding a gen-erator. These tracked vehicles could travel on soft sand without matting but topped out at 3 to 5 miles per hour when loaded.

After three days, the generator ex-ited the beach at a 10 percent grade on a temporary road created by Em-mert, was loaded onto the Goldhofer and moved off the elevated area until

passing onto I-5 for a night-time move of about ½ mile. The Interstate portion took less than 30 minutes, excluding preparatory work and the clearing up of steel plates and matting afterwards.

Next, each load moved to a State Park, subject to environmental scru-tiny because of the presence of several endangered species. Tight clearance at park entrances posed an additional challenge.

The generator then moved one mile along a frontage road with underground services requiring protection from the load entering the power plant reserva-tion through a car parking area. Travel-ing on a road built to Emmert’s precise specifications, the load then descended on a 6 percent grade onto the power plant’s main entry road, maneuvering between existing buildings with a pinch point of 1/4 inch on both sides and a steep embankment along a curved road.

In common with all operations inside active nuclear facilities, security of the load was very tight. There were no inju-ries to crew during any of the four moves.Over 160,000 pounds: Barnhart sets record for largest single item move in Tennessee and Virginia

Barnhart Crane and Rigging, Mem-phis, TN, successfully met the chal-lenge of transporting a massive steam turbine generator from Port Allen, LA, through the Appalachian Mountains to St. Paul, VA. After the original heavy hauler was unable to receive the neces-sary permits, Barnhart began perform-ing route feasibility studies and bridge analyses. Barnhart received the trans-portation contract on January 18, 2010, more than two months after the initial scheduled delivery date. Because the customer suffered from liquidated damages every day the generator was not on the final site, Barnhart agreed to do everything possible to complete the job safely within six months. Such an extensive project normally called for 18 months of planning alone.

The 304,000-pound generator – mea-suring 35 feet 11 inches long by 18 feet 7 inches wide by 17 feet one-inch high – was the largest single item ever hauled in Tennessee and Virginia. Barnhart provided analysis of 36 of 109 bridges crossed along the 176-mile route. Five independent engineering firms worked simultaneously to generate hundreds of pages of data per bridge.

Total permit costs – including permit fees, bridge engineering, bonds and re-mediation – were $1,876,494. Barnhart set a new precedent in safety planning with a 115-page engineered heavy


continued from previous page


transport plan. Briefings with many local and state officials, community groups and the press included a route survey with state engineers and traffic control officials to discuss each day’s planned movements.

Record rainfall in the region shortly before the job’s scheduled start caused the collapse of a retaining wall in Ten-nessee, narrowing the highway to a single lane. Barnhart developed a plan to replace the wall with engineered fill, which stabilized the area for both heavy-haul transport and the general public.

To meet Tennessee requirements, Barnhart transformed its 24-dolly transporter – the world’s lightest of its kind – to accommodate 28 dol-lies. As it moved through the state, it measured 365 feet 5 inches in length, 22 feet 2 inches in width and 17 feet 3 inches in height, with a gross weight, including prime movers, of 1,404,869 pounds. In Virginia, Barnhart shifted back to 24 dollies without transload-ing. The project necessitated develop-ment of numerous innovative tools and techniques. A special “Dog-Bone Link” support system with two 100-ton jacks enabled expeditious reinforcement of the transporter’s transition girders. Barnhart expanded its proven “Crab-Steering” technique for spreading the weight of the transporter laterally and longitudinally across bridges, creating seven new steering arrangements to complement the company’s traditional crab-steering arrangements.

Barnhart’s redesign of its “Hanging Suspension System” used carrier beams beneath the sole plates of the genera-tor to minimize the overall height to 17 feet 3 inches. Finally, Barnhart com-pleted five different bridge jumps of up to 130 feet, including one midway of a 7 percent grade ascent and descent in a quarter mile. Under 160,000 pounds: Tradelossa relocates three mills to two mines over rugged terrain

Tradelossa, Monterrey, Mexico, relo-cated three mills from a mine in Zacate-cas, Mexico, through the Sierra Madre Mountains to two different mines in the state of Chihuahua. Two mills went to a mine 490 miles away, the other to a mine 480 miles away. The mills measured 22 feet long by16 feet nine inches in diam-eter and weighed 110,231 pounds.

Tradelossa took on this project af-ter two other specialized transporters failed to move the load beyond the first mile. Because of the lost time, the cli-ent needed the job completed as quick-ly as possible. Besides, the federal road

permits were valid for only 30 days.Other challenges they faced included

passage through traffic; rough, narrow roads; tollbooths; small towns; access to mines; tight turns and even tighter clearances. A key Tradelossa engineer-ing solution was the use of hydraulic equipment with a girder bridge open to 3.6 meters (11 feet 10 inches), enabling the load to be dropped as needed al-most to ground level.

The equipment had been in use on another project, so Tradelossa had only four days to assemble it and check that the desired configuration truly could operate as required. Without the abili-ty to reduce the height of the shipment, the convoy would have been forced to take considerably longer routes.

Tradelossa expeditiously overcame the initial challenges that thwarted the previous carriers at the site. Even after disassembling the cargo as much as possible, they barely had a foot of clearance at the side and a mere two inches at the top of the storage facil-ity exit. Additionally, the length of the load made the very narrow road access even more taxing.

In some places, the roadways were so narrow that Tradelossa had to use both lanes, blocking traffic for as much as seven-and-a-half miles. In other places, rough terrain necessitated the pulling power of two tractors in front of the load. Tradelossa worked closely with the Federal Electricity Commis-sion to cut electricity as the load passed beneath low power cables.

A new 820-foot road onsite had to be built because the existing one had ex-tremely tight turns that prohibited the equipment to pass through. Because of the steep upward slope of the new, loosely compacted road, Tradelossa used a bulldozer to help the tractor move ahead.

When the client unexpectedly changed the unloading site, Tradelossa was unable to exit the same road it had entered. So the crew disassembled the equipment to go out through the princi-pal road, which was not used originally because the equipment was too long for successful navigation.

The entire job required 475 man-hours, including 200 hours of planning. One crew members was dedicated en-tirely to the project for two weeks.

Tradelossa invests heavily in safe-ty, sending key personnel to Ger-many for training by Goldhofer. Ad-ditionally, Tradelossa made good use of information provided by Goldhofer to ensure the crew made optimal use of the equipment.The project was

completed with zero accidents, on time and on budget.

SC&RA Presents Crane & Rigging Safety Awards

The Specialized Carriers & Rigging Association (SC&RA) announced the winners of the Crane & Rigging Safety, Zero Accident Awards, and Crane & Rigging Safety Improvement during its 2011 Annual Conference, April 12-16, at the Hotel del Coronado, San Diego, CA.

Twenty-seven SC&RA members won a Crane & Rigging Safety Award be-cause of their superior safety records:

AmQuip Crane Rental, LLC, Phila-delphia, PA.

Bigge Crane and Rigging Co., San Leandro, CA.

Bollmeier Crane & Lift, Madison, IL.Bridger Crane & Rigging LLC, Boul-

der, WY.Connelly Crane Rental Corp., De-

troit, MI.Crane Rental Corporation, Orlando, FL.J.J. Curran Crane Co., Detroit, MI.Custom Service Crane Inc., Mahomet, IL.Dawes Rigging & Crane Rental, Inc.,

Milwaukee, WI.Dutcher-Phipps Crane & Rigging

Co., Monahans, TX.Edwards Moving & Rigging,

Shelbyville, KY.Emmert International, Clackamas, OR.Fagioli, Inc., Houston, TX.Hawaiian Crane & Rigging, Ltd., Ho-

nolulu, HI.Install Inc., Sanford, NC.Magnum Crane Services, LLC, Se-

attle, WA.Mammoet USA Inc., Houston, TX.Mountain Crane Service, Riverton, UT.Mr. Crane, Inc., Orange, CA.PSC Crane & Rigging, Dayton, OH.RMS Cranes, Inc., Denver, CO.Shelby Mechanical, Inc., Pennsauken, NJ.Southern Industrial Constructors,

Inc./Southern Crane, Raleigh, NC.Specialty Crane & Rigging, Santa

Barbara/Santa Maria, CA.Tri-State Crane & Rigging, Cedar

Rapids, IA.Turner Bros., LLC, Oklahoma City, OK.George Young Company, Swedesboro, NJ.George Young Installations PR, Hu-

macao, Puerto RicoEighteen SC&RA member companies

received the Crane & Rigging Zero Ac-cidents Award because they did not have a single recordable accident or in-jury in the past year:

Bollmeier Crane & Lift, Madison, IL.Bridger Crane & Rigging LLC, Boul-

der, WY.J.J. Curran Crane Co., Detroit, MI.

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continued from page 40Custom Service Crane Inc., Mahomet, IL.Dawes Rigging & Crane Rental, Inc.,

Milwaukee, WI.Dutcher-Phipps Crane & Rigging

Co., Monahans, TX.Edwards Moving & Rigging,

Shelbyville, KY.Fagioli, Inc., Houston, TX.Hawaiian Crane & Rigging, Ltd., Ho-

nolulu, HI.Install Inc., Sanford, NC.Magnum Crane Services, LLC, Se-

attle, WA.Mr. Crane, Inc., Orange, CA.PSC Crane & Rigging, Dayton, OH.RMS Cranes, Inc., Denver, CO.Shelby Mechanical, Inc., Pennsauken, NJ.Specialty Crane & Rigging, Santa

Barbara/Santa Maria, CA.Tri-State Crane & Rigging, Cedar

Rapids, IA.George Young Installations PR, Hu-

macao, Puerto Rico. Two SC&RA member companies

earned a Crane & Rigging Safety Im-provement Award by showing an im-proved incidence rate compared to the previous year’s contest entry:

Emmert International, Clackamas, OR.Mountain Crane Service, Salt Lake

City, UT.

Record number of exhibitors and visitors for 2011 fairFair rated top industry event by suppliers and buyers Strong support for fringe events

The second edition of SPS – Indus-trial Automation Fair Guangzhou held from 9 – 11 March 2011 at the China Import and Export Fair Complex at-tracted a record number of exhibitors and visitors, confirming its position as the top trade fair in Southern China for industrial automation solutions.

Showing at the fair were 354 suppli-ers from 15 countries and regions, cov-ering three halls in a total exhibition area of 30,000 sqm.

Over 19,300 professional buyers from 40 countries and regions came to the fair to see and source the latest techno-logical innovations.

Mr. Louis Leung, Deputy General Manager, Guangzhou Guangya Messe Frankfurt Co Ltd said: “SPS – Indus-trial Automation Fair Guangzhou is developing at an extraordinary rate. In just one year, the scale of the fair has grown 50%, exhibitor participation has risen 12% and visitor attendance has increased 15%. These gains reflect the

enormous business potential in South-ern China.”

Fair rated top industry event by suppliers and buyers

Exhibitors and visitors commended the professionalism of the fair and, most importantly, how it has delivered an exceptional business platform.

“We did very well at SPS – Indus-trial Automation Fair Guangzhou last year, so we doubled the size of our booth to showcase more of our prod-uct range this year. The quality of the buyers has been marvellous – we are meeting our target audience,” said Ms. Alvis Fong, Senior Marketing Commu-nication Executive Asia Pacific, Hart-ing (HK) Limited.

Ms. Hong Li, Deputy GM, Marketing Director, ELCO which produces sen-sors and encoders was equally pleased with the calibre of visitors at the fair. “SPS – Industrial Automation Fair Guangzhou is terrific – it attracts a great many quality buyers, who know exactly what they want. The number of new customers to our booth has gone up daily.”

Oriental Motor from Japan was glad of the opportunity to increase their market presence in Southern China.





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continued from page 44Mr. Feng Yan, Sales Engineer said: “This has definitely been a worthwhile experience – we have gained new con-tacts and customers from across the Pearl River Delta during SPS – Indus-trial Automation Fair Guangzhou.”

The fair also delivered an excellent marketing platform for companies to raise their brand profile. Mr. Li Shi Guang, Product Management Team Leader, Automation Systems, IA Divi-sion of Industry Sector, Siemens Ltd China said: “As a marketing tool, SPS – Industrial Automation Fair Guang-zhou is incredible. Over the fair period we have successfully introduced our state-of-the-art technologies to custom-ers, new and old.” The electronics giant had the largest stand at the fair for the second consecutive year.

Visitors attending the fair were also satisfied. Mr. Mohamad Abdel Karim, Technical Director, Asfour Crystal said: “We are leaving the fair with solid leads for Chinese suppliers of servos and stable motors, who we think we can work with in the future.” Asfour Crystal is increasing its output of qual-ity crystal figurines. Over the last five years the Egyptian company has in-vested more than 60 million euros to

enhance its production levels.SPS – Industrial Automation Fair

Guangzhou is the best sourcing plat-form in Southern China according to Mr. Qin Feng Qu, Manager, Guang-zhou Maidi Machinery Equipment Co., Ltd. He said: “There is no other event like it. You are able to see an amazing selection of industrial auto-mation technologies at SPS – Indus-trial Automation Fair Guangzhou. We have already placed several large orders for sensors and human-ma-chine-interface devices.”

Noting the fair’s development, Mr. Li Ju-fang, Equipment Automation, Head of Department, Dongguan Samsung Electro-Mechanics Co., Ltd said: “SPS – Industrial Automation Fair Guang-zhou is much bigger and better sign-posted this year. We have been most impressed with the number and qual-ity of suppliers too.”

Strong support for fringe events The educational fringe program held

together with the fair, which included 12 specialist seminars and forums were well attended by visitors and exhibitors. Program highlights included:

• European Latest Sensor Tech-nology, Application and Develop-ment Seminar

Organized by the German-based AMA Association for Sensor Technol-ogy (AMA), attendees of this one-day program were able to see how the new-est ceramic sensors, 3D-laserscanners and 1D-triangulationlasers, high-resolution digital sensors, intelligent photoelectric sensors and PRT and IO-link technologies could be used in the automation, automotive, medical and renewable energy sectors.

• Sensing in Automotive 2011Presenting the latest automotive

sensor technology, from ceramic to hydrogen sensors, to GE auto to MEMS-based pressure sensors, the forum was a hot ticket event for visi-tors and exhibitors alike. This event was jointly organised by the AMA and Vogel Media.

• CNC Machine Tools and Basic Manufacturing Equipment Forum

The Panel on CNC Machine Tools and Basic Manufacturing Equipments of Guangdong Province, Guangdong Automation Association and Guang-dong Mechanical Engineering Institute organised this event. The examination of the ‘12th Five Year Plan’ in relation to the development of a CNC machine tools industry in China drew a large audience.


The next edition of SPS – Industrial Automation Fair Guangzhou will take place 6 – 8 March 2012 at the Guang-zhou Import and Export Fair Complex.

SPS – Industrial Automation Fair Guangzhou is sponsored by the Chi-na Foreign Trade Centre and Messe Frankfurt Exhibition GmbH, orga-nized by the China Foreign Trade Guangzhou Exhibition General Corporation, Guangzhou Guangya Messe Frankfurt Co Ltd, Guangzhou Overseas Trade Fairs Ltd and Me-sago Messe Frankfurt GmbH, with Guangdong Association of Automa-tion and the Guangzhou Association of Automation being the Honourable Organisers.

Background information on Messe Frankfurt

Messe Frankfurt is Germany’s lead-ing trade fair organizer, with 424 mil-lion euros in sales in 2009* and more than 1,500 employees worldwide. The Messe Frankfurt Group has a global network of 28 subsidiaries, five branch offices and 52 international Sales Part-ners, giving it a presence for its custom-ers in more than 150 countries. Events “made by Messe Frankfurt” take place at more than 30 locations around the globe. In 2009*, Messe Frankfurt or-ganized more than 90 trade fairs, of which more than half took place out-side Germany.

Messe Frankfurt’s exhibition grounds, featuring 578,000 square metres, are currently home to ten ex-hibition halls and an adjacent Con-gress Center. The company is publicly owned, with the City of Frankfurt holding 60 percent and the State of Hesse 40 percent. For more informa-tion, please visit our website at: www.messefrankfurt.com

* preliminary numbers (2009)

SC&R Foundation introduces corporate named scholarship program

The SC&R Foundation recently an-nounced that it had approved a cor-porated named scholarship and grant program. The Foundation introduced the program during the Special-ized Carriers & Rigging Association (SC&RA) Annual Conference April 12-16, at the Hotel del Coronado, San Diego, CA.

Participating companies will fund a $3,000 scholarship or a grant for three to ten years, depending on their contri-bution. The scholarships go to students preparing for careers related to trans-


“In fact, in this first year, there were two members that were so strong in various policies, programs and practic-es that we elected to issue two awards.”

Winning entries came from Buckner Companies, Graham, N.C. and Skan-ska USA Building, Inc., New York, New York.Buckner headquarters epitomizes material salvage and recycling

Buckner was recognized primarily because its new headquarters simul-taneously serves as a vivid demon-stration of material salvage and recy-cling and as a showplace for the steel erector’s trade. Designers combed the company’s boneyard for components, including old crane parts that could be incorporated into the project.

Ultimately, 83 tons of steel – more than 40 percent of all the steel in the building – came directly from Buck-ner’s yard. The completed project fea-tures reconditioned columns and gird-ers for the exposed steel frame, reused corrugated metal deck to support roofs and floors, and salvaged curved wood glue-laminated roof beams, which were overlapped to create a clerestory.

The 15-ton pedestrian bridge that links the new and existing buildings was recovered from the University of North Carolina campus, where Buck-ner had first installed it 30 years be-fore. And two pieces of 15-foot girder salvaged from Clemson University’s Littlejohn Coliseum form the walls of a new conference room, which cantile-vers out the front to shelter the main

portation or construction management and grants go to employees or children pursuing classes at a vocational school or to further their education. The fol-lowing four companies already have made generous commitments and will have a corporate named scholarship beginning in 2012.

Terex, Wilmington, NC – $21,000Southern Industrial Constructors,

Raleigh, NC – $15,000Bennett International Group, Mc-

Donnough, GA – $9,000Mammoet, Houston, TX – $9,000Companies interested in partici-

pating in the new corporate named scholarship program are encouraged to contact Jackie Roskos at [email protected].

Buckner Companies and Skanska USA building win SC&RA’s first Environmental Award

The Specialized Carriers & Rig-ging Association (SC&RA) announced the first winners of its Environmen-tal Award on April 16 during closing night ceremonies of its Annual Con-ference in San Diego, CA. As part of its commitment to “go green with in-creased awareness and visibility for environmental issues,” SC&RA insti-tuted the award to recognize a mem-ber company that has made outstand-ing contributions to environmental protection.

“I am pleased to report the competi-tion drew some very strong entries,” said SC&RA Chairman Bill Stramer.


continued from previous pageentrance.

The sustainable building effort grew to embrace other environmental mea-sures, including a chip-and-tar drive, storm water bio-retention pond, and new materials with high recycled con-tent such as Galvalume roofing, lino-leum flooring and low-flow toilet fix-tures. Networked roof drains supply a 15,000-gallon water cistern, which recycles grey water for use in wash-ing vehicles and irrigating landscap-ing features. The new clerestory faces south to introduce ample natural light, as well as sunshine and warmth, to conserve energy use.

Additionally, Buckner embraces pro-gressive office and workshop recycling practices, aggressive fuel storage and hazardous-materials practices, a con-version to virtually paperless manage-ment, computer-controlled thermo-stats, programmable lighting and basic external landscaping with minimal wa-ter requirements.Skanska USA building serves as global leader in environmental stewardship

Since 1995, Skanska has been a mem-ber of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. All Skanska offices worldwide are registered in com-pliance with ISO 14001, meeting the International Organization for Stan-dardization’s criteria for environmen-tal management systems. Skanska was the first construction company in the Americas to be ISO14001 registered.

Skanska was recently ranked the top global leader of green building by Con-struction magazine. Skanska Senior Vice President Beth Heider has been elected as a future chair of the U.S. Building Council’s Board of Director.

Skanska USA headquarters, located in the Empire State Building, reflects the company’s belief that its long-standing commitment to green build-ing as demonstrated in its Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum certification “is not only the right thing to do, but it is good business.”

Skanska capitalizes on the abun-dance of natural daylight entering the space from large windows at the perim-eter. Lighting and occupancy sensors have been installed throughout the workspaces in conjunction with a high-efficiency lighting system. The compa-ny uses light-emitting diode (LED) task lighting at each workstation, as well as motorized shades to reduce glare.

Most of the space is cooled by a pres-surized raised floor air-distribution sys-

tem with an air diffuser near each work-station for individual controls. Heating comes from perimeter steam convection. Carbon dioxide sensors throughout the space maintain air quality.

The building maintenance team uses all green cleaning products and receives training on properly main-taining the waterless urinal. All equipment and appliances are Energy Star rated by the Environmental Pro-tection Agency (EPA).

Because of these and other practices, management representatives from the Empire State building routinely tour Skanska USA offices to showcase the space and use it as a benchmark for fu-ture tenant space requirements.

Skanska also actively participates in EPA’s SmartWay program. The com-pany offers $100 a month to employees who purchase, own and drive a Certi-fied Smartway Green Vehicle. How-ever, Skanska purposely located its of-fices within walking distance of mass transportation hubs and encourages employees to use bicycles, even station-ing some at offices for their use.

All diesel-powered vehicles (excava-tors, backhoes, cranes, compressors, generators, bulldozers, and more) are powered by ultra-low sulfur diesel, and use the latest in Best Available Technology for reducing emissions. All cranes uses diesel particulate filters with a silicon carbide center body to greatly reduce particulate matter, hy-drocarbons and carbon. Each piece of equipment undergoes a monthly envi-ronmental audit to assure it is running at peak environmental performance.

The Specialized Carriers and Rigging Association (SC&RA) is an internation-al trade association of more than 1,300 members from 46 nations. Members are involved in specialized transporta-tion, machinery moving and erecting, industrial maintenance, millwright-ing and crane and rigging operations, manufacturing and rental. SC&RA helps members run more efficient and safer businesses by monitoring and af-fecting pending legislation and regula-tory policies at the state and national levels; researching and reporting on safety concerns and best business prac-tices; and providing five yearly forums where these and other relevant mem-ber issues can be advanced.

NCCCO prevails in legal dispute with crane schoolCrane operator certification organization actions vindicated

In a landmark case that has major

implications for certification organiza-tions nationwide, the National Com-mission for the Certification of Crane Operators (NCCCO) prevailed in a lawsuit brought against it in Califor-nia Superior Court by California Crane School (CCS) and its owner, John Nypl. After deliberating for less than one day, a 12-member jury returned a complete defense verdict for NCCCO, awarding CCS and Nypl nothing.

In the suit, Nypl claimed that NCC-CO and its testing services provider, International Assessment Institute (IAI), intentionally interfered with certain business relationships of CCS and Nypl, with the intention of causing them harm. Nypl sought more than $5 million in damages.

“NCCCO vigorously defended this action in the firm knowledge and be-lief that its treatment of CCS and Mr. Nypl has been fair and appropriate,” stated NCCCO President, John M. Kennedy. “The decision of the jury in favor of NCCCO is a vindication of the steps NCCCO was obliged to take to prevent damage to the quality and in-tegrity that has become a hallmark of CCO certification over the past fifteen years,” he said.

CCS and Nypl originally demanded more than $30 million from NCC-CO. The plaintiffs filed their initial complaints in Oakland and Nevada City, CA, but NCCCO filed successful motions to transfer the litigation to So-nora. The original case also asserted claims for alleged violations of Califor-nia’s antitrust and unfair competition laws, but those claims were thrown out before trial. Eventually, the case went to trial only on two surviving claims for alleged business interference.

“Whenever there is evidence of inap-propriate conduct by firms or individu-als who desire to participate in CCO certification programs, NCCCO has an obligation to ensure they comply with all prevailing policies and procedures,” said NCCCO Executive Director, Gra-ham Brent. “To do otherwise could un-dermine the integrity of CCO certifica-tion and put at risk those who rely on it to mitigate the hazards associated with working around cranes.”

Last year, in a separate action brought by NCCCO, a federal judge found that CCS and Nypl were in civil contempt for violating a 2005 perma-nent injunction against them. The court also found that CCS and Nypl breached a settlement agreement aris-ing out of NCCCO’s 2005 complaint against CCS and Nypl for copyright infringement and misappropriation of



Founded in 1984, Bishop Lifting Products, Inc. (BLP) is a leading fab-ricator and distributor of products, ser-vices, and lifting solutions for crane, rigging, and oilfield applications. Our 180+ dedicated employees throughout Texas, Louisiana, Wyoming and Okla-homa supply wire rope, slings, rigging hardware, lifting devices, hoists and winches to customers with lifting, oil-field, towing, and hauling applications.

wire & Tube Southeast Asia 2011 attract strong industry support

Five months before the start of wire Southeast ASIA 2011 - 3rd Wire & Cable Trade Fair for Southeast Asia and Tube Southeast ASIA 2011 - 3rd International Tube & Pipe Trade Fair for Southeast Asia, exhibitors from more than 20 countries have confirmed their participation and the organiz-ers expected more than 300 exhibitors from 30 countries to take part. Coun-try group exhibits from Austria, China, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Taiwan and the U.S. will increase the interna-tional participation.

Adding to the global reach of this regional event, wire Southeast ASIA/Tube Southeast ASIA 2011 also enjoys strong support from renowned industry organizations such as the Internation-al Tube Association (ITA). “The ITA is delighted to be the main international sponsor of Tube Southeast ASIA, hav-ing been a strong supporter of its pre-decessor Tube Singapore since the very first staging,” stated ITA President Dr. Gunther Voswinckel. “Bangkok is a very important hub for the region’s key markets and this exhibition provides an excellent platform for suppliers in the tube and pipe industry to establish a presence in Southeast Asia. Because of Bangkok’s location in the center of this part of the world and its accessi-bility, visitors to the exhibition are at-

Pictured from left to right: Wayne Oswald (Director, HBR), Josh Kibby (HSE, Bishop Lifting Products), Matthew Wilson (HSE, Bishop Lifting Products), David Bishop (CEO, Bishop Lifting Products), John Hellums (Sales, Bishop Lifting Products), Roger Bruton (Lead Auditor, LyondellBasell), John Buchanan (HSE, Shell Deer Park)

trade secrets.The National Commission for the

Certification of Crane Operators (NCCCO) is an independent, non-profit organization established in January 1995 by industry to develop and ad-minister a nationwide program for the certification of crane operators. Since then, NCCCO has administered over 500,000 accredited written and practi-cal examinations to more than 100,000 operators in all 50 states, ensuring those who work in and around cranes are informed, trained, and qualified.

Bishop Lifting Products receives the Crane & Rigging Support – Silver award

On May 6, 2011, Bishop Lifting Products, Inc. (BLP) was the recipi-ent of the Crane & Rigging Support – Silver award in Houston Business Roundtable’s Safety Excellence compe-tition. Since 1988, the Houston Busi-ness Roundtable has been recognizing greater Houston area Industrial Con-tractors for outstanding safety perfor-mance. This award process has become a joint effort to improve on-site safety, eliminate accidents, and most impor-tantly, reduce injuries to employees.

After receiving the nomination from BP in the category of Crane & Rigging Support, forms were submitted includ-ing the OSHA required safety data for fatalities, lost workday cases, re-cordable injuries and illnesses, copies of safety policies and procedures and documentation of safety best practices.

Following a formal review process, 33 companies were chosen to receive field audits to assess onsite safety programs. Topics under review for the field audit included accident pre-vention plans, safety training and ed-ucation, emergency evacuation plan, substance abuse control programs, and driver safety training to name a few. The audit team also interviewed shop employees to ensure “what was written is being implemented” for all safety procedures.

Matthew Wilson, QHSE manager at Bishop Lifting Products, said “it was an extreme honor to be nominated by BP and to receive the silver safety award for Crane & Rigging Support. Recogni-tion should be given to every individual employee at Bishop; starting with the executive management who places such a great emphasis on safety, to all employees who follow the safe practices on a daily basis.” About Bishop Lifting Products

tracted from other regions like India, the Middle East and Africa, as well as Australasia.” While Dr. Voswinckel is aware that the previous Tube South-east ASIA event in 2009 was affected by the tail end of the global recession, the 2011 exhibition is scheduled at a very opportune time for the industry: extremely positive economic forecasts are coming from Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand, with growth rates in the 5 - 7% range stimulated by major infrastructure projects.

wire Southeast ASIA 2011 is sup-ported by the Italian Wire Machin-ery Manufacturers Association (ACI-MAF). “This exhibition continues to play a great part with its outstanding quality and quantity of visitors. More-over, Thailand is one of the most im-portant industrial countries in Asia with a wide range of companies active-ly dealing in the wire and cable indus-tries,” explained Ferrucchio Bellina, president of ACIMAF.

Another key supporter is the Inter-national Wire & Machinery Associa-tion (IWMA). IWMA Chairman Colin Dawson commented: “The IWMA is a long term industry partner and spon-sor of the wire Southeast ASIA exhibi-tion since its very edition. This support started with wire Singapore before it was re-located to Bangkok in 2007 and re-named wire Southeast ASIA. The new location and title received the full support of the IWMA and its members for very good reasons. There is no doubt that despite encountering difficulties from time to time, be it unexpected natural events, political situations or health-related concerns, a number of the economies of the Southeast Asia region are firmly on course to develop strongly through the decade, especial-ly Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia. These economies are predicted to grow from between 5 to 7% this year, driven to a large extent by major infrastruc-ture projects and strong domestic de-mand.” Colin Dawson is confident that wire Southeast ASIA 2011 is staged very timely and will provide the wire and cable industry with an excellent forum to benefit from the opportunities in the economies of this region.

Heinz Rockenhäuser, president of the International Wire and Cable Exhibi-tors Association (IWCEA), noted that in contrast to the economic situation in October 2009, the wire and cable indus-try has been experiencing an upturn since autumn 2010: “Southeast Asia benefits especially also from its neigh-bors, growth engine China and highly

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continued from previous pageindustrialized Japan. All participants in the Bangkok exhibition, i.e. the wire and cable industry together with their suppliers showcasing in the trade fair, will explore the latest developments, beyond their own growing demands. The disaster in Japan will result in the accelerated development of renewable energies worldwide with new business prospects for the wire and cable indus-try following from that.”

As noted by key supporting organiza-tions, wire and Tube Southeast ASIA’s host country Thailand and neighbor Vietnam are major users of wire and tube solutions. Thailand has a well developed industrial infrastructure with large automotive, electrical/elec-tronic, petroleum and petrochemical industries boosting demand. As income levels rise in the country, high levels of infrastructure spending will also be essential. The need to develop infra-structure in Vietnam, meanwhile, is becoming increasingly pressing as the country emerges as a production base integrated with the global economy. Vietnam’s Ministry of Planning and In-vestment estimates that between now and 2020, Vietnam will require some US $150-160 billion for infrastructure

development. With their strong economic funda-

mentals and wide-ranging investment plans, Thailand’s fellow ASEAN na-tions Indonesia and Malaysia further reinforce the significance of wire South-east ASIA / Tube Southeast ASIA 2011.

• Indonesia has experienced an ex-tended period of political stability and the outlook remains positive for con-tinued investment in infrastructure, petroleum, petrochemicals and mining. GDP growth is also forecast to remain strong in coming years, exceeding 6% annually.

• The Indonesian automotive indus-try has recovered strongly and double-digit growth is forecast for the next four years, with industry estimates pointing to a doubling of production be-tween 2010 and 2015. The country is transforming into a global manufactur-ing base for PVs.

• Indonesia will require an estimated US $150 billion of infrastructure in-vestment over the next five years.

• Malaysia and other ASEAN econo-mies are benefiting from a renewed em-phasis on FDI in the Southeast Asian region, partly to counter higher labor costs and reduced incentives in China.

• To consolidate its position as an in-

vestment destination, Malaysia is pro-moting several logistics infrastructure projects that will increase demand for wire and tube solutions.

With these high levels of investment in ASEAN economies and the strong in-dustry support, wire Southeast ASIA/Tube Southeast ASIA 2011 will again be a must attend event for all industry professionals in the region.

wire Southeast ASIA/Tube Southeast ASIA 2011 is sponsored by:

International Wire & Machinery Association (IWMA); Italian Wire Machinery Manufacturers Associa-tion (ACIMAF); International Wire & Cable Exhibitors Association (IWCEA); Austrian Wire and Cable Machinery Manufacturers Association (VÖDKM-AWCMA); International Wire and Cable Exhibitors Association - France (IWCEA-France); German Wire and Cable Machine Manufacturers Associa-tion (VDKM); Wire and Cable Industry Suppliers Association (WCISA); Inter-national Tube Association (ITA).

wire Southeast ASIA/Tube South-east ASIA 2011 is supported by: Tube Düsseldorf; wire Düsseldorf; Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau; Hong Kong Fastener and Screw Coun-cil (HKFSC); Japan Spring Manufac-

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turers Association (JSMA); Malay-sian Iron & Steel Industry Federation (MISIF); Steel Wire Association Ma-laysia (SWAM); Philippine Metalcast-ing Association, Inc. (PMAI); Iron And Steel Association of Thailand (ISIT); Technology Promotion Association (Thailand-Japan).

For further information on visit-ing or exhibiting at wire Southeast ASIA/Tube Southeast ASIA 2011, contact Messe Düsseldorf North America, 150 North Michigan Ave-nue, Suite 2920, Chicago, IL 60601. Telephone: (312) 781-5180; Fax: (312) 781-5188; E-mail: [email protected]; Visit our web site www.mdna.com; Subscribe to our blog at http://blog.mdna.com; Follow us on twitter at http://twitter.com/mdnachicago.

SC&R Foundation awards $24,000 for six scholarships and four grants

The SC&R Foundation recently awarded $3,000 scholarships for 2011-2012 to six students preparing for ca-reers related to transportation or con-struction management. Additionally, the Foundation awarded four $1,500 grants for the pursuit of technical de-grees or certificates.

The scholarships and grants were announced during the Specialized Car-riers & Rigging Association (SC&RA) Annual Conference, April 12-16, at the Hotel del Coronado, San Diego, CA. Since 1986, the SC&R Foundation has awarded over $275,000 in scholarships.

In alphabetical order, this year’s $3,000 scholarship recipients are Jeff Boudreaux, Mitchell Nettinga, Taake-na Ross-Gober, Robert Vodicka, Chris-topher Zabrosky and Daniel Zartman.

Jeff Ryan Boudreaux attends Lou-siana Tech University, Monroe, LA, where he maintains a 4.0 GPA while pursuing a double major in Chemical Engineering and Business Adminis-tration. He plans to graduate in May 2014. His stepfather, Edward Brown, is an Information Technology Manager at Turner Industries, Baton Rouge, LA.

Mitchell Curtis Nettinga, a repeat winner, attends Dordt College, Sioux Center, Iowa, where he maintains a 3.938 GPA as an Engineering major. He plans to graduate in May 2014. His Mother, Marlys Nettinga, is a Secre-tary at Berghorst & Son, Inc., Hull, IA.

Taakena K. Ross-Gober, a repeat winner,works at NBIS, Atlanta, GA, as an Underwriter Assistant while pursuing an Associate’s degree in Mar-keting Management at Chattahoochee Technical College, Marietta, GA. After

completing her degree, she plans to transfer to Southern Polytechnic State University in Marietta to pursue a de-gree in Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration.

Robert E. Vodicka, Director of Orga-nizational Development, at Stevenson Crane Service, Chicago, IL, plans to earn his Master’s of Business Adminis-tration degree at the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwest-ern University, Chicago, by fall 2012. He currently maintains a 3.3 GPA in the program. After earning his Bach-elor’s degree at Illinois State Univer-sity, Normal, IL, in 2003, he worked for Grace Masonry, Downers Grove, IL, before joining Stevenson in April 2010.

Christopher Anthony Zabrosky works as a drafter in the Virginia branch of Bigge Crane and Rigging, San Leandro, CA, while attending Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA, and maintaining a 3.82 GPA as a Civil En-gineering Technology major. He plans to graduate in December 2013.

Daniel Webster Zartman attends Pennsylvania State University, State College PA, where he maintains a 3.8 GPA as an Architectural Engineering major. He plans to graduate in May 2012. His father, David Zartman, is

President of Zartman Construction, Inc., Northumberland, PA

In alphabetical order, this year’s $1,500 grant recipients are David Lalonde, Phillip Salazar, Nicholas Sucky and Joshua Thompson.

David Luke Lalonde, a graduating senior at St. Michael the Archangel High School, Baton Rouge, LA, plans to complete training in Heavy Equip-ment/Diesel Repairat Nashville Auto Diesel College, Nashville, TN, by Au-gust 2012. His mother, Teresa Lalonde, is Regional Credit Manager for H&E Equipment Services, Inc., Baton Rouge.

Phillip Felipe Salazar III, a graduat-ing senior at Richard King High School, Corpus Christi, Texas, plans to use his grant for Welding School at the Craft Training Center of the Coastal Bend, Corpus Christi. His uncle, Christopher A. Calderon, is a Crane and Rigging Inspector at Bay Ltd., Corpus Christi.

Nicholas David Sucky plans to com-plete an Associate’s of Applied Science degree in Auto Mechanics at Hennepin Technical College, Brooklyn Park, MN, by May 2012. His father, David Sucky, is a Driver/Boom Operator for LeFeb-vre Companies, Inc., Elk River, MN.

Joshua Allen Thompson works at


continued from previous pageAllstates Rigging, Inc., Manitowoc, WI, performing a variety of duties, includ-ing shop maintenance and loading/unloading equipment. He plans to use his grant to complete general required courses for an Associate’s degree through the University of Wisconsin in Manitowoc before entering the Univer-sity of Wisconsin in Whitewater to pur-sue of a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management/Accounting. His father, Jonathan Thompson, is Vice President of Allstates Rigging, Inc.

Fagioli and Barnhart Crane & Rigging win SC&RA Rigging Job of the Year Awards

The Specialized Carriers & Rigging Association (SC&RA) has announced the winners of the Rigging Job of the Year Awards. The awards went to Fagioli, Manvel, Texas, in the Jobs over $750,000 category and Barnhart Crane & Rigging, Memphis, Tenn. for both the Jobs be-tween $150,000 and $750,000 category and the Jobs under $150,000 category.

Over $750,000: Fagioli removed and replaced 720,000 pound sta-tors in nuclear plant

The Laguna Verde Nuclear Power Plant, located in Veracruz, Mexico, is the country’s largest electric power generating nuclear plant, producing about 4.5 percent of the nation’s elec-trical energy. To increase the capacity of the plant by 20 percent, two stators needed to be replaced.

Fagioli was awarded the contract to remove and replace the stators. The job involved many challenges, includ-ing the heavy weight of the stators (720,000 pounds each); the restricted working area; the insufficient capacity of the existing overhead crane; and the unavailability of time for a “dry run” to test the fitting of the system. Addition-ally, working in a nuclear plant had its own issues, including the health and safety of the crew.

Fagioli’s engineering division came up with an innovative, interesting and successful solution to complete the op-eration without the need for civil in-terventions within the operative plant. Engineering preparations started a year and-a-half before the job began.

Due to the insufficient capacity of the hook on the overhead crane, Fagi-oli designed a lifting system consisting of two L300 strand jacks, which was conceived to fit between the existing beams of the overhead crane. After be-ing awarded the job in August 2009, Fagioli required several months of in-tensive work to complete the design.

The final approval was given in De-cember 2009, leaving only two months to fabricate, test and ship the system to the jobsite. Fabrication was done in Houston with Fagioli engineers monitoring the quality and testing the components before delivery in mid-February 2010.

The lifting system itself weighed almost 133,000 pounds and was built with high grade steel to keep the weight within the limit indicated by the overhead crane manufacturer.

The system consisted of a swivel con-nected to the anchors of the strand jacks. The 2 by 300-ton strand jacks were positioned on the jack support beam, while the jack support beam sat on each end on a “u” shaped structure. The 882,000-pound capacity swivel (able to rotate the stator), rollers and girders were supported by the beams of the existing overhead crane. The struc-ture was suspended from the traverse top beams, and at both ends the roller beams sat on the overhead crane gird-ers, precisely on the trolley tracks.

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When the installation work of the system started inside the building, 24-hour continuous operations were neces-sary due to the 45-day window allotted.

Accessing and exiting an active nu-clear plant is neither easy nor quick, and required an organized shift sched-ule. Safety was a priority: Crews worked at heights with temperatures reaching 105 degrees in a radioactive environment.

Every effort was made to maintain exposure to radiation far below the dose limits as practical. This included wearing protective clothing, continu-ously monitoring radiation absorption of each person, having back-up crews and shifting personnel.

All operations for the removal of each generator, including installation and removal of the lifting system on and from the overhead crane, were to take place within the timeframe of 84 hours. The same timeframe was allotted for the installation of the new generators.

With the limitation of 12 feet per hour on the 200 foot translation of the overhead crane between the equipment hatch and the generator foundation, the time left to install and remove the system, lift the generator 15 meters, ro-tate it 90 degrees and lower it 5 meters

was minimal. Fagioli accomplished the task a day ahead of schedule without accidents.$150,000-$750,000: Barnhart erects 11 prefabricated coffer dam sec-tions for San Diego Water Authority

The San Vicente Dam, owned by the San Diego Water Authority, is being raised approximately 100 feet to provide more water to the San Diego region.

Phase I of the project was to pre-pare the dam for the concrete work, which involved the widening and raising of the dam structure. A Cof-fer Dam was needed so that a new discharge tunnel could be drilled through the dam structure.

The scope of work for Barnhart was to erect 11 prefabricated Coffer Dam sections into one 420,000 pound final Coffer Dam, lower the final Coffer Dam into the water and onto the dam wall at approximately a 6 degree angle, and to hold the load in a stationary position to allow divers to secure the Coffer Dam to the face of the dam, which was esti-mated to take five to 10 days.

The first rigging option was to locate a large crane on the dry side of the dam. This option wasn’t feasible due to the lack of space for the crane and the size and capacity of the crane re-

quired. There were also safety concerns regarding suspending the load from the crane for such a long time.

The second option was to locate a large crane on a barge on the water side of the dam. The amount of barges needed to support a heavy lift crane made the barge crane idea unfeasible. There was no roll-on facility on the res-ervoir and the completed Coffer Dam would then have to be held for five to 10 days by a floating barge crane for se-curing by the divers. Again that would have been a huge safety concern.

Barnhart chose to develop the lifting system on top of the dam. Still, there were challenges to installing such a system. Access was difficult, the work area was tight and the weather was windy and hot.

Barnhart engineered a cantilever system on top of the water dam to per-form multiple lifts of Coffer Dam sec-tions using strand jacks. The cantilever system consisted of 60 130-foot strands, two 300- ton strand jacks, three 450-ton strand jacks and five floating anchors.

A total of six Coffer Dam lifts were performed with the largest piece weighing 410,000 pounds. The job was very challenging due to the incline and


continued from previous pagethe fact that multiple jobs were going on within the vicinity of Barnhart’s equipment and work area. Barnhart’s success-ful cantilever system came from the company’s tool box and involved many innovations including a synchronized strand jack system, elimination of counterweights with an anchor design, rocker design and installation, the use of an erection sequence/straddle barge and the tilting of the Coffer Dam to the slope of the dam face.

The cantilever system required just five truckloads of rig-ging equipment. Barnhart supplied engineering, project management, risk management, superintendent and strand jack technicians. The customer supplied the lift crane, craft labor, barges and water bags for the test lifts.

Barnhart’s safety program included highly trained crews (with QUAL cards), daily safety meetings, communications plans, pre-lift meetings, PPE and fall protection, an onsite risk manager and a test lift.

Barnhart created a plan of how to work with heavy equip-ment on site to move and transport the equipment. Sched-uling overhead lifts and communication with surrounding contractors was imperative in order for all parties involved to maximize a day’s worth of work. In the end, the job was completed safely in 30 days with no issues or violations. Barnhart collaborated with the customer and other contrac-tors on safety, sequence and efficiency.Under $150,000: Barnhart Crane & Rigging replaces two huge vessels in refinery

Barnhart Crane & Rigging was contracted to provide engineering, labor, equipment and supervision to remove two vessels from an existing structure and replace with new vessels during a refinery turnaround in Southern

California. The first vessel weighed 14,310 pounds and measured 4 feet 6 inches in diameter and was 16 feet long. The second vessel weighed 29,349 pounds and was 8 feet in diameter and 20 feet long.

The challenge was removing the two horizontal vessels from the existing structure without removing a substantial portion of the structure. There was also very limited access to the worksite, and work had to be done over and around active process piping and equipment. The engineering team ruled out two conventional methods: using a crane to remove the vessels through the roof of the building or using two cranes to insert the vessels into the building.

The solution was a tri-block and cantilever beam system in which counterweights were used to counter balance the payload to allow the lifted item to be lifted under an over-head obstruction. The auxiliary load line was then operated to adjust the pick point and set the load in final position.

The client was initially concerned with this plan because it was an entirely new concept for the plant. Additionally, the plan required lifting and transferring of the vessels over “hot” lines and other operating equipment. To allevi-ate this concern, a test lift was performed for the refinery personnel to demonstrate this new approach. After for-mulating a complete engineering package that included a Critical Lift Plan, Certificates of Conformance for all rig-ging equipment certified and stamped by California P.E., Barnhart was given the green light.

Before work started, a comprehensive safety plan was developed to meet the client’s stringent safety proce-dures and Barnhart’s corporate safety standards. Crews underwent Los Angeles Refinery Safety Operation train-ing. Task safety meetings, including Job Hazard Analy-sis (JHA), were conducted by the Barnhart construction manager, with responsibilities assigned before each stage of the planned work. Due to working at elevations exceed-ing 6 feet, there was 100 percent tie off for crew members.

The process was carefully defined, and started with the staging/assembly of equipment, lifting and removal of existing vessels, placement of existing vessels onto a transporter, transport to lay down area, transport of pre-loaded new vessels to the work site and lifting and setting the new vessels in place.

Engineering included crane layout drawings that were reviewed by the client’s civil engineer. It was determined that foundations would have to be installed in the exist-ing roadway to support the outriggers on the crane, which was a Grove Model GMK 6350 supplied by Maxim Crane. Safety was built into the lift plan process; the crane se-lected operated at 71 percent of capacity. The crane lay-out included a detailed plan of how to assemble the crane and the related equipment since space was very tight.

The Tri-Block and Cantilever Beam Assembly was staged and assembled in a blocked off road parallel to the structure housing the vessels. Just prior to the lifts, crews checked all equipment and reviewed communication pro-tocols. The lift director flagged the crane during the entire lift process. All operators had QUAL cards. Before each lift the crews reviewed contingency plan/shutdown sequences with the client’s operators in case something catastrophic happened.

The first vessel was removed and replaced in one day and the second vessel was removed and replaced in one day. The project was finished two days ahead of schedule without any accidents. The use of the Barnhart Tri-block and Cantilever Beam System introduced the refinery to one of Barnhart’s specialized rigging methods.



SC&R Foundation announces new officers

During the SC&RA Annual Confer-ence, April 12-16, at the Hotel del Coro-nado, San Diego, CA, the SC&R Founda-tion announced its officers for 2011-2013:

President: Earl Johnson, Southern Industrial Constructor, Inc./Southern Crane, Raleigh, NC.

Vice President: Robert Moore, NBIS, Atlanta, GA.

Treasurer: George Young, George Young Group, Swedesboro, NJ.

Also set were the Foundation Com-mittee Chairpersons:

Development/Public Relations: Tiea Cowley, Turner Brothers, Longview, TX.

Research/Education: Dan Bumby, ECC Lift Systems, Woodland Park, CO.

Scholarship: Stephanie Bragg, Bragg Crane Service, Long Beach, CA.

The SC&R Foundation is a 501(c)(3) corporation with the mission to ad-vance research and education while furthering other charitable, education-al and scientific purposes for the indus-tries served by SC&RA.

The Specialized Carriers and Rigging Association (SC&RA) is an internation-al trade association of more than 1,300 members from 46 nations. Members are involved in specialized transporta-

tion, machinery moving and erecting, industrial maintenance, millwrighting and crane and rigging operations.

The story of Grant Carpenter

Follow the World War II experiences of one of the pioneers in the Wire Rope indus-try, from his activation through his deploy-ment with the Army’s 38th Engineers.

Grant Carpenter got his education in Mechanical Engineering (as well as leadership experience in R.O.T.C.) from Penn State University. With that, he landed a job at the Jones & Laughlin Wire Rope plant (Muncy, PA) and, soon after, began dating the beautiful, smart model he had met in New York City.

Then he got an invitation from Uncle Sam: He was to leave his perfect job and his perfect girl and report for ac-tive duty. It was May, 1941.

After months of training, he shipped out with the 38th Engineers for a three-month mission to build a secret airfield/fuel tank farm on Ascension Is-land, midway between South America and Africa. Once that job was com-pleted, the Engineers were seen as too valuable to the war effort to be sent home. His three-month mission was extended – to well over three years.

His letters home are being posted to the blog as closely as possible to the dates he wrote them – plus sev-enty years. They give an historic (and often humorous) look at the life of an officer in the Army Corps of Engineers from 1941-1945. http://carpandjudy.blogspot.com/2011/03/first-date.html.

Interwire 2011 recharges industry with new programs and energy. Attendance rebounds with 19% surge.

The Wire Association International (WAI), Inc.’s 81st Annual Convention and its flagship Interwire trade expo-sition came to a successful conclusion May 5th after a four-day conference at the Georgia World Congress Center, At-lanta, Georgia, USA, where attendance figures surged beyond the Association’s past two Interwire events. Total regis-tration reached 4,022, up 19% from the 2009 event in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. At-tendees came from 53 countries.

“Interwire had tremendous support from the wire and cable manufactur-ing community. More than 750 wire and cable facilities sent representa-tives—many sent multiple attendees—all with action items to accomplish at


continued from previous pageInterwire,” said WAI President Domi-nique Perroud.Convention highlights

Three new theme days set the tone for the week, providing an organiza-tional format into which a robust offer-ing of nearly 100 technical and opera-tional presentations were assembled. Themes were metals and materials; manufacturing best practices; and green initiatives.

On Monday, May 2, WAI bestowed its highest honors on Dr. Kazunari Yoshi-da, Tokai University, Japan, and Thom-as E. Moran, National Standard Co., winners of WAI’s Mordica Memorial Award and Donnellan Memorial Award, respectively. Also Monday, Southwire hosted a tour of two of its Carrollton fa-cilities; and Tuesday evening more than 1,100 participants networked at WAI’s annual opening reception.

The first-time Global Continuous Casting Forum for copper practitio-ners, which ran concurrently with In-terwire, exceeded planning estimates and reached full capacity at 205 partic-ipants from 25 countries. The program featured 34 industry-leading present-ers. “The presenters, panel members, moderators, and keynote speaker rep-

resent the best of the best within our industry. Manufacturers, OEMs, and suppliers all networked and were sup-ported by great exhibits on the floor. This truly was the most comprehensive program of its kind ever developed,” said Gary Spence, VP Nonferrous Met-als, Encore Wire.

Keynote speaker and astronaut Mike Mullane, encouraged listeners to “Dream Big” at his presentation on Wednesday, May 4, when he also shared experiences from living and working in space.Exhibition highlights

More than 400 companies were rep-resented at the three-day exhibition. Production solution demonstrations, held through the hall, covered topics ranging from surface treatment tech-nology and roll straightening to FEP foaming technology, wiredrawing lu-bricants, and wire breaks.

Exhibitors shared optimism as a re-sult of Interwire. “It’s GREAT to be back in Atlanta! Between location, im-proving business levels, and general optimism, the mood at Interwire was refreshing. Show days can be long—but traffic, developing projects, and positive sentiment made this Interwire productive,” said Dave Ferraro, VP

Sales & Mktg., Carris Reels. “Interwire 2011 has seen improve-

ments compared to recent years. It gave us an indication of an upward economi-cal trend in North America. The OM Lesmo Group and Lesmo Machinery America, Inc. booths were visited by several customers and new prospects. In all, we hope that the discussions at Interwire will turn to be real projects very soon,” said Allan Brown, Sales Mgr., Lesmo Machinery America, Inc.

Interwire had the support of exclu-sive sponsors: Southwire and Exxon-Mobil Chemical; educational sponsors: Sonoco Products; Gem Gravure Co., Inc.; and Dow Wire & Cable Co.; Cyber café sponsors: Chemson Inc. and Sono-co Products; 5K sponsor:

LEONI Wire Inc.; Directional sign sponsors: SIKORA Interna-tional Corp. and Skaltek Inc.; Lan-yard sponsor: Carris Reels Inc.; hospitality suite sponsors: C.H. Robin-son Worldwide Inc.; J.B. Hunt; South-eastern Freight Lines; and Tenold Transportation LP.

The American Wire Producers As-sociation (AWPA) reported more than 160 attendees at its 2011 Wire Rod Supply Chain Conference. The 33 spon-soring organizations included AWPA member companies, affiliated associa-tions, and industry press. “Holding this conference alongside WAI’s convention continues to be a formula for success and we are looking forward to 2012 in Dallas, May 21-23,” said Kimberly Ko-rbel, AWPA Executive Director.

Interwire will return to Atlanta, Georgia, USA, April 23-25, 2013.

The Wire Association International, Inc., founded in 1930, is a worldwide technical society for wire and cable in-dustry professionals. WAI is dedicated to the promotion, collection and dissemi-nation of technical, manufacturing and general business information and trends in the industry. It organizes events such as the Interwire and Wire Expo trade shows, technical webinars, and annual International Technical Conferences. Its publications and technical products in-clude Wire Journal International (WJI) and the annual WJI Reference Guide as well as a host of technical handbooks, reports, and DVDs. Contact WAI for de-tails at Tel.: 001-203-453-2777; Fax: 001-203-453-8384.

SC&RA elects slate of officers for 2011-2012

During its Annual Conference, April 12-16, at the Hotel del Coronado, San Diego, CA, the Specialized Carriers & Rigging Association (SC&RA) elected,

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David Lowry, Bennett International Group, McDonough, GA as President. Joining Lowry as officers for the 2011-2012 term are:

Chairman: William Stramer, Link-Belt Construction Equipment Co., Lex-ington, KY.

Vice President: Michael Battaini, Sheedy Drayage, San Francisco, CA.

Treasurer: Bill Keen, Keen Trans-port, New Kingstown, PA.

Assistant Treasurer: Ron Montgom-ery, Intermountain Rigging & Heavy Haul, Salt Lake City, UT.

Also joining the Board are four newly elected Group Chairs:

Allied Industries Group: Jus-tin Cravens, Ridewell Suspensions, Springfield, MO.

Crane & Rigging Group: Steve Freck-mann, Dawes Rigging & Crane Rental, Milwaukee, WI.

Transportation Group: John McTyre, McTyre Trucking,Orlando, FL.

Ladies Group: Margie Springer, Southern Industrial Constructors, Raleigh, NC.

With the exception of the Board members and the Treasurer, all new-ly-elected officers will serve one-year terms that will expire at the Associa-tion’s 2012 Annual Conference, to be

held April 17-21 at Hyatt Regency Lost Pines, Austin, TX.

Additionally, SC&RA elected the fol-lowing six new Board members to serve three-year terms:

Frank Bardonaro, Terex Cranes, Wilmington, NC.

Michael Battaini, Sheedy Drayage, San Francisco, CA.

Mike Vlaming, Vlaming & Associ-ates, Vallejo, CA.

Geary Buchanan, Buchanan Hauling & Rigging, Fort Wayne, IN.

John McTyre, McTyre Trucking, Or-lando, FL.

Toni Sabia, Transport Systems & Products, Inc., Stamford, CT.

SC&RA announces 21 Crane Operator Safety Awards at Annual Conference

The Specialized Carriers & Rigging Association (SC&RA) awarded 21 Crane Operator Safety Awards dur-ing its 2011 Annual Conference, April 12-16, at the Hotel del Coronado, San Diego, CA. This award was presented to certified crane operators who exhibit exemplary work achievements while accumulating 10,000 consecutive man-hours and recording zero accidents or

incidents. Winners represent seven dif-ferent companies:

J.J. Curran Crane Co., Detroit, MI – Norm Bush, Mark DeBoard, Richard McComas, Aaron Oriz and John Ryznar.

Custom Service Crane, Inc., Ma-homet, IL – David Berry, Robert “Tex” Gossett, Eric Reeves, Timothy Scott, Jason Starns, Dean Vandenbergh and Rodney Vollmer.

Dawes Rigging & Crane Rental, Inc., Milwaukee, WI – Ronald Kading.

Dutcher-Phipps Crane & Rigging Co., Monahans, TX – Thomas Shoemaker.

Mountain Crane Service, Salt Lake City, UT – Rick Hull, Roy Justice, Craig Lever and Mike Rose.

Mr. Crane, Inc., Orange, CA – Mike McDaid.

Tri-State Crane & Rigging, Cedar Rap-ids, IO – Jeff Gardemann and Rory Kelly.

SC&RA presents 42 Longevity Awards

In recognition and appreciation of loyal membership, the Specialized Car-riers & Rigging Association (SC&RA) presented the following Longevity Awards, ranging from 25 to 55 years, during its 2011 Annual Conference,


continued from previous pageApril 12-16, at the Hotel del Coronado, San Diego, CA.

55 YearsWhite Brothers Trucking Co., Wasco, IL.50 YearsCentral Contractors Service, Inc.,

Crestwood, IL.Hake Rigging Company, Lester, PA.KMX International, Hamburg, PA.W.J. Casey Trucking & Rigging Co.,

Branchburg, NJ.45 YearsAycock Div. of Enerfab, Hummel-

stown, PA.Don R. Fruchey, Inc., Fort Wayne, IN.Erickson’s Incroporated, North Mus-

kegon, MI.Hosea Project Movers, LLC, Coving-

ton, KY.Southern Industrial Constructors/

Southern Crane, Raleigh, NC.Walbridge Equipment Installation,

Aurora, IL.Walker Crane & Rigging Corp., Pla-

inville, CT.40 YearsUnited Riggers & Erectors, Inc., Walnut, CA.35 YearsAble Machinery Movers, Inc., Grape-

vine, TX.Emmert International, Clackamas, OR.Hilman Rollers, Marlboro, NJ.International Industrial Contracting

Corp., Sterling Heights, MI. 30 YearsBane-Nelson, Inc., Kenosha, WI.Big Boy’s Rigging Service, LLC, Bal-

timore, MD.J.F. Lomma, Inc., South Kearny, NJ.Norris Brothers Co., Inc., Cleveland, OH.

Roadranger-Eaton & Dana Corps., Kalamazoo, MI.

Rountree Transport & Rigging, Inc., Jacksonville, FL.

Trail King Industies, Inc., Mitchell, SD.Valley Crane & Rigging, Inc., Fish-

ersville, VA.Zartman Industrial Services, Nor-

thumberland, PA. 25 YearsAllison Crane & Rigging, Williams-

port, PA.Chellino Crane Inc., Joliet, IL.Demag Riggers & Crane Service,

Williston, VT.Epperson Cranes, Inc., Miami, FL.Fontaine Trailer Company, Jasper, AL.Hi-Ball Company, Inc., Laingsburg, MI.Ideal Crane Rental, Inc., Madison, WI.Interstate Flag Car, Inc., Dellslow, WV.J.V. Rigging, Inc., New Kensington, PA.Orbit Movers and Erectors, Dayton, OH.Rig All, Inc., Frankfort, NY.Rushco Services, Inc., North Oxford, MA.Silk Road Translink, Inc., Arkport, NY.Transport Unlimited, Inc., West

Mifflin, PA.Triple-E Machinery Moving, Inc., El

Monte, CA.Universal Landsea Transport, Inc.,

Red Bank, NJ.

SC&RA honors Gordon Thomsen with Golden Achievement Award

Gordon Thomsen was named the 11th recipient of SC&RA’s Gold Achievement Award during clos-ing night ceremonies at the Special-ized Carriers & Rigging Association

(SC&RA) Annual Conference, at the Hotel del Coronado, San Diego, CA. This coveted award, which is not pre-sented every year, goes to an indi-vidual who has made an outstanding contribution to the specialized carrier and rigging industry over a consistent and significant period of time.

In 1973, Thomsen started Western Ag Sales, a small home-based trailer company in Mitchell, SD that evolved into Trail King Industries, an industry leader with more than 500 employees, three manufacturing facilities, and 300 dealer locations across the U.S. and Canada. Today, Trail King offers trailers ranging in load capacities from 6,000 pounds to 1 million pounds, serv-ing a wide variety of applications for markets as diverse as specialized haul-ing, construction, agriculture, trans-portation, waste and recycling.

Trail King has been responsible for numerous innovations. Among the most notable of these was the development of what many at the time considered the best hydraulic detachable gooseneck in the indus-try – a system that made hooking up and unhooking a simple, one-person “60-second connection.”

When presenting the award, SC&RA Chairman Bill Stramer characterized Gordon Thomsen as an innovative pioneer and a consumate salesman, known for saying, “Nothing happens until someone sells something.

“Our winner, while growing his busi-ness over the years, served SC&RA and the SC&R Foundation through active participation,” said Stramer. “He has contributed time, sponsorships, ener-gy, passion, humor and, perhaps most importantly, he has influenced and in-spired many of us in this room in many positive ways.”

Thomsen and his family remained active in the company after selling it to Carlisle Companies, Inc., in 1995. The company was purchased by CC In-dustries, Inc., the holding and manage-ment firm of Henry Crown and Compa-ny, in 2010. Many long-time Trail King employees continue to work within the company, operating with the same sense of pride and quality commitment that Gordon Thomsen instilled in them years back.

Among the other honors Thomsen has earned over the years are Small Business Person of the Year, Small Business Administration’s Exporter of the Year and South Dakotan of the Year. His son, Jerry, served as SC&RA President in 2005-2006.

The Specialized Carriers and Rig-

P.O. Box 3128 Tulsa, Ok 74101(918) 834-4611 Fax (918) 832-0940www.thecrosbygroup.com

One Stop Shopping -Clamps are now a part of themost complete product lineavailable in the industry.

Industry Leading Training -IP’s Quality training materialshave been upgraded to Crosby’sstandards, the industry standard.

Industry Leading Support -The industry’s leading customer service department, fieldsales staff and technical support.

H

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A STRONG GRIP ON PERFORMANCE,WITH UNCOMPROMISING


ging Association (SC&RA) is an in-ternational trade association of more than 1,300 members from 46 nations. Members are involved in specialized transportation, machinery moving and erecting, industrial maintenance, millwrighting and crane and rig-ging operations, manufacturing and rental. SC&RA helps members run more efficient and safer businesses by monitoring and affecting pending leg-islation and regulatory policies at the state and national levels; researching and reporting on safety concerns and best business practices; and provid-ing four yearly forums where these and other relevant member issues can be advanced.

SC&RA presents Transportation Safety Awards

The Specialized Carriers & Rig-ging Association (SC&RA) announced the winners of the Fleet Safety,Fleet Safety Improvement and Zero Accident awards during its 2011 Annual Con-ference, April 12-16, at the Hotel del Coronado, San Diego, CA. The contests are part of SC&RA’s ongoing effort to encourage its motor carrier members to transport, lift and erect oversize/over-

weight items safely. Five SC&RA member companies re-

ceived a Fleet Safety Award for having the lowest accident frequency rate in different mileage categories:

Over 50 Million Miles – Landstar Systems, Inc., Jacksonville, FL.

20 Million to 50 Million Miles – Ben-nett Motor Express, McDonough, GA.

5 Million to 20 Million Miles – Riech-mann Transport, Inc., Granite City, IL.

1.5 Million to 5 Million Miles – George Young Company, Swedesboro, NJ.

100,000 to 1.5 Million Miles – Unigroup Specialty Flatbed, Fort Wayne, IN.

Seven SC&RA member companies received a Zero Accident Award for having no recordable injuries during all of 2010:

All Sunshine Crane Rental, Apopka, FL.Bridger Crane & Rigging LLC., Boul-

der, WY.Emmert International, Clackamas, OR.George Young Company, Swedes-

boro, NJ.George Young Installations PR, Hu-

macao, Puerto RicoTrans American, South Plainfield, NJ. Unigroup Worldwide Specialty Flat-

bed, Fort Wayne, IN.Eight companies earned a Fleet Safe-

ty Improvement Award by showing a re-

duction in their accident frequency rate for miles traveled, compared to their previous year accident frequency rate:

Bennett Motor Express, McDonough, GA.Bragg Heavy Transport, Long Beach, CA.DST Inc., Milwaukee, WI.Kreitz Motor Express, Inc., Ham-

burg, PA.Landstar Systems, Inc., Jacksonville, FL.Landstar Ranger Inc, Jacksonville, FL. LeFebvre & Sons, Inc. Elk River, MN.Turner Bros, Oklahoma City, OK.

Six drivers earn SC&RA Million Miler Award

Six professional drivers from two companies in the specialized carrier in-dustry received a Million Miler Award for Safety Excellence from the Spe-cialized Carriers & Rigging Associa-tion (SC&RA) during its 2011 Annual Conference, April 12-16, at the Hotel del Coronado, San Diego, CA. These drivers each accumulated a minimum of one million consecutive miles of safe driving within the industry:

Riechmann Transport, Granite City, IL. – Floyd Greene, Keith Fore and J. Orlando Vasquez

AmQuip Crane Rental, Philadelphia, PA. – Charles Daniels, William Haag and Edward Sylvester


Inventor’sCorner

By William Fischer

Synthetic sling whose component parts have oppos-ing slingsPat. 7,926,859 U.S. class 297/74 Int. class B66C 1/12Inventor: George Frederick Dennis St. Germain, Chadds Ford, PA.Assignee: Slingmax, Inc., Aston, PA.

This patent presents a sling for industrial lifting made of a load-bearing core and a cover. The cover protects the plural-ity of yarns that make-up the core. Each core yarn is made of a number of core threads twisted together. The core yarns are twisted together where the twist is in the same direction as the individual core strands and a different direction than the twist of the cover. The present invention describes the method of twisting the core yarns together by inserting core yarns substantially parallel into a cover that has a twist op-posite of each core strand. As the core strands are inserted into the cover, the twists of the individual core yarns inter-act with the twist of the cove, resulting in the core yarns twisting together.

Referring to figure 32, a synthetic sling 20, in accordance with the present invention, is comprised primarily of a load-bearing core 1 and an outer cover 2. The cover 2 protects the load-bearing core from abrasion and from environmental conditions (e.g., exposure to acid, exposure to sunlight, or ex-posure to ultraviolet radiation, etc.). The load-bearing core 1 is comprised of a plurality of core yarns 3. Each core yarn 3 is made of a plurality of threads 4.

Figure 33: Enlarged view of individual core strands having a left-lay (i.e., an “S” twist) and a right-lay (i.e., a “Z” twist).

Figure 32: Cross-sectional view of a sling.

The cover 2 is made by a machine in a separate process from a plurality of synthetic fibers. The material used for the fibers are chosen for the type of environment the sling will be used in. For example, if the sling will be used in an en-vironment having high temperatures (e.g., an iron smelting plant) the material used for the fibers to make the cover will be different than the materials used for the fibers if the sling will be used in a chemical plant that makes acids. Similarly, a sling that is used on an off-shore oil platform will have a cover made from different fibers that can withstand ultra-violet rays and salt water. However, almost all covers 2 are manufactured with either a right-lay or a left-lay.

The invention discloses a load-bearing core 1 with a spe-cific twist and its relationship/interaction with a cover 2 manufactured from fibers twisted in the opposite direction. A sling 20 manufactured in accordance with the present in-vention offers greater strength than a sling with a load-bear-ing core with no twist. In addition, this invention discloses a method of manufacturing that greatly reduces the time and expense of manufacturing an improved sling. Testing has proved that a sling made in accordance with this invention has significantly more strength from a sling made from con-ventional methods using the same amount of material; this allows either a stronger sling or a sling of the same strength with less material than conventional slings made with con-ventional covers. The load-bearing core 1 is encased by the cover 2 which runs the length of the sling. The load-bearing core 1 bears the entire load when the sling is used to lift, move or tow an object. No weight is supported by the cover.

The invention involves the formation of a synthetic sling 20 having a helically-laid load-bearing core 1 and, more specifically, the relationship between individual core yarns 4 and the cover 2 during the manufacturing process of the sling. The present invention also covers the method of form-ing the sling.

Referring now to figures 33-38, the present invention in-volves different parts of the sling, each having a twist. First,


Figure 38: Illustrates a right alternate lay.

Figure 37: Illustrates a left lang lay.

Figure 36: Illustrates a right lang lay.

Figure 35: Illustrates a left regular lay.

Figure 34: Illustrates a right regular lay.


a single core yarn 3 can be made from individual threads 4 having a left-lay (“S” twist) 5 or right-lay (“Z” twist) 6. The best mode of the invention has an individual core yarn with a S twist. Second, the fibers used to weave the cover can have three possible configurations, a S twist, a Z twist, or no twist.

The important feature of this invention is that the core yarns 3 have the opposite lay when compared to the fibers used to weave the cover 2. The interaction of the core yarns 3 with the inner side of the cover 2 during the manufacturing process causes the resulting load-bearing core 1 to form in a helically-laid bundle. The lay of the load-bearing core de-pends on the lay of the core yarns 3 and the lay of the fibers of the cover 2. The interaction between the various surfaces is especially acute when using the machine disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/981,110, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,568,333. In a preferred embodiment, the core yarns 3 have an S twist and the fibers in the cover 2 have a Z twist; this configuration results in a sling with a load-bearing core hav-

cally-laid load-bearing core. The resulting synthetic sling is capable of bearing more weight than other slings that do not have twisted load-bearing core yarns.

Accordingly, a synthetic sling made according to the sub-ject disclosure with the same amount of core yarns will be stronger than a sling that does not use twisted core yarns. Alternatively, a sling made according to the subject disclo-sure can be made from less material to produce a sling with the same load-bearing rating as a sling that does not have helically-twisted core yarns.

It is known in the art of wire-rope slings to twist the met-al wires together. Various methods exist to force the wire’s strands to twist together which include using a spinning wheel with holes where the individual wire stands are fed through. However, it has been shown that a similar method does not work with synthetic yarns because the synthetic yarns do not have the rigidity of the wire strands. Previous to this invention, there was no way to twist the synthetic core yarns together without special machinery and substan-tial input of time. As set forth in a publication printed by the Wire Rope Technical Board—Wire Rope Users Manual, Fourth Edition, page 9, wire rope is identified not only by its component parts, but also by its construction, i.e., by the way the wires have been laid to form strands, and by the way the strands have been laid around the core.

Looking at figures 34-38, the first two illustrations 34 and 35 show regularly lay ropes. Following these are the types known as lang lay ropes (36 and 37). Note that the wires in regular lay ropes appear to line up with the axis of the rope; in lang lay ropes the wires form an angle with the axis of the rope. This difference in appearance is a result of variations in manufacturing techniques: regular lay ropes are made so that the direction of the wire lay in the strand is opposite to the direction of the strand lay in the rope; lang lay ropes are made with both strand lay and rope lay in the same direc-tion. Finally figure 38 is called “alternate lay” consisting of alternating right and left lay strands. Preliminary testing has shown that there is no significant difference when man-ufacturing the core strands using a right regular lay versus a right lang lay. As stated previously, the important factor is that the lay of the core yarns be in opposition to the lay of the fibers in the cover.

Referring again to figure 38, the non-metal equivalent is to have load-bearing core’s strands twisted together in an S twist 12 alternating with immediately adjacent individual core strands having a Z twist 13. By using the alternate lay configuration for the core strands, it has the benefit of allow-ing the core strands 3 to interact with a cover that has either an S twist or a Z twist. This is an important feature since cover manufacturers are not aware of the effect the particu-lar lay of the cover fibers can have on the manufacturing of a sling. Accordingly, a sling manufacturer can buy covers from any manufacturer and ensure that the load-bearing core will result in a helically-laid bundle regardless of the lay of the fibers used to make the cover.

Spreader frame for cargo containerPat. 7,905,528 U.S. class 294/81.53 Int. class B66C 1/66Inventor: Eric P. Marcel, Mamou, LA.Assignee: Eric P. Marcel, Mamou, LA.

This patent presents a spreader frame for hoisting a con-tainer having a lifting block, which includes a rigid frame structure, a twist lock received by the rigid frame structure, the twist lock being rotated relative to the rigid frame struc-ture between a locked position to engage the lifting block

ing a S twist. In another embodiment of this invention, the core yarns 3 have a Z twist and the fibers in the cover 2 have a S twist; this configuration results in a sling with a load-bearing core having an Z twist.

When the plurality of core yarns 3 having a specific lay are pulled through the cover 2 having the opposing lay, the friction of the core yarns moving past the cover results in the core yarns twisting about each other during the formation of the load-bearing core. The loops of core yarns form a heli-


Figure 1: Perspective view of a spreader frame.

Figure 3: Bottom plan view of the spreader frame.

Figure 2: Perspective view of the spreader frame of figure 1, showing the spreader frame and a cargo container attached.

and an unlocked position to disengage from the lifting block. It also includes a safety feature which cooperates with at least one of the rigid frame structures and the twist lock in the locked position which keeps it from being rotated rela-tive to the rigid frame structure absent personnel changing a position of the safety feature.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a spreader frame 100 ac-cording to an embodiment. Spreader frame 100 is adapted to support a container 500. In the specific embodiment illus-trated, container 500 is an ISO container. In other embodi-ments, container 500 can be of different design. Container

spreader frame 100 having container 500 attached thereto, as shown in figure 2. In the specific embodiment illustrated, hoist equipment 104 includes a hoist cable 105 having a hook 106 at a terminal end thereof. It is to be understood that hook 106 can include any suitable terminal fitting adapted for use with hoist equipment 104. For example, hook 106 can include a clasp and pin combination, a D-ring fitting, or a terminal loop of hoist cable 105. Hoist equipment 104 includes a hoist drum (not shown) operable for reeling and unreeling the hoist cable 105 to raise and lower hook 106 in the vertical direction.

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the spreader frame 100 of figure 1. Figure 2 shows the spreader frame 100 attached to and supporting container 500. Container 500 thus is hoisted above support surface 600. Spreader frame 100 includes a rigid frame structure 142. Rigid frame structure 142 has suitable mechanical strength to support with an adequate safety factor the container 500 when fully loaded. As used herein, “fully loaded” means that the container is loaded to maximum gross capacity. It is to be understood that the

500 is a box structure formed by cooperation of four longi-tudinal walls 504 and spaced end walls 508. One or both of the end walls 508 can include a door (not shown) providing access to interior space (not shown) of container 500. Con-tainer 500 includes a hollow lifting block 510 on each corner 512 for securing the container 500 to compatible equipment. The lifting block 510 has a central cavity. The lifting block 510 also has a generally rectangular opening which permits access to the central cavity.

Spreader frame 100 is adapted to be attached to container 500 for hoisting the container 500. In the specific embodi-ment shown in figure 1, spreader frame 100 is suspended above container 500 prior to being attached thereto. Con-tainer 500 initially rests upon and is supported by support surface 600. In the specific embodiment illustrated, support surface 600 is a deck 610 of a supply ship engaged in supply-ing an off-shore oil platform. In other embodiments, the sup-port surface 600 can be any suitable terminal facility floor or deck, or a carrier such as a railcar or trailer.

Spreader frame 100 is adapted to be hoisted and moved by hoist equipment 104. As used herein, “hoisted” means raised or lowered using hoist equipment. It is to be understood that any suitable hoist equipment 104 can be used with spreader frame 100. For example, hoist equipment 104 can include a hoist, crane, lifting equipment having a hoist or lift ca-ble, overhead crane, overhead hoist, hoist supported on an overhead trolley, hoist supported on a rail or boom, single point lift, or any suitable equipment having a hoist cable. Hoist equipment 104 is operable for hoisting and moving the

rigid frame structure 142 can be constructed in any manner suitable to provide mechanical strength adequate to support the container 500 when fully loaded.

In the specific embodiment illustrated, the rigid frame structure 142 includes a pair of parallel elongated longitu-dinal frame members 146. The rigid frame structure 142 includes a spaced pair of parallel end members 148 joining the pair of longitudinal frame members 146 at opposite ends thereof. Each end member 148 extends between the pair of longitudinal frame members 146 in perpendicular rela-tion thereto. The end members 148 and longitudinal frame members 146 thus cooperate to define a generally rectan-




Figure 6: Side view of the arrangement of the hoisting pulleys and the head block pulleys.

Figure 5: Illustrates two sets of the hoisting mechanisms of the hoisting devices in the machine room.

Figure 4: Schematic view used to show the two head blocks and the spreaders mounted thereon of the crane having two hoisting devices, being able to hoist two 40 feet containers at a time.

gular outer perimeter having four corners 162 disposed respectively in two opposite pairs. Intermediate the pair of end members 148 and parallel thereto, the rigid frame structure 142 includes a plurality of generally equidistant, spaced, parallel cross-members 150 joining the pair of longi-tudinal frame members 146. The cross-members 150 extend between the pair of longitudinal frame members 146 in per-pendicular relation thereto.

In the specific embodiment illustrated, the rigid frame structure 142 includes six cross-members 150. The cross-members 150 are joined to the longitudinal frame members 146 in a suitable manner. In the specific embodiment illus-trated, intermediate the ends 148 four of the cross-members 150 each abut the longitudinal frame members 146 and are joined thereto at respective welded `T” joints 152. In the il-lustrated embodiment, two of the cross-members 150 are joined at respective corners 162 to the ends 148 of the lon-gitudinal frame members 146 by welded joints and respec-tive braces or gussets 164 (see FIG. 4). Gussets 164 form an overlapping layer which overlaps adjacent portions of the longitudinal frame members 146 and cross-members 150. According to the disclosure, the cross-members 150 and ends 148 of longitudinal frame members 146 are joined at corners 162 in any suitable manner. Longitudinal frame members 146 and cross-members 150 are formed of any suitable rigid material having adequate mechanical strength. In the spe-cific embodiment illustrated, the longitudinal frame mem-bers 146 and cross-members 150 are formed of carbon steel having a rectangular cross-sectional profile.

Spreader frame 100 is attached to the hook 106 of hoist equipment 104 by a set of wire rope slings 107. Each wire rope sling 107 has an end attached to the hook 106 and an opposite end attached to a respective eye 165 on the rigid frame structure 142. The hoist 104 is operated to lift the hook 106 and thus raise the spreader frame 100 having con-tainer 500 attached thereto.

Container lifter being able to lift two 40 feet containersPat. 7,918,354 U.S. class 212/323 Int. class B66C 1/10Inventor: Jiango Shan, Shanghai, CN.Assignee: Shanghai Zhenhua Port Machinery Co., Ltd., Shanghai, CN.

The invention is a container lifter which is able to lift two 40 foot containers at a time. It includes two sets of the crane main lifting mechanisms with the wire rope winding sys-tems being separate. Pulleys arranged at the crane upper frame cooperate with two lifting pulley groups arranged on the carrier. The first crane lifting mechanism and the second crane lifting mechanism are equipped with a barrel, a crane

lifting mechanism motor, a brake and a crane lifting reduc-tion gear box respectively. The two sets of the crane lifting mechanisms are synchronously operated. By using the con-tainer lifter of the invention, the efficiency of the load and unload is increased, high repayment is obtained with less increasing the equipment cost, the larger beneficial result is occurred, also it has the wider applicable prospect.

Reference to figures 4 to 7, an embodiment of the container

crane of the present invention being able to hoist two 40 feet containers at a time is equipped with two separate hoisting devices, a first hoisting device 1 and a second hoisting device 2. Each of the hoisting devices has its own hoisting mecha-nisms, and a wire rope winding system for simultaneously operating the two hoisting mechanisms is also provided, the first hoisting device 1 and the second hoisting device 2 is connected by a connection cylinder. Head block pulleys are arranged on the head blocks of the hoisting devices and hoisting pulleys are arranged on the trolley, wherein each hoisting device has its own head block pulleys and hoisting pulleys. As shown in figure 6 and figure 7, the first hoisting device 1 uses a first hoisting pulley 5 and a first head block pulley 12, and the second hoisting device 2 uses a second hoisting pulley 6 and as second head block pulley 13. The position of the first head block is denoted by the reference numeral 3 and the position of the second head block is de-noted by the reference numeral 4 in figure 6.

As shown in figure 5, the first hoisting mechanism 7 of the first hoisting device 1 and the second hoisting mechanism 8 of the second hoisting device 2 are equipped with a winding barrel 71 and a second winding barrel 81, a first hoisting


Figure 7: Plan view of the arrangement of the hoisting pulleys and the head block pulleys.

Figure 8: Schematic perspective of the main lifting wire rope winding system.

mechanism motor 72 and a second hoisting mechanism mo-tor 82, a first brake 73 and a second brake 83, and a first hoisting reduction gear box 74 and a second hoisting reduc-tion gear box 84 respectively. The first hoisting mechanism 7 and the second hoisting mechanism 8 are connected by a wire rope winding system so as to make the first hoisting mechanism 7 and the second hoisting mechanism 8 work simultaneously. A hydraulic station is denoted by the refer-ence numeral 9, the water side and the land side are denoted by the reference numerals 10 and 11 respectively.

The first hoisting mechanisms 7 and the second hoisting mechanism 8 are synchronously operated by electrical syn-chronization or by mechanical synchronization so that the two sets of reduction gear boxes are combined as one set in order to operate two 40 feet containers. A single 40 feet con-tainer of 60 t under the crane is operated or two 20 feet con-tainers of 60 t under the crane are operated when the weight

of two 40 feet containers exceeds the designed value. The operation of a single 40 feet container of 60 t under the crane or the operation of two 20 feet containers of 60 t under the crane may be achieved by the separate individual use of the two hoisting mechanisms. If a reduction gear box is shared between the two hoisting mechanisms, the output of the re-duction gear box and power mechanism is directed only to a set of the winding barrel.

As shown in figure 4, the approach and separation of the two head blocks and the spreaders mounted thereon are achieved by a connection cylinder 15 between the first head

continued from previous page block of the first hoisting device 1 and the second head block of the second hoisting device 2. The reference numeral 16 shows a shifting cylinder arranged in a direction along the length of the hoisting device in the figure.

The two 20 feet separable spreaders and their head blocks are arranged at the water side and land side respectively, the two separable head blocks and the spreaders mounted thereon are connected by two cylinders being arranged par-allel, and the joint of the head blocks is connected by sphere gemels so as to achieve the approach and separation of the two head blocks and the spreaders mounted thereon. The centre distance between the two head blocks and the spread-ers mounted thereon is 2500 mm when the two hoisting de-vices are closed, the centre distance is 3700 mm when the two head blocks and the spreaders mounted thereon are separated, thus the range of the gap between the two con-tainers is from 0 to 1200 mm. The shifting of the two head blocks and the spreaders mounted thereon in the direction along the length of the containers is attained by the shifting cylinder 16, the range of the shifting distance is from 0 to 400 mm.

The loading and unloading of two 40 foot containers in any position can be achieved by fast releasing of the connection of the cylinders of the two hoisting-devices, also one of the two 20 feet hoisting devices can be hoisted to its highest po-sition i.e. in the unused position. The loading and unloading of a 40 foot container with 60 t weight or two 20 foot contain-ers with 60 t can be achieved by another hoisting device. The fixing of containers of the two 40 feet container cranes is performed sequentially, i.e. the fixing and locking of contain-ers by the first hoisting device is performed first, then the fixing and locking of containers by the second hoisting device is performed. After the fixing and locking of the two 40 feet containers is confirmed, the two 40 feet containers are hoist-ed and operated at the same time. If the gap between two 40 feet containers accidentally exceeds the stretch and contrac-tion range of the cylinder, the fixing of a container by one of the hoisting device is performed first, then the trolley is operated so that the fixing of a container by the second hoist-ing device can be operated, thus flexibility can be achieved.

If the weight of two 40 feet container exceeds 80 t and the operation of the two 40 feet containers can not be carried out at same time, one of the hoisting devices must be hoisted and fixed to the highest position by the hoisting mechanism, the operation of two 20 feet containers with 60 t weight or a single 40 feet container with 60 t weight may be carried out by the other hoisting device.

As shown in figure 8, a first hoisting wire rope 21 unwinds from the first winding barrel 71 of the first hoisting mecha-nism 7, turns around a first end pulley 22, winds the first hoisting pulley group 5 on the trolley, reaches and winds the first head block pulley group including at least two first head block pulleys 12 and retraces to the first hoisting pul-ley group including at least two first hoisting pulleys 5, fi-nally gets one terminal of the main front girder of the crane and connects to a first turning device including two pulleys 23. A second hoisting wire rope 31 unwinds from the second winding barrel 81 of the second hoisting mechanism 8, turns around a second end pulley 32, winds the second hoisting pulley group including at least two second hoisting pulleys 6 on the trolley, reaches and winds the second head block pul-ley group including at least two second head block pulleys 13 and retraces to the second hoisting pulley group 6 on the trolley, finally gets one terminal of the main front girder of the crane and connects to a second turning device including two pulleys 33.


Figure 9: Exploded perspective view of an embodiment of the sling spool system.

Method and apparatus for managing wire rope slingsPat. 7,918,414 U.S. class 242/588 Int. class B65H 75/00Inventor: Edward W. Davis, Madisonville, LA., Thomas A. Leblanc, Maurice, LA., William H. Hidalgo, Patterson, LA.Assignee: Edward W. Davis, Madisonville, LA., Thomas A. Leblanc, Maurice, LA., William H. Hidalgo, Patterson, LA.

An apparatus for the storing and management of a plural-ity of wire rope slings is presented, such slings being those typically comprised of a length of wire rope having at least one end loop. The apparatus has a base frame upon which is rotatably mounted a sling storage bin. The storage bin has a plurality of arm members that extend from the storage bin for engaging and holding an end loop of a selected wire rope sling. Rotation of the storage bin causes the selected wire rope sling to be coiled around said projecting arms within the storage bin. The apparatus may be provided with pad eyes and forklift tine guides to facilitate its transportation.

Referring now to the drawings and more particularly to figure 9, there is shown an exploded perspective view of sling spool apparatus 10 for managing, storing, and transporting conventional wire rope slings 50. It is contemplated that the wire rope slings 50 would be those comprised of a length of wire rope having a loop 52 at each end as shown though other sling configurations such as those with a loop 52 only at one end of the sling 50 or those with a clevis or hooked end at the ends of the sling 50 rather than a loop might also be utilized with the apparatus 10.

In the embodiment shown in figures 9 and 10, a substan-tially horizontally orientated sling storage plate 20 is rotat-ably mounted upon a substantially horizontally orientated base frame 30 to form a bin assembly 21. As can be seen in figures 10-12, the sling storage plate 20 has at least one and preferably two pair of substantially vertically projecting



Figure 11: Plan view of the embodiment of the sling spool base depicted in figure 9.

Figure 10: Perspective view of the embodiment of the sling spool bin depicted in figure 9 with slings in place.

Figure 12: Elevation view of the embodiment of the sling spool bin.

Figure 13: Plan view of the embodiment of the sling spool base.

posts or sling retainers 22. Each projecting sling retainer 22 in each pair of retainers 22 is preferably positioned on the sling storage plate 20 at a location substantially oppo-site from the other projecting retainer 22 in each pair. The projecting sling retainers 22 are positioned and configured to slidably receive and hold the end loops of a typical wire rope sling 50. The sling storage plate 20 may have upwardly extending sidewalls 24 extending around the periphery of the sling storage plate 20 to form a bin area 26 for retaining the stored slings 50.

The sling storage plate 20 may also have a substantially centrally orientated bushing 32 for receiving a vertically extending axle post 34 mounted substantially centrally on the base frame 30 about which sling storage plate rotates. A bearing assembly 36, such a ball thrust bearing, is po-sitioned between the based frame 30 and the sling storage plate 20 to facilitate such rotation. The sling storage plate 20 may also be further supported on the base frame 30 by a plurality of casters or rollers 28, shown in figures 9, 13 and 14 to further provide means for facilitating the spinning or rotating of the sling storage plate 20 about the axle post 34 on the base frame 30. The sling storage plate may also be provided with lifting eyes 46 for inserting a hook or clevis to provide means for lifting the sling storage plate for its place-ment onto or off of the base frame 30.

Wire rope slings 50 such as those depicted in figures 9 and 10 are loaded on the sling spool for storage, one sling at a

time, by placing a selected end loop 52 of each sling 50 over a selected sling retainer 22. The sling 50 is then retained or held on the sling retainer by means of the end loop 52 and the retainer 22. To start the loading process, one of the end loops 52 of a first sling 50 is placed over one of the extending sling retainers 22. Then the sling storage plate 20 is rotated as a worker “walks” or wraps the length of wire rope on the sling 50 around the other extending sling retainers 22. The remaining end of the first sling is then positioned on the storage plate 20 within the bin 26 to complete the storage of that sling 50. The next sling 50 to be stored is preferably then be started so that its first end loop 52 is placed over the sling retainer 22 on the opposite side from the sling retainer 22 where the first loop of the previous sling was started with


the above rotating process repeated for this second and any subsequent sling 50. The process is repeated until a desired quantity of slings 50 is placed on the sling spool 10.

Slings 50 are removed from the sling spool 10 one at a time in a manner opposite to that utilized in placing the slings on the sling spool. A loop from the top sling 50 on the sling spool 10 is removed from its corresponding retainer 22 and pulled to rotate the sling storage plate 20 to unwind the sling 50 from around the extending sling retainers 22 on the sling spool 10. The remaining loop of the sling 50 is then removed from its corresponding retainer 22 and the process is repeat-ed until the desired numbers of slings 50 is removed.

Only two workers are typically utilized to place and re-move slings 50 from the sling spool 10, one to spin the sling



Figure 15: Perspective view showing a configuration of a rotation and extension/retraction link mechanism.

Figure 14: Cross-section view of the base and bin combination of the sling spool system.

distance corresponding to an angle of the rotation.Figure 15 is a perspective view showing a configuration

of a rotation and extension/retraction link mechanism ac-cording to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 16 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a main portion of the rotation and extraction/retraction link mecha-nism in the embodiment of the present invention in a state before the rotation and extension/retraction link mechanism makes a rotation movement. Figure 17 is an exploded per-spective view of figure 16, and figure 16 is a diagram used for explaining an operation in the embodiment in figure 18. Figure 19 shows a perspective view and a plan view showing driven states of the embodiment shown in figure 16.

Referring to these drawings, reference numeral 1 indi-cates the rotation and extension/retraction link mechanism in the embodiment of the present invention. This rotation and extension/retraction link mechanism 1 is constructed so that a first link 5 having a first virtual center line 3 and a second link 9 having a second virtual center line 7 are coupled through a rotation and extension/retraction joint mechanism 11. The first link 5 and the second link 9 are members that are constrained by the rotation extension/re-traction joint mechanism 11, coupled to each other through the rotation and extension/retraction joint mechanism 11, and operate in conjunction with each other. While the first link 5 and the second link 9 are formed from a metal mate-rial, these may be formed from a plastic material having du-rability. The first virtual center line 3 and the second virtual

storage plate 20 and one to handle the sling 50. The workers may rotate the jobs as slings 50 are added or removed from the sling spool 10. However, the device may be utilized with only one worker if necessary.

Rotation and extension/retension link mechanismPat. 7,926,370 U.S. class 74/22R Int. class F16H 21/00Inventor: Ichiro Kawabuchi, Tokyo, JP., Susumu Tachi, Tsu-kuba, JP., Naoaki Kawakami, Tottori, JP.Assignee: Ichiro Kawabuchi, Tokyo, JP.

A rotation and extension/retraction link mechanism which realizes a rotary joint having a virtual rotation axis is pro-vided. A rotation and extension/retraction link mechanism 1 is configured so that a first link 5 having a first virtual center line 3 and a second link 9 having a second virtual center line 7 are coupled through a rotation and extension/retraction joint mechanism 11. The rotation and extension/retraction joint mechanism 11 is configured to couple the first link 5 and the second link 9 so that when the second virtual center line 7 rotates relative to the first virtual center line 3 from a state where the first virtual center line 3 entirely overlaps with the second virtual center line 7, while crossing the first virtual center line 3, an intersection between the first vir-tual center line 3 and the second virtual center line 7 is dis-placed on the first virtual center line 3 by a predetermined


Figure 18: Diagram used for explaining an operation of the embodiment in figure 16.

Figure 19: Perspective view and a plan view illustrating driven states of the embodiment shown in figure 16.

Figure 17: Exploded perspective view of figure 16.

Figure 16: Perspective view showing a configuration of a main portion of the rotation and extension/retraction link mechanism in a state before the rotation and extension/retraction link mechanism makes a rotation movement.

center line 7 mean the center lines assumed to be located in-side the first link 5 and the second link 9, respectively. Spe-cifically, when the first link 5 and the second link 9 entirely overlap with each other, these center lines entirely overlap with each other as well. When the first link 5 and the second link 9 are orthogonal to each other, these center lines are orthogonal to each other as well.

In this rotation and extension/retraction link mechanism 1, when the second virtual center line 7 of the second link 9 rotates relative to the first virtual center line 3 of the first link 5 from a state in which the first virtual center line 3 entirely overlaps with the second virtual center line 7, while the second virtual center line 7 is crossing the first virtual

center line 3, an intersection 13 between the first virtual center line 3 and the second virtual center line 7 moves. That is, the rotation and extension/retraction link mecha-nism 1 is configured to couple the first link 5 and the second link 9 in such a manner that the second link 9 rotates rela-tive to the first link 5 while this intersection 13 moves on the first virtual center line 3 just by a predetermined distance according to a rotation angle of the second link 9.

Herein, the intersection 13 between the first virtual center line 3 and the second virtual center line 7 means a point at which the first virtual center line 3 and the second virtual center line 7 cross each other when the first link 5 and the second link 9 operate in conjunction with each other. In this case, when the second link 9 rotates relative to the first link 5, the intersection 13 moves on the first virtual center line 3 just by the predetermined distance corresponding to the rotation angle of the second link. Alternatively, in the em-bodiment of the present invention, through the rotation and


extension/retraction joint mechanism 11, the first link 5 and the second link 9 mutually rotate about respective virtual axes of rotation (virtual centers of rotation) for which no real structural members are present.

The embodiment of the present invention shown in figure 15 further includes a driving force applying mechanism 35 which generates at least one driving force among a driving force that causes the first sector gear 25 to roll relative to the first rack gear 23, a driving force that causes the first sector gear 25 to linearly move along the first virtual cen-ter line 3, a driving force that causes the second sector gear

29 to roll relative to the second rack gear 27, and a driving force that causes the second sector gear 29 to linearly move along the second virtual center line 7. This driving force ap-plying mechanism 35 is provided to drive the rotation and extension/retraction link mechanism 1. This embodiment includes a common shaft 37 with an axis line thereof located at an intersection between the first virtual center line 3 and the second virtual center line 7, which vertically extends with respect to the virtual plane 31 and rotatably passes through the first sector gear 25 and the second sector gear 29, a driving wire rope 41 which passes over a pulley 39 supported by the common shaft 37 and extends both along the first virtual center line 3 and the second virtual center line 7, a rope winding device 43 which winds up the driving rope 41, and a rope tension generating mechanism 45 which adjustably generates tension of the driving rope 41.

The pulley 39 is the pulley over which the driving rope 41 is wound and rotates about the common shaft 37. The rope winding device 43 and the rope tension generating mech-anism 45 use a motor as a driving source not particularly shown as a driving source. The driving source is not limited

The Fastest and Most Reliable Method of SwagingFlemish Eye Wire Rope Slings in the World.

In Stock for Immediate DeliveryWorldwide

Toll Free: 1-877-ONE-PRESS phone: 905-778-1960e-mail: [email protected] fax: 905-775-1424

www.onepress.com

C.S. OSBORNE & CO.129 Jersey Street. Harrison, NJ 07029 U.S.A.

Phone 973-483-3232 Fax 973-484-3621Email: [email protected] Web: www.csosborne.com

MARLIN SPIKES

For more information please contact:

MADE IN U.S.A.

Manufactured from HIGH GRADE CARBON STEEL, carefully HARD-ENED and TEMPERED for strength and durability. HAND POLISHED to last for years. PROPER FLATTENED POINTS for easy insertion.

Also available in 30”, 36”, 42” & 48” long.

Available sizes (inches)

4” 6” 8” 10” 12”14” 16” 18” 20” 24”

Osborne No. 276

Special custom sizes upon request.

Pro

per

Fla

ttene

d po

ints


Figure 20: Elevation view of a movable partition.


to the motor. A leading end of the driving rope 41 pulled out from the rope winding device 43 is fixed to one of the first link 5 and the second link 9. Tension is given to the driving rope 41 by being wound up by the rope winding device 43 and by the rope tension output generating mechanism 45. The driving force that causes the first sector gear 25 to lin-early move along the first virtual center line 3 and the driv-ing force that causes the second sector gear 29 to linearly move along the second virtual center line 7 can be thereby both generated.

In the driving force applying mechanism 35 including the rope tension generating mechanism 45 described above, the driving rope 41 cannot be pulled out unless an external force works. Then, a return mechanism which always generates a force for relatively rotating the first virtual center line 3 and the second virtual center line 7 is provided between the first link 5 and the second link 9. In this embodiment, a spring 47 is employed as the return mechanism. When the spring 47 is employed as described above, the driving force apply-ing mechanism 35 can give tension necessary for winding up or pulling out the driving rope 41 to the driving rope 41, and can further prevent a deflection of the driving rope 41. Accordingly, rigidity can be given to the rotation and exten-sion/retraction link mechanism.

Lateral restraint for a movable partition, movable partitions incorporating same and related methodsPat. 7,926,538 U.S. class 160/84.08 Int. class E06B 9/06Inventor: W. Michael Coleman, Salt Lake City, UT.Assignee: Won-Door Corporation, Salt Lake City, UT.

Methods and apparatuses are disclosed for laterally re-straining a movable partition. In one embodiment, a movable

partition includes two laterally spaced structures wherein each structure includes a plurality of hingedly coupled pan-els. A lateral restraint mechanism is located and configured to prevent lateral displacement of one or both of the two laterally spaced structures. In one embodiment, a cable is disposed between and extends from along the lower edge of the two laterally spaced structures. The cable is maintained in tension, at least while the partition is in a deployed con-dition, to prevent or minimize the lateral displacement of one or both of the structures such as when a draft or other external force acts on the structures. In one embodiment, the cable may be operatively associated with one or more


Figure 21: Plan view of the movable partition.

Figure 22: Perspective view of a movable partition.

Various means may be used to displace the partition 100 from a stowed condition to a deployed condition and vice versa. For example, depending on the intended use of the partition 100, it may be displaced manually (i.e., by an indi-vidual pushing or pulling it along the track 112). In another embodiment, an appropriate actuator may be used to dis-place the partition 100. For example, a drive may include a motor 122 coupled to a pulley or gear 123 configured to drive a transmission member such as a belt or chain 124. In one embodiment of the present invention, a wire cable 126 may be coupled to the drive belt or chain 124 as a component of a lateral restraint mechanism.

A portion of the belt or chain 124 may be coupled to a trol-ley 125 that is configured to ride along the track 112. The trolley 125 may be coupled to a component of the partition 100 such as, for example, the lead post 114. Thus, actuation of the motor 122 and belt or chain 124 in a first direction results in displacement of the trolley 125 and lead post 114 so that the partition may be deployed. Actuation of the mo-tor 122 and belt or chain 124 in a second direction results in displacement of the trolley 125 and lead post 114 so that the partition may be retracted.

Additionally, while not specifically shown, various sensors and switches may be employed in association with such a drive to assist in the control of the partition 100. For exam-ple, as shown in figure 20, when used as a fire door, the par-tition 100 may include a switch or actuator 128, commonly referred to as “panic hardware.” Actuation of the panic hard-ware 128 allows a person located on one side of the partition 100 (e.g., in room 110A) to cause the partition 100 to open if it is closed, or to stop while it is closing, so as to provide access through the barrier formed by the partition 100 for a predetermined amount of time.

A lateral restraint mechanism 130 is operatively associ-ated with the partition 100 to minimize or prevent lateral displacement of a lower edge 132 of the first structure 118A,

drive components used to displace the movable partition. In another embodiment, the cable may be coupled to a take-up mechanism.

Referring to figures 20-22, an elevation view, a plan view and a perspective view are shown, respectively, of a movable partition 100. It is noted that in figure 22, various portions of certain structures or components are partially sectioned for sake of clarity and simplicity in showing various aspects of the described embodiment. In the example shown in figures 20 and 21, the partition 100 may be in the form of a fold-ing door. In certain embodiments, the partition 100 may be used, for example, as a security door, a fire door or as both. In other embodiments, the partition need not be utilized as a fire or security door, but may be used simply for the subdi-viding of a larger space into smaller rooms or areas.

The partition 100 may be formed with a plurality of panels 102 that are connected to one another with hinges or other hinge-like structures 104 in an alternating pattern of panel 102/hinge structure 104. The hinged connection of the indi-vidual panels 102 enables the panels to fold relative to each other in an accordion manner such that the partition 100 may be compactly stored, such as in a pocket 106 formed in a wall 108A of a building when the partition is in a retracted or folded state.

When in a deployed state, the partition 100 may extend from one wall 108A to a second wall 108B to act as a barrier (e.g., a fire or security barrier) or to divide one area or room into multiple rooms 110A and 110B. When it is desired to deploy the partition 100 from a stowed condition to an ex-tended position, for example, to secure an area during a fire, the partition 100 may be motivated along an overhead track 112 (see figure 22) across the space to provide an appropri-ate barrier. When in a deployed or an extended state, a lead-ing edge of the partition 100, shown as a male lead post 114, may complementarily engage with a jamb or door post 116 that may be formed in a wall 108B of a building.

As best seen in figure 21, the partition 100 may include a first barrier or structure 118A and a second barrier or struc-ture 118B, each including a plurality of panels 102 coupled with one another by way of hinges or hinge-like structures 104. The second structure 118B is laterally spaced from the first structure 118A. Such a configuration may be utilized as a fire door wherein one structure (e.g., structure 118A) acts as a primary fire and smoke barrier, the space 120 between the two structures 118A and 118B acts as an insulator or a buffer zone, and the another structure (e.g., structure 118B) acts as a secondary fire and smoke barrier. Such a configu-ration may also be useful in providing an acoustical barrier when the partition is used to subdivide a larger space into multiple, smaller rooms.




the second structure 118B or both. In one embodiment, the lateral restraint mechanism 130 may include a cable 126, as previously mentioned, having one end thereof coupled to the lead post 114 and another end thereof coupled to a portion of the drive belt or drive chain 124.

The wire cable 126 extends between the lead post 114 and a first redirect structure or mechanism 134 such as, for ex-ample, a pulley or a static guide, located at a longitudinal end of the partition 100 opposite that of the lead post 114 (e.g., in or adjacent the door pocket 106, if a door pocket is being used). In one embodiment, the portion of the cable 126 extending between the door post 114 and the redirect mech-anism 134 may also be disposed between, and extend sub-stantially parallel to, the first and second structures 118A and 118B such that it is substantially concealed from a user after installation and during conventional operation of the partition 100.

Another portion of the cable 126 extends from the first re-direct mechanism 134 to a second redirect mechanism 136, which may be located near the overhead track 112 such as, for example, near the motor 122. Again, the redirect mecha-nism 136 may include a dynamic mechanism, such as a pul-ley, or a static mechanism, such as an eyelet, a bent channel or some other similar structure. Yet another portion of the cable 126 extends from the second redirect mechanism 136 in a direction substantially parallel with the drive belt or drive chain 124 and has a portion thereof, such as at or near its end, coupled to a portion of the drive belt or drive chain 124.

Powered rope ascender and portable rope pulling devicePat. 7,934,698 U.S. class 254/371 Int. class B66D 1/30Inventor: Nathan Ball, Cambridge, MA., Timothy Fofonoff, Cambridge, MA., Bryan Schmid, Boston, MA., Daniel Walk-er, Cambridge, MA.Assignee: Atlas Devices, LLC., Boston, MA.

A device for pulling an elongate member includes a rota-tional motor having an output and a rotating drum connect-ed to the output of the rotational motor. The device further includes a guide mechanism for guiding the resilient elon-gate element onto, around at least a portion of the circumfer-ence of, and off of, the rotating drum. When the rotational motor turns the rotating drum, the rotating drum thereby continuously pulls the resilient elongate element through the device.

Referring now to figure 23, a device 100 of the invention for pulling a resilient elongate element such as a cable or a rope 114 is illustrated diagrammatically. The device in-cludes a rotational motor 102 from which the pulling motion of the device is derived. A number of different types of mo-tors, such as two or four stroke internal combustion engines, or ac or dc powered electric motors, could be employed to

provide the rotational motion desired for pulling the rope or cable. A motor power source 104 can also be included that is appropriate to the rotational motor used, such as gasoline or other petroleum products, a fuel cell, or elec-trical energy supplied in ac (such as from a power outlet in a typical building) or dc (such as from a battery) form. In one preferred embodiment, the rotational motor is a dc electric motor and the motor power source is one or more

Figure 25: Front view of the device shown in figure 24.

Figure 24: isometric view showing a motor, batteries, handle, rotating drum, guiding rollers, safety clamp, tensioning roller and clip-in attachment point.

Figure 23: Diagrammatic view of a device of the powered rope ascender.

rechargeable lithium ion batteries.The rotational motor can also have speed control 106 and/

or a gearbox 108 associated with it to control the speed and torque applied by the rotational motor to the task of pulling a rope. These elements can be integrated into a single, con-trollable, motor module, be provided as separate modules,


Figure 26: Side view of the device shown in figure 24.

or be provided in some combination thereof. In one embodi-ment, speed control elements can be provided integrally with a dc rotational motor, while a separate, modular gearbox is provided so that the gearing, and thus the speed and torque characteristics of the rope pulling device, can be altered as desired by swapping the gears.

A rotating drum 110 is connected to the rotational motor, either directly or through a gearbox (if one is present). It is the rotating drum, generally in the manner of a capstan, that applies the pulling force to the rope that is pulled through the device 116. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the rotating drum provides anisotropic friction gripping 112 of the rope. In particular, in a preferred embodiment, the surface of the rotating drum has been treated so that large friction forces are created in the general direction of the pull-ing of the rope (substantially around the circumference of the drum), and smaller friction forces are created longitu-dinally along the drum so that the rope can slide along the length of the drum with relative ease.

A rope or cable is referenced in figure 23. The device of the present invention is intended to be able to pull any elongate resilient element that can withstand a tension. Cables and ropes are the most common of these, but the invention is not meant to be limited by the reference to ropes or cables. A pre-ferred embodiment of a rope pulling device 100 of the inven-tion is shown in figures 24 (Isometric view), 25 (front view) and 26 (side view). In this embodiment, rotational motor 4 ap-plies rotational power to rotating drum 8 via gearbox 6. Bat-teries 3 apply necessary power to motor 4. A rope handling mechanism guides a rope to and from the rotating drum. In particular, rope 21 enters through rope guide 1 and continues through safety clamp 2. The rope is further guided tangential-ly onto the rotating drum 8 by a pulley 7 and rotating guide

15. Once the rope is on the drum 8 it is guided around the drum 8 by the rollers 9 (and non-labeled adjacent rollers). On the last turn, the rope passes between the tensioning roller 10 and the drum 8. A user attaches to the device, such as by a tether, at attachment point 11.

As noted above, the operation of a rope pulling device of the invention can be aided by designing the surface of the rotating drum 8 to have anisotropic friction properties. In particular, the drum can be designed to have a high friction coefficient in a direction substantially about its circumfer-ence and a lower friction coefficient in a substantially longi-tudinal direction. In the embodiment illustrated in figures 24 through 26, the surface of the drum is provided with lon-gitudinal splines to create this anisotropic friction effect.

A preferred embodiment of such a splined drum is shown in figure 27. In this embodiment, a cylinder, preferably con-structed of aluminum or another lightweight metal or ma-terial, is extruded to include the illustrated longitudinal splines. More specifically, the rotating drum 8 embodiment of figure 27 can include longitudinal shaped-shaped splines 12 and a hole for a shaft with a keyway cutout 14. Forming the longitudinal splines as shaped features angled into the direction of motion of the rotating drum 8 further enhances the friction between the rope and the drum. A person skilled in the art will recognize that the drum of figure 27 is one preferred embodiment and that other features or methods of manufacture can be used to create the desired anisotropic friction effect. Weight-reducing holes 13 can also be utilized to minimize weight of the entire device.

Returning now to figures 24-26 to further describe the fea-tures and operation of this embodiment of a rope pulling de-vice of the invention, rope 21 enters the device through the clip-in rope guide 1. As illustrated, a solid loop is provided,

Figure 27: Close-up profile and isometric view of the rotating drum.



however, the rope guide 1 is preferably a carabineer-type clip into which the rope is pushed, rather than having to thread the rope through by its end. The rope then passes through the safety clamp 2, which allows rope to only move through the device in the tensioning direction.

In the case that rope is pulled backward through the de-vice by any means, the safety clamp 2 grips the rope and pinches it against the adjacent surface. The handle on the safety clamp 2 allows a user to manually override that safe-ty mechanism, by releasing the self-help imposed clamping force which the clamp applies to the rope against the body of the device. The safety clamp 2 is simply one as used in sailing and rock climbing, and uses directionally gripping surfaces along a continuously increasing radius to apply a stop-clamping force proportional to the rope tension which squeezes the rope against its guide.

Hydraulic elevation apparatus and methodPat. 7,934,889 U.S. class 406/197 Int. class B65G 53/00Inventor: Ross Guenther, Penn Valley, CA.Assignee: Ross Guenther, Penn Valley, CA.

In various embodiments, a method for transporting objects within a multiple chamber framework may include loading objects into a transport container, elevating the container in a delivery chamber and lowering the container in a return chamber. Preferably, fluid elevation is employed to elevate object transport containers and their contents within the de-livery chamber. Such methods may be utilized in vertical or incline lifting environments, and an auxiliary chamber may be incorporated into the multiple chamber framework for use as an alternative to, or in conjunction with, elevating objects by employing fluid elevation. The auxiliary chamber may be laterally disposed to the delivery chamber or the re-turn chamber.

In a first embodiment of the present invention, the hy-draulic elevation apparatus is used in a vertical lifting envi-

Figure 30: Side view of a hatch and seal.

Figure 31: Perspective view of a transport container.

ronment which may be either below ground or above ground. The chamber framework internally disposed within a single shaft structure includes a tripartite cavity structure, which incorporates a vertically positioned cavity creating a re-turn chamber, a vertically positioned cavity creating a de-livery chamber, and a vertically positioned cavity creating an auxiliary hoist chamber. The return and auxiliary hoist chambers are laterally positioned on either side of the deliv-ery chamber. Empty, collapsed or filled transport contain-ers may be lowered within the return chamber via a wire rope hoist or similar device. In the auxiliary hoist chamber, multiple empty transport containers may be returned si-multaneously in one hoisting cycle by employing collapsible, stacked, or tapered containers fitting inside each other.

Elevation apparatus 10 of the present invention employs fluid to elevate animate or inanimate objects from beneath the earth’s surface or from one elevation above the earth’s surface to another elevation within preferably at least one single shaft elevation structure 20, which may be positioned downward into the earth’s interior, or positioned above the earth’s surface. Shaft elevation structure 20 incorporates an internally disposed chamber framework 30 by which objects are transported within shaft elevation structure 20. Shaft elevation structure 20 is typically a single shaft structure, but may consist of multiple shaft structures incorporating chamber framework 30. Chamber framework 30 may be con-structed within shaft elevation structure 20 by various shaft rehabilitation techniques, and may be incorporated into ex-isting shaft structures. Chamber framework 30 may alterna-tively be constructed within newly drilled shaft structures.

Figures 28 and 29 depict preferred embodiments of eleva-tion apparatus 10 in a vertical lifting orientation. Figure 28 shows the first embodiment of elevation apparatus 10 employing a chamber framework 30 comprising a tripartite cavity structure 32 positioned within shaft elevation struc-ture 20. Tripartite cavity structure 32 of chamber frame-work 30 includes a return chamber 40, a transport container



Figure 28: Perspective view showing a multiple chamber single shaft structure including a tripartite cavity structure with an auxiliary hoist chamber.

Figure 29: Perspective view showing a multiple chamber shaft structure including a dual cavity structure.

50, a delivery chamber 60, and an auxiliary hoist chamber 70. Auxiliary hoist chamber 70 may be optionally positioned laterally and adjacent to delivery chamber 60. A surface hoist 72 comprising a pulley mechanism 74, an operatively attached transport container 76 is employed within auxil-iary hoist chamber 70 as an optional lifting mechanism to transport objects within chamber framework 30.

Figure 29 shows the second embodiment of the elevation apparatus 10 employing a chamber framework 30 compris-ing a dual cavity structure 34 positioned within shaft el-evation structure 20. Dual cavity structure 34 of chamber framework 30 includes a return chamber 40, a transport container 50, and a delivery chamber 60. As depicted in fig-ure 29, transport container 50 may be lowered within return chamber 40 via a hoist, pulley, or similar such mechanism. Return chamber 40 includes a lower section 42, operatively positioned in relation to a transport channel 44. The out-

wardly extended top portion of transport channel 44 is con-nected to bin 46, which stores material to be elevated within chamber framework 30. Transport channel 44 is operatively positioned to engage transport container 50, which travels within return chamber 40 and delivery chamber 60.

As shown in figures 30 and 31, transport container 50 is constructed with a top end hatch 52 and a bottom end hatch (not shown). Transport container 50 may be rectangular or cylindrical in shape, constructed in a collapsible form, or otherwise suitably fitted to facilitate vertical or horizontal movement within chamber framework 30. Transport con-tainer 50 may be constructed from an array of durable mate-rials conducive to airtight sealing and elevation by flotation, including plastic, synthetic polymers, polymer blends and the like, and metals, all characterized by imperviousness to rugged use and inert both to the materials being transported and its environs. Transport container 50 may include rein-forcing ribs 51 interiorly and/or exteriorly disposed. Where transport container 50 is configured to be flexible, it is con-templated to compress parallel to its long axis but may com-press transverse thereto. Durable elastomers, preferably re-inforced with fiber characterized by resistance to chafe and distention include, by way of example, but not limitation: kevlar, boron graphite, fiberglass coated with rubber, neo-prene, hypalon, and pvc. WRN



Certified Slings & Supply names Eric Parkerson to new position of General Manager of Operations

Certified Slings & Supply has pro-moted Eric Parkerson to the newly created position of General Manager of Operations. In his new role Park-erson will be responsible for the daily operations and management of the company’s seven service center loca-tions. Reporting to Mr. Parkerson will be the company’s Service Cen-ter Leaders. Additionally, Parkerson

Eric Parkerson

sales and financing, and launching new products in their rental division. Throughout his career, he has held management roles with various Lou-isiana-based construction and distri-bution organizations. “We’re excited Joe has joined the Spider team,” states John Sotiroff, Vice President Sales & Distribution. “Joe’s impres-sive work in Louisiana’s offshore rigging and construction markets fits well with Spider’s reputation for the reliable, trusted solutions we provide our Gulf customers. Joe will deliver a first rate experience for Spider customers.”

Media Contact: Heidi Krueger – Marketing Specialist [email protected].

About Spider: Founded in 1947, Spider, a division of SafeWorks, cre-ated the powered suspended access business by introducing the well-known Spider basket. Since then, our product and service offering has expanded greatly to serve the needs of an ever-growing marketplace. Spi-der is the largest manufacturer and distributor of access and safety solu-tions in North America, serving more customers from more locations with a wider variety of products and ser-vices than any other company. From baskets, traction hoist and platform rental, to safety and training, to spe-cialty-engineered products - Spider has a strong team of professionals, along with an international network of sales, service and support capabili-ties to provide you with the most reli-able access solutions available.

Bilco promotes Alex Meder to new postion

It is with extreme pleasure that The Bilco Group announces the pro-motion of Alex Meder to Purchasing/Inventory Control Manager effective immediately.

Alex has been with The Bilco Group for 2 years “learning the ropes” start-ing in our sling and web divisions and most recently heading up our new computer system.

C.E.O. Barry I. Lemberg states, “Alex is second generation, enthusi-astic and eager to accept any chal-lenge he has taken on”.

Alex is a graduate of Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN, single and currently resides in Hoboken, New Jersey.

We all wish him much success!Joe McCoy

(QHSE) Quality, Health, Safety and Environment committee projects. He is also an active member of the (WST-DA) Web Sling Tie Down Association Technical Committee for Testing. Most recently he completed courses and is a Certified ISO-9001 Internal Auditor.

Parkerson has a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University and a Mas-ters Degree in Organizational Man-agement from St. Joseph College.

About Certified Slings, Inc.: Es-tablished in 1958, Certified Slings & Supply is an award winning manufac-turer and distributor in the State of Florida. Products include: wire rope, chain and nylon web slings, safety and fall protection equipment, overhead lifting and hoisting assemblies, cargo tie downs, excavator/drag line buck-ets and replacement parts. Certified Slings is a Slingmax® Rigging Solu-tions Dealer with locations in Tampa, Casselberry, Fort Myers, Miami, Or-lando, West Palm Beach and Ocala.

Spider hires Joe McCoy as District Sales Representative – New Orleans

Spider, a division of SafeWorks, LLC, recently hired Joe McCoy as District Sales Representative for its New Orleans location. In the Louisi-ana/Mississippi territory, Joe is re-sponsible for solving the suspended access and safety challenges of con-tractors and facility owners in energy, oil & gas, infrastructure, O&M and construction end markets. Joe comes to Spider from Halo Equipment, LLC, an offshore rigging products supplier, where he most recently served as vice president, overseeing all operations,

will continue to lead and be actively involved in the technical (engineer-ing) and quality (ISO-9001-2008) as-pects for the company. Parkerson was previously Director of Engineering & Quality Systems for Certified Slings & Supply, a position he held for the past five years.

“We are excited about being able to find the best qualified candidate for this important position from our own ranks” said Doug Worswick, CEO of Certified Slings & Supply. “It shows to all of our team members that there are additional opportunities at our company if you are willing to work hard and learn by your experience.”

Eric Parkerson has used his expe-rience and previous positions to fur-ther his value for the company by becoming a member of the (AWRF) Association of Wire Rope Fabricators Technical Board and is the Quality Representative of the Associations



Loos & Company announces the Loosco Stretch Calculator iPhone/iPad app

The LoosCo Stretch Calculator is the first release in the Loos Mechanicals line of mobile applications designed to assist the wire rope and aircraft cable professional in the field. The Stretch Calculator application provides real time wire rope and aircraft cable elas-tic stretch estimates based on construc-tion, diameter, length and load inputs provided by the user. According to the company release, the application al-lows you to calculate the estimated stretch of your assembly or sling right in the palm of your hand.

The LoosCo Stretch Calculator ap-plication is based on the popular down-load available on www.loosco.com, and is available for both the iPhone and iPad. The calculator provides the fol-lowing features:

•Elastic Stretch estimates for 1x7, 1x19, 7x7, 7x19, 6x19, 6x37 Construc-tions Elastic Stretch estimates for Stainless and Galvanized Steel

•Elastic Stretch estimates for Cable Diameters 1/64” to 1-1/4”

You can download your free install-ment of the LoosCo Stretch Calculator on our website, www.loosco.com, by clicking on the “Downloads” link. Se-lect “Mobile Phone Applications” and you will be taken to the official LoosCo Stretch Calculator iTunes page. Com-ing this spring for Android OS.

For questions concerning the down-load and use of the new LoosCo Stretch Calculator, contact Robert Davis by calling 860-630-4248.

Loos & Co., Inc. is the world’s lead-ing manufacturer of Military Specifica-tion Aircraft Cable and Aircraft Cable assemblies. Loos has over 50 years of experience in the cable industry and supplies flight control assemblies to all major aircraft manufacturers. Refer to our website (www.loosco.com) for a complete listing of capabilities, includ-ing: Stainless Steel and Specialty Alloy Wire and Wire Products, Aircraft Ca-ble, Wire Rope, and Military and Com-mercial Cable Assemblies.

Platforms lift the worker to the work

Having built a reputation as the in-dustry authority in the supply of ergo-nomic lift tables and tilters that bring work to the worker, Southworth Prod-ucts Corp announces the availability of worker platforms that bring the worker to the work.

For assembly or maintenance opera-tions where large structures, such as aircraft or heavy equipment, must be accessed at elevated or varying heights, Southworth now offers custom-con-figured lifts that can be designed into most production lines. Offering more flexibility and safety than scaffolding or ladders, these worker platforms are also appropriate for stock picking from higher shelves, such as the vertically stacked compartments of storage car-ousels, according to a company release.

With the industry’s largest, most experienced engineering staff, South-worth designs stable scissor lifts in sta-tionary or movable configurations and in a multitude of platform sizes and lifting ranges, working with the cus-tomer to accommodate budgetary limi-tations as well as unique, application-specific requirements.

Options include custom controls; soft start/stop; indexed lifting and lower-

attachments, according to a company release. It can be operated left-handed or right-handed, and the operator can operate the chain hoist and accurately guide the load with one hand.

A quick-disconnect coupling allows any variety of load handling attach-ments to be attached and detached quickly and easily. A universal cou-pling pin is used to accommodate Demag and customer-designed attach-ments. For added versatility, Manulift load handling attachments can also be used with Demag’s DC-Pro line of chain hoists with an easy-to-install adapter.

The DCM-Pro Manulift is available in two models and features load ca-pacities of 275 lbs. or 550 lbs. and lift heights of 9 and 14 feet respectively. The hoists are easily integrated into Demag KBK crane kit profile sections and I-beams.

About Demag Cranes and Com-ponents

Demag Cranes & Components based in Cleveland, OH, a subsidiary of Demag Cranes AG, is a world class manufacturer of high quality indus-trial cranes and components, electric chain and wire rope hoists, and load handling attachments and accessories for material handling flow, logistics and industrial drive applications. The company offers a complete range of ser-vices and support programs including replacement parts, maintenance and refurbishment.

Thern introduces ATLAS II Worm Gear Power Winch with 2-Ton load capacity for industrial applications

Industrial operators around the world choose Thern winches for their

ing; slide-out sections that increase platform size when necessary; fold-down safety gates and handrails; cus-tom deck treatments (non-skid, anti-static, etc.); and bellows skirting that keeps dust, debris, and moisture out of the lift mechanism.

For more information, contact Brian E. McNamara, president, Southworth Products Corp, P.O. Box 1380, Port-land, ME 04104-1380, TEL: (207) 878-0700, FAX: (207) 797-4734, e-mail: [email protected], www.SouthworthProducts.com.

DCM-Pro Manulift Electric Chain Hoist designed for fast, safe one handed operation

Demag’s DCM-Pro Manulift electric chain hoist is designed to handle loads quickly and safely with just one hand. Based on Demag’s workhorse DC-Pro electric chain hoist, the DCM-Pro in-cludes a DSM-C control unit that is securely connected to the hoist with a helical cable, and is then rigidly con-nected to a variety of load handling

working file 2/2/06 8:59 PM Page 14


continued from page 76applications for the capability, dura-bility, and reliability they provide. According to the company release, the ATLAS II power winch is designed as a versatile option for industrial opera-tors and OEMs.

Built compact and lightweight, it fea-tures an impressive 2-ton load capacity for handling small- and medium-sized loads and a durable cast aluminum body. Machine cut gearing operates in an enclosed oil bath, reducing wear and extending operating life. The ATLAS II is well suited for lifting applications, with an internal load holding mechani-cal brake. And worksite portability is made easy with lifting handles built onto the frame facilitate easy attach-ment of lifting straps.

Thern portable power winches are designed to deliver the muscle where and when you need it – on the manu-facturing plant floor, in the processing plant, or in the field. For more informa-tion on Thern winches for use in in-

dustrial applications, visit www.thern.com/manufacturing.

Thern, Inc. is a major designer and manufacturer of winches, cranes and hoists for a broad range of water, waste-water, processing and industrial applica-tions. Founded in 1948, Thern is head-quartered in Winona, Minnesota and markets its products worldwide. Learn more about Thern products at www.thern.com or contact us via email at [email protected] or call 1-800-843-7648.

Pipe Coil Technology to manu-facture world’s largest wire rope take-up stand

Pipe Coil Tech-nology Ltd are delighted to have won a contract from Bridon In-ternational for the supply of two wire rope take-up stands, one of which will be the largest of its type in the world with a lift capac-ity of 650 tons.

The stands will form part of a new wire rope closing line which will pro-duce some of the largest wire ropes in the world when it goes into service in 2012. The state-of-the-art facility that Bridon is building on Tyneside will manufacture some of the largest and

most complex ropes in the world, and will further cement the company’s po-sition as a global technology leader, according to a company release.

The innovative stand design allows full drums to be loaded and unloaded either directly from the factory floor or from a transport trailer without the need for an overhead crane. This ability, combined with a lightweight design, offers significant operational benefits over the traditional style of large take-up stands used in the wire rope sector and was the primary fac-tor behind Bridon’s selection of PCT

as supplier on this flagship project. Bridon’s Colin Pratt commented “We awarded this contract after a rigor-ous six month tender process, during which PCT clearly demonstrated that their unique and innovative machine solution would meet Bridon’s opera-tional requirements.”

The contract award is a testament to the technical innovation of the PCT design team and the proven ability of the company to deliver high quality, bespoke engineering solutions to global industry leaders in manufacturing sec-tors such as wire rope, sub-sea umbili-cal, power cable and flow-lines.

PCT Ltd is a privately owned com-pany based in Newcastle UK with sub-sidiaries in the USA and China. The company designs and supplies coiling and packaging solutions for flexible products such as plastic pipe, sub-sea umbilical and power cables, flow-lines and steel wire rope.

Bridon International, headquartered in Doncaster UK, operate nine manu-facturing units worldwide with market focused technical and sales offices, sup-ported by global network of agents and distributors.


Please turn to the pages indicated belowfor a detailed view of

advertisers’ products or services.

Advertisers Index

All Material Handling .......................................52

Alps Wire Rope ..............................................46

Associated Wire Rope & Rigging, Inc. .......50, 58

Buffalo Lifting and Testing ..............................67

C. Sherman Johnson Co., Inc. ........................34

Cableway Technical Services ..........................81

Caldwell Company, Inc. ............................30, 84

Chant Engineering Co., Inc. ............................17

Chicago Hardware ..........................................16

Columbus McKinnon ......................................33

The Crosby Group ................................2, 38, 45

Distributor Computer Systems ........................54

Downs Crane & Hoist Co., Inc. .......................69

Elite Sales ......................................................15

Esco Corporation ...........................................24

Gaylin International Co. Pte. Ltd. .....................83

GBG Industries ...............................................18

Holland 1916 .................................................23

Huskie Tools ..................................................55

Ken Forging, Inc. ............................................28

KWS, Inc. .......................................................59

Landmann Wire Rope Products ........................4

Letellier M.H.E. ...............................................77

Lincoln Hoist ..................................................13

Morse-Starrett Products Co. ...........................56

My-Te Products ..............................................57

C.S. Osborne & Co. ........................................69

Pewag ...........................................................51

Quality Marine Hardware ................................19

Renfroe & Sons ................................................3

Rope Block/Sea Link .........................................6

Rud Chain, Inc. ..............................................53

Sea Catch ......................................................78

Sea-land Distributors ..............11, 27, 31, 35, 41

Slingmax Rigging Products ...............................5

Slinguard Protectors .......................................47

Southern Weaving Company ..........................21

Strider~Resource ..........................................57

Suncor Stainless, Inc. .............................. 42-43

Taylor Chain Company ...................................78

Van Beest BV .................................................44

Vanguard .......................................................25

Wichard, Inc. .................................................65

Windy Ridge Corporation ................................59

Wirop Industrial Co., Ltd. ................................29

Yale Cordage ..................................................39

Yoke Industrial Corp. ........................................9


HELP WANTEDLooking for an outside sales person for

wire rope shop and fall protection com-pany. Email resume to [email protected] or email [email protected].

Established rigging shops across the U.S. looking for experienced wire rope splicer. Must be able to manufacture flemish eye slings along with hand splic-ing, both 4 tuck and hidden tuck. Com-petitive wages, and benefits including 401, health, and paid vacation. Reply to: Box 10-02, Wire Rope News & Sling Technology, 511 Colonia Blvd., Colonia, NJ 07067

Seeking to fill and inside customer ser-vice/sales position with at least 3 years in wire rope and rigging hardware sales experience, aggressive and good commu-nication skill, hard working with integ-rity. Our company is located in Southern California and has been in business for 15 years. We offer a competitive salary plus commission. Please fax resume to (909) 548-2884.

Established wire rope distributor in the Mid-Atlantic area is looking for an exp. outside sales representative to cover the Gulf Coast area. Strong background in cranes and wire ropes preferred. Ideal candidate has the ability to establish accounts and build strong business rela-tionships.

Excellent base and commission, comp. vehicle and benefits. Submit qualifica-tions to: [email protected].

Assistant foreman for East Coast’s largest importer & sling shop. We stock wire rope, hardware and mfg web slings. Must be “hands-on” and capable of direct-ing shop personnel. Long term position with all benefits company paid, including profit sharing. The Bilco Group, Bilco-Doran-Shaw, Barry I. Lemberg C.E.O, Phone:(908) 351-7800 Fax: (908) 355-5544, E-mail: [email protected].

We are looking for Sales Rep and Area Sales Manager for US market. YOKE USA, a highly respected brand in Grade 80 chain accessories, aggressively ex-panding its distribution and requires sales personnel. Experience in chain and wire rope sling industries is an asset. Send resume to Steven Hong, President of YOKE GROUP, 12850 Florence Ave., Santa Fe Springs, CA 90670. Fax 562-903-1468 eMail: [email protected].

POSITION AVAILABLESales manager needed for Chicago mar-

ket. Must have strong understanding of wire rope, chain, hardware. Must be able to establish goals and achieve desired re-sults. Computer literate, minimal travel. Salesforce knowledge a plus. Competi-tive salary and benefits. Reply to box 11-4, care of Wire Rope News, 511 Colonia Blvd., Colonia, NJ 07067.

58 year old, well respected rigging com-pany in Southern California, seeking very experienced lead rigger, full time. Must have extensive splicing experience, and management skills. Great pay, excellent benefits and bonuses to the right person. Contact Esaul Mota at 310-834-8535.

Experienced Wire Rope Splicer/Fabri-cator needed. QC21 Lifting Products is seeking quality craftsmanship and shop leadership for our recently relocated wire rope and synthetic operations in Harri-son, OH.

Knowledge of and hands-on ability to fabricate wire rope and chain assemblies, along with ability to direct workflow is required. Only self-starters with a strong work ethic need apply. We offer a smoke/drug-free, results-oriented work environ-ment with excellent wages and benefits.

QC21 Lifting Products is an F&M Mafco, Inc owned company and a leader in the specialty rigging and nylon sling industry. If you are interested in join-ing our team, credentials can be faxed to (513) 202-8820 or e-mail [email protected] or apply online at www.fmmafco.com (under employment tab). EOE/M/F/V/D

Fabrication manager/customer ser-vice. Work in a family oriented business with an opportunity to earn part owner-ship. Need someone 35-55+ years old who started at the bottom and looking to finish at the top. Need hands on splicing experi-ence, lifting rigging experience, test bed knowledge, able to direct small growing crew. Basic computer knowledge. Will-ing to train and mentor young employees. Top wages and benefits for the right indi-vidual. Problem solver that our custom-ers can depend on. Honesty and integrity a must. Call Chuck Farmer, President, Rouster Wire Rope and Rigging, Inc., 304-228-3722, in confidence.

Outside Sales Representative needed for well established family owned busi-ness in Nashville, TN. Contractors & In-dustrial Supply Co., Inc. founded in 1970 is a distributor of wire rope, rigging hard-ware, chain and related industry prod-ucts is expanding our sales team. The qualified individual will possess indus-try knowledge and the ability to develop new accounts and maintain existing. We offer a competitive base salary plus commission and an outstanding benefits package. If qualified, please email your resume with salary history to [email protected].

Outside sales rep. CCISCO of Summer-ville, SC is looking for experienced sales reps for the Carolina & Georgia markets. Computer skills including Microsoft Of-fice and ERP distribution software re-quired. Knowledge of wire rope, rigging, construction and industrial supplies preferred. Traveling required. Company vehicle and expenses along with competi-

tive base salary and commissions. Reply to [email protected].

Established wire rope distributor in North America is expanding into crane/container rope and fabrication. We are looking for an experienced individual that can assist in formulating a market-ing and business plan. This position will eventually evolve to a sales manager or general manager. Fax your resume in strict confidence to 330-452-2331 atten-tion Kris Lee or email to [email protected].

Texas Wire Rope Company expanding inside sales department. Individuals must have a strong technical, mechani-cal and basic mathematical aptitude, including basic computer knowledge. Selected candidates must be quality conscious and able to handle multiple tasks. Previous experience in the indus-trial supply market is necessary. We offer a drug-free, results-oriented work environment with excellent wages and advancement opportunities. Resumes received confidentially at [email protected].

Outside sales representatives needed Southwest WireRope, the heavy-lift divi-sion of Teleflex, Inc, is a well-established distributor / fabricator of wire rope & related products. We are expanding our sales force and looking for experienced Outside Sales Professionals. Our ideal candidate has the ability to establish accounts and build strong business rela-tionships. Knowledge of DCS based com-puter system, a plus.

We offer a competitive base salary and commission program and vehicle allow-ance. Our excellent benefit package in-cludes medical, dental, life, disability, paid vacation and an excellent 401(k) Plan. Relocation packages are available for candidates meeting our eligibility re-quirements. Visit our website at www.swwrinc.com.

If qualified, please fax your resume with salary history to: (713) 453-1677 or e-mail to [email protected].

POSITION WANTEDFormer Division-Product Manager,

Regional Outside Sales Manager desires southeast territory to manage and solicit accounts in the wire rope, chain, fittings, and related industries. Over 25 years experience including District Manager, Bethlehem Wire Rope, Regional Manag-er, Wire Rope Ind Product Manager, Rud Chain, Inc. Interested parties reply to M.E. (Mike) Givens [email protected], ph 256-476-7700.

REPS WANTEDKennedy Wire Rope and Sling Compa-

ny is seeking a qualified inside sales rep-resentative for their South Texas rigging shop located in Corpus Christi, Texas.

continued

CABLEWAY TECHNICALSERVICES GRAVITY

RETURNCall Nielsen

Ocala, FL 24 Hour Fax (904) 342-0547


Only $1 per line. Ads answered through private box numbers, $3 extra.Place stamp on envelope, cut along perforation, fold, tape where indicated and drop in the nearest mail box.If you prefer, send no money now, we’ll bill you later.

(Please type or print clearly)

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NameCompany NameAddressCity State Zip PhoneHeading Ad Is To Appear Under

Please limit each line to 40 characters AND spaces.

Payment enclosed. Please bill us.

Check here and add $3 if you wish to have your ad answered through a private box number.

Published bi-monthly: Dec., Feb., April, June, Aug., Oct. Material must be received by the 20th of month preceding date of publication (e.g. May 20th for the June issue).

Publisher assumes no liability for errors, or, in assigning or forwarding mail for classified advertisers using publication box numbers.

Fax: (1-732) 396-4215

continued

We service various markets locally and globally. Solid sales skills working closely and interacting with customers directly, on the phone and in e-commerce is para-mount. The candidate must have two years experience in sales and marketing of lifting products. Current knowledge of sling manufacturing and field use of rig-ging is very helpful. Basic computer skills are a must. Kennedy Wire Rope and Sling utilizes DCS software. We offer competi-tive salary and insurance benefits.

If you are interested in a challenging and rewarding career opportunity on the Texas Riviera please send a resume to Box 10-01, c/o Wire Rope News & Sling Technology, 511 Colonia Blvd., Colonia NJ 07067.

Sales rep wanted for an established manufacturer of labels and sling tags. We are looking for a sales rep that cur-rently calls on sling makers and rigging companies and is familiar with the busi-ness. Etiflex is a registered trademark and manufactures custom sling tags for synthetic and wire rope slings and has an excellent reputation in the field. We advertise in trade journals and exhibit at industry shows to generate brand aware-ness. Please contact us at [email protected] or call 866-ETIFLEX for information.

Manufacturer Represtentatives for Lifting Equipment & Accessories wanted by ALL MATERIAL HANDLING, Inc. Territories are now available and sup-

ported by our 4 USA Warehouses where our highly competitive and top quality products are stocked to the roof. Partner with us as we continue to grow market share. Check us out at www.allmaterial-handling.com and reach us at 877 543-8264, or e-mail [email protected].

Well established manufacturer of wire rope assemblies seeks manufacturer representatives for most major U.S. and Canadian markets. Visit our web site at www.thecableconnection.com. Please contact [email protected] or call Ray at (800) 851-2961

PROFESSIONAL SERVICESDragline range & depth extended using

gravity return. Contact Nielsen by fax for details (fax) 904-342-0547

INVESTMENT OPORTUNITIESOpportunity for investment by a big wire ropes industry, at the center of Europe, partner for installing wires drawing proj-ect, is sought. Reply by email to box 11-2 at: [email protected].

ACQUISITIONS SOUGHTEstd. Int’l firm seeks to acquire small

to med-sized rigging company on the At-lantic seaboard/Gulf Coast. Flexible. Will consider partial buyout, retaining cur-rent management. Also open to explore mergers, joint ventures or strategic alli-ances in lieu of acquisition. Pelase reply

to [email protected]. Strict confi-dentiality will be exercised.

Company seeks acquisitions – Well es-tablished thirty year old manufacturer of mechanical cable assemblies, controls and related products seeks to acquire small to mid-sized mechanical cable as-sembly manufacturers and specialty pro-ducers of miniature and small diameter strand and cable. The company has the fi-nancial ability to structure a transaction that is responsive to the owner’s needs. Be assured that we will exercise the ap-propriate confidentiality. Interested par-ties may reply in complete confidence to: P.O. Box 168, Oak Ridge, NJ 07438-0168. In lieu of an acquisition, other potential business opportunities to explore include mergers, joint ventures or strategic alli-ances with our company.

EQUIPMENT WANTEDWanted: refurbished/used Esco 500 ton

press in good working order. Please con-tact [email protected] or tele-phone 868-674-7896/71.


Wanted 600t wire rope swaging press complete with dies in good order, please contact [email protected], or Tele 0064 3 366 1528.

Wanted: used wire rope cable, sizes 1-1/8”, 1”, and 7/8”. Please call for pricing. (740) 452-5770.

FOR SALE3/16" Campbell Chain L3x51 Links-

Zinc; 3200 pieces 48" with 5/16" S Hook; 1100 pieces 15" with 5/16"x2.5" O ring; In NC. Best Offer [email protected], 800-342-9130 x 124, Andy.

New wire rope with galvanized finish, 8 x19, Seale, fiber core, traction grade (1180/1770 N/mm²), right regular lay: 1/2” diameter, 14,900 lbs breaking load, .36 lbs/foot net weight, 25,000 feet; 5/8” diameter, 23,700 lbs breaking load, .58 lbs/foot, 16,489 feet. Contact Draka El-evator Products at 1-877-372-5237 for pricing.

Excess 3/16” 7x19 GAC non-preformed specs available 150 5000 ft. reels wrapped 12 per pallet FOB IN $250.00 per reel. Also 1/8” stainless 7x7 at 15 cents per foot FOB IL. Also plastic covered GAC. Joe 800-473-0984.

New wire rope 1-1/8” drill line 5000 ft. 6x195 BR RR IFWV $30,000 Aud &

freight. Reply to Brayd Gross, Alpha Rigging SErvice, 11-13 Gerberte Court, Wurruk, Victoria, Australia, 3850. Phone 0011+61351461088. Email: [email protected].

Sleeve hammer used for moving sleeves on cable. Different sizes for different size sleeves. All hand made in use now for use safety purposes for employees. Saves on time. Our product does work guaranteed. Please call us today for use in oilfield. 901-357-4940.

Crosby 7/8” G213 LPA shackles. NEW! 205 pieces available. Contact Gary Lee @ 1-800-844-3517. Fax 251-456-8860.

Impacto Cable cutters and parts avail-able from Windy Ridge Corp. Tamworth, NH, USA. 800-639-2021. Fax 603-323-2322.

WIRE ROPE FOR SALEUsed steel cable for sale. 1-1/8” x 475’,

7/8” x 875’, 5/16” x 320’. Coiled on reels. Ongoing supply. Call: 561-840-2910. F.O.B. Rivera Beach, FL.

HARDWARE FOR SALE1200 RA2482-4 MFG/ACCO $1.45; 600

RA2482-5 MFG/ACCO $2.99 each; 16500 RA2500-3 MFG/ACCO $.70 each; 200 MS21260-56RH $3.25 each. Call James Currie or Greg Bailey (562) 942-8076.

500 pcs 1-3/4” screw pin anchor shackle – overstock inventory sale – made in Chi-na. $28.00 each SWL 25T FOB Avenel, NJ. Call Art Jeronimo, Steelstran Indus-tries 732-574-0700.

Overstocked inventory for sale, 1-3/8” Shackle, WLL 13½ ton, galvanized, round pin, import. Super savings. Sold in minimum lots of 50 at $9 each. Eric Park-erson, Certified Slings, 407-331-6677.

EQUIPMENT FOR SALE1-800 ton Esco, 1-500 ton National,

1-500 ton Esco, 1-350 Esco. 713-641-1552.

150 ton, Wirop C-type hydraulic swag-ing machine for sale. Brand new, with 4 sets of dies. $19,500 or B/O. Call Oscar at 909-548-2884.

Wire Rope Grips for proof test ma-chines. Sizes: 1-1/2”, 2”, 2-1/2”. Load cells & digital read-outs also available. Call Joe Roberts (912) 964-9465.

Prooftesters for sale. Capacities from 20,000 lbs. to 3,000,000 lbs. Call Joe Rob-erts (912) 964-9465.

500 ton National Press, with dies. 15,000 lb. Bessemer coiling machine. Call 800-448-7380, Bill Lindsey.


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