On April 5, 2016, a tragic accident occurred at a construction site on the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway (I-90) in Des Plaines, Illinois. A 45-ton beam fell from the bridge over Touhy Avenue, killing one worker and injuring three others. The incident raised questions about the safety of the bridge demolition and construction project, which […]
We’re Providing Solutions
As One of Our Best Examples…
We often hear that other steel contractors simply aim to provide what is shown on the drawings, and the moment a problem arises, they throw their hands up, walk away, and wait for someone else to offer a solution and direction. The monumental stair at the University Center of Lake County is perhaps the best, but not the only, example of our approach to assisting customers in finding solutions to complex construction problems. Our customer had previously awarded the work to several other specialty stair contractors who, upon reviewing the drawings and analyzing the load requirements, walked away.
The issue was that the design drawings depicted the stair stringers as simple rectangular tubes rolled to a sweep. When they approached us, we embraced the challenge and took on the responsibility to design, detail, fabricate, and erect the stair. This stair not only met all the structural and code requirements but also satisfied all the aesthetic and architectural constraints. The result is shown below and is far from being simple swept rectangular tubes.
