Welding bridge steel expansion joints the focus of Arizona Company
See Casa Grande Valley for its story on this...
Stinger Welding in Randolph, Arizona has carved out a comfortable niche in this era of exponential growth in the state of Arizona: piecing together the steel expansion joints that hold up major bridges as cities - and especially highways - expand. With nearly 900 bridge projects under its belt, Stinger is readying its most challenging structure yet.
Stinger is responsible for the Tempe Town Lake bridge crossing, which will carry trains of the Valley Metro light rail from Phoenix to Tempe. The bridge may be called upon to support 1,050,000 pounds of train cars, not to mention the future of mass transit in the Valley.
Stinger Welding President Carl Douglas bought into the privately-held company in July 1996. The facility itself has housed welding services in Randolph since the 1940s. Currently, the company has 125 employees on a $4 million annual payroll, including 51 certified welders with 215 certifications. Of the 125 employees, all but four of them live in Pinal County.
Over time, Stinger has built a reputation for welding high-stress expansion joints, most commonly found in major bridge and highway projects.
Why bridges?
"In the state of Arizona, with all the federal funds being sent from Washington down here, there's a lot of money directed toward building pedestrian bridges," Douglas said.
And it's pedestrian bridges that have made Stinger a welding force. In the Phoenix area especially, "there seems to be a slant toward more artistic work," said Gary Gardner, pubic information officer with Stinger. "Steel allows more artistic possibilities than concrete bridgework." Popular Stinger projects include a Ray Road crossing for student pedestrians, sun and lizard designs along the Santan Freeway, and a pedestrian bridge featuring a bird-in-flight art motif spanning the Superstition Freeway.
Stinger Welding in Randolph, Arizona has carved out a comfortable niche in this era of exponential growth in the state of Arizona: piecing together the steel expansion joints that hold up major bridges as cities - and especially highways - expand. With nearly 900 bridge projects under its belt, Stinger is readying its most challenging structure yet.
Stinger is responsible for the Tempe Town Lake bridge crossing, which will carry trains of the Valley Metro light rail from Phoenix to Tempe. The bridge may be called upon to support 1,050,000 pounds of train cars, not to mention the future of mass transit in the Valley.
Stinger Welding President Carl Douglas bought into the privately-held company in July 1996. The facility itself has housed welding services in Randolph since the 1940s. Currently, the company has 125 employees on a $4 million annual payroll, including 51 certified welders with 215 certifications. Of the 125 employees, all but four of them live in Pinal County.
Over time, Stinger has built a reputation for welding high-stress expansion joints, most commonly found in major bridge and highway projects.
Why bridges?
"In the state of Arizona, with all the federal funds being sent from Washington down here, there's a lot of money directed toward building pedestrian bridges," Douglas said.
And it's pedestrian bridges that have made Stinger a welding force. In the Phoenix area especially, "there seems to be a slant toward more artistic work," said Gary Gardner, pubic information officer with Stinger. "Steel allows more artistic possibilities than concrete bridgework." Popular Stinger projects include a Ray Road crossing for student pedestrians, sun and lizard designs along the Santan Freeway, and a pedestrian bridge featuring a bird-in-flight art motif spanning the Superstition Freeway.
posted by Scott at 7:06 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home