Complex 253-foot Components - Canam Canada Delivers the Longest Joists of Its History
(St. Gédéon de Beauce, QC) - Canam Canada, a business unit of Canam Group (TSX: CAM),
began the delivery of its first three shipments of the longest joists of its history this morning under police escort. The roof joists spanning 77.1 meters (253 feet) are the longest joists ever fabricated at Canam's St. Gédéon de Beauce plant since it was founded in 1960. These complex components will be used in the construction of the future Alphonse-Desjardins sports complex, which will include an indoor soccer court, for the Chemin-du-Roy school board in Trois Rivires, Quebec. Canam Canada's previous record for joist length was 51.2 meters (168 feet).
The new building, 108 meters (355 feet) long by 77.1 meters (253 feet) wide by 16 meters (53 feet) high, will cover a total surface area of 10,030 square meters (108,000 square feet). Each of the 39 longspan bowstring joists constituting the roof is 5.2 meters (17 feet) deep at midpoint and 4 meters (13 feet) deep at each end. Each joist was fabricated in three sections to be assembled and bolted on site prior to its installation.
Joel Nadeau, vice president of Canam Canada, is very proud of the execution of this complex project for its customer Quirion Métal Inc. of Beauceville. It posed major fabrication, engineering and logistics challenges because of the dimensions and special shape of the components in question. "Our teams are always motivated by unusual projects that demonstrate our flexibility and our ability to propose solutions and services tailored specifically to the needs of our customers and of the architects and engineers who design such buildings," said Mr. Nadeau.
The convoy of three tractor-trailers, nine escort vehicles and two Sret© du Qu©bec patrol cars left the St. G©d©on de Beauce plant at 4:45 this morning and will arrive at the Trois Rivires construction site at about 11:30 a.m. Each trailer is 28 meters (93 feet) long, and 12 more shipments of this kind will take place over the next three weeks. The roof of the new sports complex will be in place by mid-July. The project will consist of more than 1,100 tons of Canam joists and related products.
Architect Franois R. Beauchesne designed the building, and the consortium Pluritec - IMS Experts Conseils assumed the engineering work.
Canam Canada is the leading fabricator of steel joists and steel construction components in Canada and has plants in St. G©d©on de Beauce, Boucherville, Mississauga and Calgary and a sales network country-wide.
Canam Group Inc. is an industrial company operating 11 plants specialized in the design and fabrication of construction products and solutions. The company employs close to 3,000 people in Canada, the United States, Romania and India, and has partnerships with companies in Mexico, France, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Russia and China.
