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April 2011www.wireropenews.com

Forth Road Bridge:National Geographic’s World’s Toughest Fixes

finds the solution to suspension bridge cable corrosionstory on page 16

Why some people dare to defy gravitystory on page 8

Advertisers IndexPage 79

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Wire Rope News & Sling Technology April 2011 7

Defying gravity ....................................................... 8What it is that makes a person want to hang from ropes hundreds of feet above the ground?

The mystery of suspension bridgecable corrostion and theForth Road Bridge’s solution ............................... 16

Though the cables can look great on the outside, looks can be deceiving and downright dangerous.

Hessville Cable & Sling Co. thrives inthe industrial thick of things ............................... 24

The company continues to play a vital role in the country’s steel production industry.

Aircraft cable manufacturers, here and now ...... 30There are just five U.S. manufacturers who are providing true aircraft cable to the aviation industry.

Is there a global market for riggers? ................... 36Does the global market exist only for govern-ments and giant multinational corporations, or is there room for the smaller rigging shops?

Cover photo:AECOM engineers inspecting the main cable of the Forth Road Bridge located in South Queensferry, Scotland.

April 23, 2011

Publisher & Editorial DirectorEdward J. Bluvias

Contributing EditorBarbara McGrath Spencer

Circulation DirectorPatricia Bluvias

Graphics & LayoutDon Tywoniw - 2D Graphics

Website: www.wireropenews.com

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Vol. 32, No. 4

Contents

Features

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

Steel Industry news ....................................................39

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

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

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

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Wire Rope News & Sling Technology April 20118

continued on page 10

Defying gravityBy Peter Hildebrandt

Some people might wonder what it is that makes a person want to hang from ropes tens or hundreds of feet above the ground. Have they always wanted the feeling of having nothing under their feet? Or do they just decide to try it once and then get hooked?

When Gravity Design co-opera-tors Spencer Evans and Sean Riley met in college, neither

of them realized the heights they’d reach in the coming years. Evans and Riley started their rigging careers as students working on theater sets at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

That led to more theater work with a small theater company in Seattle for a few years. Following this the two went their separate ways for a time, Riley back to San Francis-co and Evans to New York City for seven or eight years where he continued to work in the theater down-town, off, off-Broad-way and rigging for some larger fashion shows, and all sorts of different work. Riley went on de-signing and getting more and more into rigging.

“I think it was in Seattle that Riley first started setting up swings and bridg-es,” explains Evans. “He would go up un-der a bridge where he could access some wire rope slings, have a nice length of rope under it, climb up the hill and swing on down. That was his idea of fun. And eventually it became part of helping people realize their visions of aerial dance work.”A challenging gig - on an active construction site

About five years ago Evans was in New York and Riley was back in San Francisco where he had an aerial dance project in the works. He asked Evans to help him pull everything together for the challenging project at Rensse-laer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York.

RPI was building a new performance hall which still happened to be a con-

struction site. “But they had this vision of getting a group of artists together to put on a spectacle at the construction site, a sort of a post-groundbreaking but pre-opening of the building event,” says Evans. “I suppose this was to in-crease interest in the project and keep the fundraising efforts on track.”

A San Francisco dance company re-ceived the contract and they hired Ri-ley. The show at RPI Gravity Design was on the 15th floor of a three-walled concrete shell. There were scaffolding

staircases going up the interior of the building still under construction and the pouring deck on the exterior – this was all there was at the site. They climbed up to the top of the wall and then climbed back down onto the form. Gravity Design had received approval to have both them and the five or six dancers involved out there on this ac-tive construction site.

“Riley was very cool under pressure, I must say. He just told them how this was going to work, what his safety pro-cedures were – he takes his work very seriously – and somehow we pulled it all off,” says Evans.Transforming visions into actual

plans, one strand at a timeAfter that experience Evans decided

to relocate to San Francisco and contin-ue working with Riley who had started Gravity Design in the prior year. “Be-fore I got involved, Riley was trying to do all this stuff on his own and only bringing in help when he needed it. That was tough for him so having a dedicated person helping him was a good thing.”

Gravity Design remains a small firm. On their biggest project they brought

in some six or seven riggers to make one of their larger shows happen. Gravity Design also supplies rigging services for local businesses including the Ex-ploratorium, a San Francisco children’s science museum near the Golden Gate Bridge. This unique museum and interactive learn-ing center, one of the first of its kind in the country was founded by nuclear physicist Frank Op-penheimer.

The center pro-vides hands-on, learning experi-ences for kids and is

centered on an old concourse built for the San Francisco World’s Fair in 1915, a steel and brick horseshoe-shaped building. “It’s a unique building, with a peak roof rising to a height of over 100 feet so they have a lot of space in which to hang stuff,” says Evans.” A lot of their experiments and installations must have extensive heavy rigging in-volved so we go in and provide those services for the Exploratorium as well as all sorts of other things. We have an ongoing relationship with them.”

On one project for the Exploratori-um, Gravity was contracted to build a giant swing set for a monthly opening

Gravity Design rigger Spencer Evans performing a daily inspection on connections for a moving platform high above the public on Mission St in San Francisco CA.


night. The exhibit featured the square root function curve brought to life with hanging pendulums. If pendulums are hung along this square root function curve, each pendulum will start in uni-son, go out of phase and go into a sine wave phase and then back into unison.

“That was a real challenge,” says Evans. “We called Riley and luckily he was in town at the time to give us his opinions on some things. Riley pointed out a number of things we could do to get this to work. We eventually got the series of pendulums to work according to the formula and it worked great once we had that input from him. Another Gravity Design member, Dave Freitag, will say at times – referring to Riley’s guidance, ‘we have to call in the wolf on this’.Bringing history to life at a busy terminal

Another big show was at the San Francisco International Airport. Jo-anna Haigood, artistic director for the Zaccho Dance Theatre wanted to repre-sent the history of the Black experience in America from the slave trade all the way through the pop culture of James

Brown. Part of her vision for Depar-ture and Arrival was to have perform-ers enter from the “slave ships,” fash-ioned from the huge boat trusses at the airport’s relatively new International Terminal. This venue features large stands of trusses, curved and coming out to a point over a 130 foot span.

“In this visually striking perfor-mance, performers rise up in this ‘hull’ of a ship and come down through space to steel-framed houses, danc-ing through them and then down into the ground. Following this they dance their indoctrination into America.”

This was a particularly challenging design because the performers needed to move in three- dimensions through the space, flying vertically and hori-zontally, changing directions in mid air. Even more complicated, the cho-reography called for the performers to

continued from page 8


Gravity Design rigger Dave Freitag taking a break, perched on a performer flying system on a Frank Gehry building at Bard College in NY.

Performer Corey Harrower rehearsing a “big move” with a rigging system on a Frank Gehry building at Bard College in NY.

Gravity Design rigger Spencer Evans checking and rechecking performers during a sunset rehearsal at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY.

fly “through” a piece of scenery on their way to the ground.

The entire show was on a series of cycles. Each cycle took about thirty minutes to complete. The show was continuous for two hours. From the ground the dancers did their dance to the music and video presentation before climbing back up a ladder to a tightrope that had been set up by Grav-ity Design for them to walk back up to the boat trusses. They then climbed back down into the houses once again.

All of this took place while the public walked around below, getting to their flights or heading to baggage claim areas. The show ran for two different weekends at the airport.

“Riley’s major contribution to all these projects is that he sits down with

the artists and figures out how to real-ize their visions,” says Evans. “Often the artists are not grounded in the laws of physics; Riley has to interpret what they see, what they want to see and then tell them what’s possible.

“The other thing Riley brings to these situations and Gravity Design is that he’s a tremendous problem solver. He can access a situation, see the dynamic forces at work in the structures that he’s trying to build and he can figure out how to stabilize and work with the dynamic flow within the realm of safety and feasibility of the architecture and art structure that we’re adding to it.”Doing what you do best

Evans thinks of himself as the right hand man in the partnership giving feedback and working to solve prob-lems. And then there is Evans’s other title. He is affectionately known as the “crash test dummy.” After they build a system the first thing they do is put dead weight on it. The next step after that is to put a live load on the system. Nine times out of ten Evans is the live load testing out the system.

“I always have secondary and ter-tiary lines backing me up just in case something goes wrong on that first time. Ninety-nine point nine times out of one hundred nothing goes wrong.

“The most important thing in rigging safely and effectively is to allow outside perspective to come in. You have to work in pairs, in tandem. It’s very easy when you work alone to be overconfi-dent in your abilities to some degree; that’s when mistakes happen – and why it’s important to be able to bounce ideas off another person that you can believe in and trust.”

Riley agrees. “Spencer and I have been working together so long we can usually finish each-other’s sentences, but every once in a while we don’t agree, and when we do we always stop and find out what’s on each-others minds. That goes for all the riggers at Gravity, anyone can ask a question, or raise a concern at anytime. Ultimately that makes for a safer working envi-ronment, and encourages individuals to take responsibility for the safety of what they are doing. Spencer and I are both careful to maintain an open book policy on information about any given job, because it builds trust, which is a commodity you can’t buy at any price.”

Another show Gravity Design worked with the Zaccho Dance Theater on, took place at Jacob Pillow in the Berkshires of Massachusetts. This is a large inter-national dance festival running about

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Gravity Design rigger Sean Riley on his daily commute, climbing a 100ft tower used to achieve a flying effect through a forest at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in MA.

five to six weeks and featuring 40-50 different artists. This Zaccho Dance Theater site-specific piece took place in a barn on the property at the festival. The barn had at one time been an ac-tual station on the Underground Rail-road. A story on the slave trade, the path to freedom and the Underground Railroad proved a natural fit.

This was pretty much straight dance theater until the very end when Riley and Evans set up a big line on which they were able to drag the main per-former up from one side to the other, from 10 feet off the ground, to the other side which was 100 feet off the ground and a big slide that they dragged the woman up along the line – flying up to freedom.

On the big 160’ slide they built a Ty-rolean, two wire ropes stacked on top of each other and each tensioned inde-pendently. The pulley system which dragged the performer up had to have the two segments of rope balancing perfectly. Evans, doing his crash test dummy thing, was 60 feet from each point, jumping up and down trying to get as much dynamic load into that cable as he could. With his dynometer in place Evans was pulling 600 pounds

on the slide at its peak. At that point they were well within the working load of the material.

“Digital load cells and real time dy-namic data acquisition are a big part of Gravity Design’s safety program,” says Riley. “Accurate calculations can be very difficult or even impossible on a dynamic or ‘moving’ live load, so it’s imperative to know what’s really going on inside a system.”

Sharp enough to overcome the razor’s edge

Through their relationship with Jo-anna Haigood and Zaccho Dance The-ater they’ve cultivated another one with a group in Brooklyn, New York,

called Sens Productions, under the di-rection of Noémie Lafrance.

“Lafrance is a very ambitious artist,” says Evans. “She wants to do aerial dance work on Frank Gehry’s archi-tecture. The main factor that Grav-ity Design must deal with in working with Gehry’s buildings is that they are curve-linear, stainless steel, price-less - and razor sharp.” When they went to Bard College to set up a show, La France didn’t know what she want-ed and Gravity Design didn’t know what to expect with the exception of looking at a few pictures online.

When Evans got into the harness on the Gehry building site at Bard Col-lege and everything was in place, he noticed that the parapet was stan-dard but the stainless steel paneling covering the sweep of the roof was as sharp as a razor blade. It was torch cut eighth-inch, stainless steel.

Evans set himself up with his har-ness on a virtually horizontal spot and put the rope – a 10.5 mil nylon super-static rescue line – over the edge. He mimicked what it would be like on the parapet side in an effort to see how much they could interact with these side panels. When he shook his head


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twice the rope cut instantly, like a hot knife through butter. “The answer to the question of how much we could in-teract with these steel panels was: not at all,” says Evans.

They built some truss structures that would allow them to not interact with the sharp panels at all.

The way their typical systems work is they use wire rope to anchor from the structure of the architecture to a place where they can safely place their piece of poly rope or dancer line over the edge. Then on their dancer lines the performers are able to use either ascending or descending climbing hardware to change their position on the line as they perform. The Petzl Gri-gri is the tool of choice for them.

On this Gehry project Riley and Ev-ans were able to introduce different types of apparatus that the performers could work with. It was the standard, rope over the edge of the building and swing on. Because of the nature of that architecture and what this choreogra-pher wanted they were able to expand how the dancers interacted with the building.

The dancers weren’t always on a to-tally vertical plane on their wall. Some

of their walls were like rolling hills. One of the systems used was a 30 foot fall-arrest seat belt, yo-yo type of equip-ment activated by force of gravity.

“We set up one of those with a little rigging on it, placing it on a little two to one and the performer could go 45 or 50 feet comfortably if he was just walking against his current falling weight but as soon as he put the force of gravity into it and he mimicked himself fall-ing then the thing would lock up and he would be fixed there in that posi-tion. Then he could work against the fixed line and do different movement vocabularies because he was on a rigid line now.Safety lines for the tough times

Gravity Design gets a lot of their wire rope from Cable Moore in Oakland. And much of their gear comes from the folks at Rescue Direct, and Sterling Rope. Their supplier in San Francisco is The Carpenter Group, a wire rope rigging and supply company which places a major emphasis on safety. Besides in-spection and testing of customer rig-ging and hardware, they offer on-going safety training seminars to show their customers how to recognize unsafe rig-ging practices.

Gravity Design typically works with

¼” IWRC XIPS 7X19 galvanized wire rope, sometimes 3/16” or doubles 1/8” and often powder coated black to hide the “magic” of flying, every once in awhile going up to 3/8” cable, but only for slings if they need to hang up some trusses in a rock and roll sort of way.

Evans still works locally with a few theater companies providing technical services. Gravity Design has a fairly small niche they are involved with. Word of mouth drives their business presently. Much of the funding this year has come from an energy efficien-cy lighting retrofit for a major retailer. Evans goes around and lays out more efficient lighting for a department store as he has in Detroit and Seattle.

Riley has been taking a bit of a break from Gravity Design while host-ing the National Geographic Channel Program, World’s Toughest Fixes, so Evans has gone solo much of the past two and a half years. “I think it was a good move for him. But the challenge for Gravity Design is that with the Re-cession, much of the spending for arts funding dried up. But things are work-ing out and funding recently seems to be picking up. We’re flexible people and it’s not in our natures to stay on the ground for very long.” WRN


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The mystery of suspension bridge cable corrosion and the Forth Road Bridge’s solution

By Peter Hildebrandt

“A riddle wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma” sounds a lot like the how, why and where of suspension bridge cable corrosion today. Though the cables can look great on the outside, looks can be more than deceiving: they can be downright dangerous.

In order to investigate a new tech-nique of cable corrosion mitigation that was just being undertaken,

National Geographic’s World’s Tough-est Fixes host Sean Riley vis-ited the Forth Road Bridge lo-cated in South Q u e e n s f e r r y , Scotland. (The show aired in May 2010.)

Riley’s job was to help tie Ethernet wire to cables while hanging some 300 feet above the bridge’s road deck. The wires went from cable monitors down to a com-puter below that would help engineers know when a wire in one of the two main cables of the bridge had broken. As a master rigger, Riley enjoys the feel of the “air under my feet, swinging in the breeze,” and this is a job that not too many people in the world could tackle.

To get a more in-depth look at the project, and what led Riley and others to such heights, Riley suggested Wire Rope News speak with Barry Colford, chief engineer in charge of main-taining the bridge for Forth Estuary Transport Authority (FETA) to dis-cover how they went about finding a solution to a problem they didn’t know they had.

Colford explains that when the Brooklyn Bridge in New York was first built, the recommendations Roebling gave for preserving its cables were fol- continued on page 18

lowed faithfully and conscientiously by bridge owners for generations. But not all bridges stand in the midst of the same climate conditions as those

at New York Harbor, and time has brought with it rather puzzling corro-sion at other bridges.

Forth Road Bridge is approximately 1,000 miles farther north than the Brooklyn Bridge. With a latitude of 52 degrees they’re fairly high up on the globe. Because the Firth of Forth dis-charges into the North Sea, this is an extreme and windy environment.

The bridge provides an important crossing of the river, the Forth Estu-ary of the Firth of Forth in Scotland, a firth being the Scots word for estu-ary analogous to the Norwegian fjord. The bridge joins the north and east of Scotland with the south and east prin-cipally at the City of Edinburgh.

Some 24 million vehicles per year cross the bridge. The nearest equiva-

lent crossing is approximately 31 ki-lometers upstream. The vehicular bridge sits immediately adjacent to a rail bridge. The Forth Road Bridge

is a suspension bridge, and was the longest in Europe and the fourth-longest in the world when it opened in 1964. (The other three are in the United States.) The Forth Road Bridge has a one kilome-ter (3,300 foot) span. The bridge runs nearly directly

north-south and just to the south and east of the bridge is Edinburgh, while to the north is Fife. Can’t Judge a Bridge by its Cover

In suspension bridges all of the pri-

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mary load-carrying capacity lies in the main cables. This bridge followed the same principles as the American engi-neer John Roebling’s Brooklyn Bridge did when it opened in 1883, using spun cables.

In the case of the Forth Road Bridge, some 11,618 individual high-tensile wires run parallel and were compact-ed together. They were then wrapped around a circumference with a nine-

gauge wire and red lead paste applied before the wire was wrapped in and then finally painted. Each of the two main cables on the bridge supports some 14,000 tons of load.

“A rather standard type of protection was applied to the bridge in 1964,” ex-plains Colford.

“But the problem was that the tech-nology in 1964 was based on what the Roeblings did on their Brooklyn Bridge in 1883. Wires were galvanized and then smeared with lead-based paint. Everyone had always thought this would work. And here at the Forth Road Bridge, on the outside it looked like that would be good enough and that everything was alright inside the cable,” says Colford. “But what we found was that being good on the outside clearly doesn’t mean being good on the inside, and that painting doesn’t work.”

The reason painting doesn’t work is because even though the cables look rigid, they are actually rather flexible and move about an awful lot. Paint is not up to bridging the cracks where ca-ble bands join. Water will get in. Once it is in, that is it. Then Neoprene wrap on its own also doesn’t work. All that does is hide the corrosion, according to

Colford.“You can look at a length of wire

within one particular length of the cable and it looks really great, bright galvanized and almost looks like it was just installed yesterday, and yet then you come to a point where it is broken through with localized pitting,” says Colford. “What we don’t know is why a pit, then a crack and then a break form at that point and not someplace else. Whether it’s a nick in the gal-

vanized finish or something else or a combination of factors is uncertain.

“When we were spinning the cables the wind caused a real issue during the construction,” says Colford. “Dur-ing the process of receiving advice from Roebling’s company, those indi-viduals involved from the firm noted how windy it was compared to other major American bridges such as the George Washington or the Golden Gate Bridge.”

As at the Golden Gate Bridge, a similar sea mist in Scotland called the Sea Haar moves in from the North Sea

creating a microclimate which brings abundant moisture to the area where the bridge is situated. The overall cli-mate on the east side of Scotland is surprisingly cold and dry, especially in comparison to the western side of the country state, even some 50 miles away which can have double the rain-fall of the eastern side due simply to the mountains running north-south down the west side of the country, causing a rain shadow.Taking a Good Look

Despite how seemingly solid and protected the cables appeared, dur-ing the start of the late 1970s, 80s and 90s in the U.S., bridge owners began to investigate their bridges by look-ing inside the main cables. There were some problems with corrosion. A way was developed to let them look inside. “They discovered quite significant cor-rosion in a number of cases,” says Col-ford.

“In the late 1990s the National Academy of Engineering in the U.S. put together a program for developing a guide for the inspection of main ca-

bles in suspension bridges and an eval-uation of their reduced strength. We were involved from Forth Road Bridge with colleagues from Golden Gate and the various bridge owners from New York, in particular Bill Monroe from the New York State Bridge Author-ity which looks after bridges like Bear Mountain, Hudson River bridges and those in upstate New York.”

This guideline which came out in 2004 was assembled by Roebling Com-pany and the American consulting engineers by Ron Milborough. FETA

Contractors C Spencer Ltd working at height on the main cable.

One of the cable access platforms adjacent to the main tower.


continued from page 18decided to inspect their own cable de-spite the fact that there was no sign of exterior deterioration or water coming out from the cable. The cable had been well-maintained. But the guide recom-mended inspection after a period of 30 years and so FETA decided to inspect the cables. “FETA was the first to use the guidelines outside of the U.S., and a number of people in Europe and the U.K. wondered if we really needed to do it,” says Colford.

“At this bridge, it is 80 meters be-

tween the hanger points where the load is hanging onto the main cables. Frankly, we thought we’d open one panel at low level and find we had noth-ing, wrap it back up and go away. Us-ing a brass chisel we wedged the wire slightly open and could see right inside it. To our surprise, we found corrosion in the panels. We found that approxi-mately 8-10% of the cable strength had been lost over time and we had considerable corrosion, despite it look-ing fine on the outside,” says Colford. “We decided if we didn’t do something

about it, this would mean at some point in the future we’d have to implement loading restrictions on the bridge and we couldn’t afford to do that.”

A total of ten panels were inspected during 2004 and 2005 – approximately 4% of the total cable length. This small sampling of the cable was used to dis-cover the strength lost at that time, then extrapolated into the future to make a determination of what the strength loss of the bridge would be in five or ten years if nothing were done. This is the point at which engineering becomes as much an art as a science, according to Colford. This includes the making of judgments based on avail-able basal knowledge.

To inspect the cables, work starts with a softer metal chisel such as brass to gently pry the wires apart. They are in a circular pattern and there are over 11,000 wires. Plastic wedges which will not damage the cables are then used, at twelve o’clock, two, four and so on around the cable. Observers can look down the wedges right into the middle of the cable. Corrosion can be seen with the naked eye – the best inspection tool available, according to Colford.

Until the wires of the cables were uncovered and pried apart for inspec-tion it was anyone’s guess as to where the greatest damage from the mois-ture would be. Perhaps intuitively, reasoning suggests it should be near the base as the cable starts its rise. However, when Philadelphia’s Walt Whitman Bridge was inspected for corrosive damage, the most extensive corrosion due to moisture was found at the penultimate sections of the ca-bles - just before they reached the top of the suspensions bridge towers, ac-cording to Colford. On the Forth Road Bridge corrosion was most extensive midway between the towers – at the lowest point of the cable.

“We looked at various options we had at that point,” says Colford. “We knew that some of the owners in the States had opened up all the cables and oiled them and that some with similar problems had put neoprene wrap over them on top of the painted surface just to keep water out. But we were aware there’d been limited suc-cess with this and weren’t convinced it was the right option. Oiling the cables involves opening up the whole cable and that is a significant cost.A New Technique Using…Air

FETA had to do something or they were facing the prospect of the cable deteriorating. They knew that in Ja-

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Inspecting corrosion in the wedged open main cable.

pan a new tech-nique for suspen-sion bridges was being studied using de-humid-ification. The process involved wrapping the ca-bles with a neo-prene wrap and passing air with a relative humid-ity of less than 40% up through the voids be-tween the wires to try and drive out the moisture being caused by the water and ox-ygen present in those spaces. On Japan’s Akashi Bridge, with a span of nearly two kilometers, they’d found corrosion just beneath the surface of the wires and developed this tech-nique of de-humidification, according to Colford.

The air passes through at various points into the cable. The theory is that after time it dissipates through the voids and dries the cable out, pre-

venting further corrosion. “But unfor-tunately what it doesn’t do is to re-store what’s already damaged,” adds Colford. “And the Japanese work has all been done on either new bridges be-fore they’ve been opened or on bridges up to ten or twelve years old; we were facing the prospect of placing this sys-tem on a bridge which was 45 years old and where there’s already corro-

sion products with-in the cable.”

The installation of the dehumidi-fication system of the cable was fin-ished in October 2009 and there is now dry air being pumped continu-ally into the main cables. It is likely that monitoring of the strength-loss versus time graph for the bridge ca-bles will continue, according to Col-ford. The hope is that the rate of deterioration sta-bilizes. One of the

issues is that FETA knows that there will be cracks within these wires and the cable. What happens to these cracks from now until the end of the cable’s life, perhaps some 80 to 100 years time, will persist as an area for study. The main question remains, will these cracks develop into break-ages and reduce the strength of the

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continued from previous pagecable or not?

The dehumidification technique em-ployed here has not been universally accepted in the United States. “It has been accepted in Europe and Japan,” says Colford. “It’s starting to be ac-cepted in China but it hasn’t been uni-versally accepted there yet either. Pe-ter Sluszka of Ammann and Whitney Consulting Engineers, New York has helped us as well as Wayne Langer. Langer bangs the drum for dehumidi-fication. There hasn’t been a great re-sponse as yet; but we think it is the only way to prevent further deteriora-tion and should be installed on all new suspension bridges – though I don’t think it’s happening in the States yet.”

In 2012 FETA will be going back in to re-inspect the cable by opening up 10 panels at low and high levels. “We will have to repeat that exercise either every five or ten years, depending on what we find each time,” adds Col-ford. “So for the remainder of the life of the cable this will have to be done. Without that, it is difficult to evaluate strength. And what we will also do is gain more confidence. Maybe through time we can cut the interval to every 20 or perhaps 15 years. But it will still have to be done to make sure that the

dehumidification, if it does succeed, is continuing to succeed.”

One thing FETA has also done is to fit acoustic monitoring onto the cables. These consist of a series of listening devices which pick up wire breaks by eavesdropping for them. A wire break can actually be detected in this man-ner. This is a web-based system so they can easily pick up any problems by going onto the website involved with this monitoring system. This has been going on since 2006. But it does have its limitations. It doesn’t tell the history: in other words, whether a wire break has been the first one or the eleven thousandth. It does not pre-dict the future either, only telling the observer what is happening currently.

For now, wrapping the cable in neo-prene and then applying dehumidifi-cation is the only way a cable can be made to remain dry or be become dry. “Certainly if I were building a sus-pension bridge from the start I would insist that it come with a built-in de-humidification system,” says Colford. “This is very cheap to do at the begin-ning. It is a lot harder to do if you are attempting to retrofit it. Our dehu-midification systems cost us 11 million pounds, or close to 15 million dollars – a lot of money with no guarantee of

success.“As a result of this work, I think

our experience has shown others that new bridges need to be built with de-humidification systems. One suspen-sion bridge in Norway, the Haldangar Bridge, I think is being fitted with such a system. Any new ones will be built with that in mind. Cable stay bridges are becoming more the norm today as replacement on the of sus-pension bridge cables involves shut-ting down the whole bridge, which is expensive and time-consuming.”

The decision to construct a new ca-ble stay bridge beside the Forth Road Bridge is currently going through the Scottish Parliament. Construction is due to start on the structure in 2011. It is out to bid currently. Hopes are it may be completed by 2016.

“I am confident that we can keep the cables on our bridge going for the rest of their service life,” says Colford. “It is just a matter of monitoring them at this point and onward. Though I am confident the dehumidification will work; I can’t give an unconditional guarantee either. We are continuing to monitor the ‘patient’ as things go along. We’ve done what we can. Now it’s just a question of waiting to see if it works.” WRN

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Hessville Cable & Sling Co. thrives in the industrial thick of things

By Peter HildebrandtHessville Cable & Sling Company, Gary, Indiana turned 50 in 2010. These days, in times of mergers, buyouts, shutdowns, bankruptcies, layoffs and overall stress on firms throughout the region, country and world, making it to a half century of service is a big milestone. The company continues to play a vital role in the development of what was already a highly-industrialized area of the state and the country. Gary Indiana has been a steel production center since the start of the 20th Century.

Founder who truly knew the ropes

Located just south and west of downtown Gary, the company is cur-rently owned by two brothers, George and Ken Randall. Their father, Boyd Randall, started the business back in 1960, working part-time out of a less than one-car garage. He had to roll the reels of wire rope out of the garage first, just to be able to have space to do his work there.

During the day he worked as an ironworker in the steel mills in Gary with crews constructing such iconic edifices as the Prudential Building in Chicago. He dedicated his “free” time in the evenings to cable splicing.

Boyd Randall’s exten-sive skills had been honed in the 1940s and 1950s while he worked on the Wattsbar Dam in Tennessee, the Kentucky Dam and on many other Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) proj-ects. Following Randall’s settlement in northwest Indiana in 1954, stories of his reputation, his knowledge and proficiency got around in a hurry. The area’s steel and construction industries boomed in this era and superior cable was a key element in each main produc-tion venture.

A family business was born when Ken and George Randall came on with Hessville Cable in 1960. Two other sons, Tom & Max Randall worked hard with the company, adding to its tremendous growth as a new company. Contracts al-most doubled each year. Eventually the Randalls reached the decision to give the company time and space it needed to grow. They rented a small building in Hessville. Two years later they used a $500 loan from the Inland Credit Bu-reau to purchase cable they could use to mass produce slings.

Boyd’s sons had grown up right along with the company. But the family’s strength and mettle would be sorely test-ed before the decade was over. In 1966 Boyd Randall was killed at his work in a local steel mill. Randall was only 54 years old, far too young to be taken away

from a family and community that looked up to him and had been impressed by his thriving local business.

Instead of giving up, the loss strengthened the commitment to this venture their father had started. George and Ken Randall decided to continue to build the wire rope busi-ness. Years later Ken related that though these were difficult times and a tough decision to make, the choice to carry on was also clear-cut. Carry-ing on without their father at the helm was not anything either of the Randall brothers had ever imagined. But Ken said, “We felt he truly wanted us to fin-ish what he’d only just started.”

“When his sons started out they were in their early 20s. Now they are in their 70s and still active in the company,” says Don Hennessy, general manager. “Ken and George also have two broth-ers who work for Hessville Cable. Those brothers, Tom Randall and Max Ran-dall, were also both extremely instru-mental in the growth of Hessville Cable

& Sling over the years.”Hennessy has been with the compa-

ny for over eight years, though he has been in the wire rope industry for 36 years, employed by two rigging shops before coming on with Hessville Cable. Hennessy hails from nearby Michigan,

another state which is no stranger to industrial growth and leadership.

Hessville Cable remains a family-owned business where collaboration and solidarity make for fortu-itous conditions. “We place our emphasis on customer service,” says Hennessy. “Quality of the product remains clear. Here tal-ents are developed in the art of hand-splicing wire rope and specialty items like braided slings. I really think this would all make founder Boyd Randall

proud as Randall had a true knack for splicing.”Growing into the future

Five active steel mills remain along Lake Michigan in Gary today, though they are scaled down quite a bit from earlier days. Hessville Cable is tied in strongly in its business to the steel mills. “Perhaps we are tied in a little more than we should be,” says Hen-nessy. “The mills are strictly our cus-tomers – not the other way around. They use our products for such things as cranes. But few major projects in this area of the country have not had at least some help from us with our high-strength wire rope, chains and fittings, wire rope or synthetic slings.”

Hessville Cable is now located at 1601 Cline Avenue in a 60,000 square foot manufacturing facility. (Hessville is a general neighborhood in Hammond, In-diana, a similar situation as The Bronx being part of New York City.) “Our lo-cation probably couldn’t be better,” says


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Hennessy. “We’re right off an exit of one of the major thoroughfares of the region. I can pull out of our driveway here at the business and be in downtown Chi-cago in 20-25 minutes, depending on traffic, of course. The company is very, very well-positioned.”

Hessville Cable currently has about 40 employees who are involved in con-struction of wire rope slings and assem-blies, chain slings and assemblies, ny-lon slings and assemblies, and custom engineered lifting devices. Such prod-ucts form the majority of their product line and involve the main part of their work force too. They have several divi-sions within their plant. In addition to manufacturing areas devoted to the as-sembly of slings and wire rope, the fa-cility also has a sewing shop for custom nylon fabrication, and welding and tool repair areas where they repair anything from electric drills to compressors. This service is open to anyone who is in need of equipment repair.

“The dedication and commitment of our workers is shown by the fact that a number of our employees have been with the company for decades,” says Hennessy. “The company remains among the region’s top choices for cable, rope and sling products and is one of the largest and oldest cable companies in the area. We are also a top provider of specialty wire rope. Maintaining high quality is key in all our operations,” says Hennessy.

They do not supply much gear to the maritime industry on the Great Lakes any longer. Hennessy explains that those along the Mississippi River are much more involved in supplying ropes and cables than those on the Great Lakes. Hessville Cable equips the con-struction industry, other heavy indus-try and industries supporting the steel industry such as tool and die shops, ma-chine shops, equipment manufacturers and even some of the automotive indus-try. Among Hessville Cable’s clients are northwest Indiana steel mills but their products ship to points across the whole United States as well.Doing what is necessary to stay around

Being in a heavily industrialized area means their products find a home in many locations. The company’s prod-ucts over the changing decades have found uses in building construction, shipping applications, tunnel construc-tion and the earth-moving involved with mining operations. Though they don’t supply directly to coal mines, they do sell to customers around the country that support the coal mines. Coal mines

need their own infrastructure of suppli-ers for their needs.

Hessville Cable’s sling offerings have kept heavy industries such as numer-ous steel mills and area construction going over the decades. “The steel mills have been up and down with the econo-my over the years,” explains Hennessy. “Back in the 1980s during the last big recession there were a couple mills that didn’t survive. Now with the current cri-sis a lot of consolidation has taken place. Anyone who has sold to the steel mills over the years has taken their hard knocks too. We’ve always tried to stay diverse in who we supply as well. But the mills have been in place since the turn of the last century here in Gary.

“When it comes to rigging shops, those working with wire rope, chain and other products, everyone pretty much does the same thing,” says Hennessy. “In that regard, I don’t think anybody can say that they do one thing better than anybody else. But I think the thing set-ting us apart particularly from our com-petition is our serviceability. We can respond faster to the customers’ needs more than anyone in our area.”

Hessville Cable & Sling has an exten-sive safety training seminar. Bill Kiss, project engineer with Hessville, spends some 50 percent of his time doing train-ing at different customer sites. Hess-ville tailors safety seminars for various clientele, depending on the need and class size, ranging anywhere from 10 to 200 attendees, and duration anywhere from 90 minutes to 8 hours in length.

For testing they have a 600,000-pound horizontal proof tester, a 25-ton verti-cal proof tester and a five-ton vertical proof tester. Every few years at a cus-tomer open house, when people register as they come through the door, they’re asked to take a guess at what the break-ing strength of the different items might be. The person who comes closest in pre-dicting that point wins a prize. That’s always a lot of fun.

Hennessy has noticed the recent pinch and how much things are off com-pared to business prior to 2008. But he feels they have fared much better than other rigging shops and those they pur-chase products from, in many respects. He credits this to their company being aggressive and persistent.

“Right up until the end of 2008 we were having a record year,” adds Hen-nessy. “And even the first three months of 2009 turned out to be fantastic for us. But then it was like someone just turned the facet off. We in turn watched the economy and the sales really close. We had to make cutbacks just like ev-


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We had to lay people off, unfortu-nately, then had to do a second round of layoffs and even had to put people on a four-day work week. Fortunately we turned the corner on having to do that. In fact, almost everyone laid-off is now back to work. You have to watch the business really close and be ready and able to act immediately. Our actions certainly saved us.

“Another stroke was to beat down doors in efforts to get orders from com-panies which, though hurting just like we were, still came through for us, if of course you knew which doors to knock on and when to do it. In the 50 years that Ken and George have been in-volved with the company they’ve been through many downturns economically. They realize as we all do that these events are cyclical, occurring about ev-ery 15-20 years. But anyone who has lived through the Great Depression as they have knows that this really isn’t anything as troubling.

“Each generation seems to forget fair-ly quickly the hard times that molded their parents and grandparents behav-ior. We now live in a world of excess and I think this current recession was a good wake-up call to some of the young

people who have never known anything like this before.”Ready for the green economy & keeping customers number one

Wind energy is becoming big in this area of the country. “Though this might not be something which comes immedi-ately to mind, we are certainly looking into going after that market,” says Hen-nessy. “We can supply the cable used to lift the wind turbines into place and all the associated equipment and rigging. Hessville Cable is aggressively pursu-ing that development. In most wind projects in this area the developments are exclusively ‘home-grown’, not sys-tems brought in from overseas.”

Most everything the company sells is to domestic markets. They do on occa-sion ship their products up into Canada or down to Puerto Rico. Many of their customers specify “domestic-made only” on the cables and other products they purchase, according to Hennessy. “One customer comes to mind which won’t even accept products from Canada, considering those as imports. Over the years it has changed somewhat as far as the acceptance of a quality import prod-uct. But there are still many customers that insist on domestic-only.

“When you consider our business, almost everything that we ship out of

our door is made for the purposes of lifting things over peoples’ heads. You just can’t take a chance on substandard quality or substandard materials. With some of these import brands and prod-ucts available out there you really and truly do not know what you are getting.”

As general manager for the firm, Hen-nessy’s involvement with the business is much more than full-time, but he says that customer service is what has al-ways set Hessville Cable apart. “When I say customer service, I’m not just refer-ring to the person who answers the cus-tomer’s call and processes an order; I’m talking about every single person in the organization. We’ve worked hard at in-stilling in our employees ‘total customer satisfaction,’ and everyone has bought into it. All our people go well above and beyond the call for our customers, and you can see it in the pride and sense of accomplishment they show in every-thing they do. Our customers are able to call us if need be anytime, day or night. Today it’s a necessity, as many busi-nesses run 24/7/365 and you must make yourself available anytime. If for in-stance, a ladle crane at a steel mill goes down in the middle of the night because the wire rope needs to be replaced, they need that replacement right now – not in the morning.” WRN


Aircraft cable manufacturers, here and now

By Peter HildebrandtIt’s been a good many years since wire rope started showing up on aircraft in early airplanes. (See Untwisting the largely unknown history of aircraft cable, February 2011 issue). During those years, aircraft cable manufacturers have come and gone, and now there are just five U.S. companies who are providing true aircraft cable to the aviation industry.

In an effort to find out what’s hap-pening today with aircraft cable, WRN&ST talked to those five man-

ufacturers to learn about the role they play today in the aviation industry. These companies vary widely in their size, makeup and even time in the in-dustry.

Oldest among the group is WireCo WorldGroup, which has a number of facilities of various sizes and capabilities all around the centrally-lo-cated state of Missouri. Bill Foley, vice president of fabricated products divi-sion, points out that though aircraft ca-ble is currently only a very small part of their business, all the diverse areas they’re involved with actually comple-ment each other. With the diversity of the various markets, skills learned in one market can be passed on to others to use that knowledge base. WireCo’s heritage extends back prior to WW II with the founder of WRCA, John P. Barclay Sr. leading the War Produc-tion Board.

One of the products they’re work-ing on now is the cables for the Orion Space Project, constructing the wire rope cable assemblies that tether the parachute to the space capsule. Work-ing with Airborne Systems of North America the capabilities of both com-panies will combine to provide the re-quired recovery system. WireCo will utilize the newest aircraft cable, RSQ 4, which was developed two years ago. So the new reaches back to the old with the Apollo Program supported by Macwhyte, the then Kenosha Wiscon-sin company. WireCo purchased Mac-Whyte in 1999. At the time of the pur-chase of MacWhyte, the company was a conglomeration of Broderick & Bascom, and Pacific, which had been purchased by MacWhyte over the years.

Foley came to WireCo from Mac-Whyte and has a background in engi-neering as well as production. “WireCo continues to invest in equipment and the development of people with out-

standing skills. The individual commit-ment of our knowledgeable people have made WireCo the dominant organiza-tion in the industry,” explains Foley.

WireCo is on the Qualified Products List (QPL) MIL 83420 spec for rope, Mil T 781 for fittings and Qualified Manufactures List (QML) for fabrica-tion, with their Kirksville, MO plant AS 9100 accredited. WireCo World Group has the added distinction of providing ISO certifications at all plants, as well as API and Lloyds Registry.

WireCo operates eleven manufac-turing facilities in the U.S., Germany, Canada, Mexico, and China and em-ploys nearly 2,000 employees world-wide. They supply to all the markets that use wire rope: oil, gas, mining, commercial, structural and many oth-ers. “We’re the most diversified wire rope manufacturer in the U.S. and maybe the world,” says Foley.

SE Specialty Wire & Cable, LLC, Murrells Inlet, South Carolina sup-plies stranded cable and wire rope pri-marily to OEM’s & Commercial Domes-tic distributors. In June 2010 SESWC, LLC received QPL MIL-DTL-83420 approval of seven (7) part numbers for stainless steel and galvanized steel “flexible wire rope for aircraft control”

from the Defense Logistics Agency in Richmond, VA and in August 2010 achieved ISO 9001:2008 Quality Man-agement System Certification. “Our Plan is to submit an additional eight (8) wire rope constructions in the first quarter 2011 and continue efforts to qualify all items in the MIL-DTL-83420 listings with a target of January 2013 for completion,” explains James Stan-ton, operations manager.

The company started in August of 2007 and currently employs 9-11 em-ployees depending on production needs and all have previous experience in the wire and cable industry. They currently provide ferrous and non-ferrous stranded wire and wire rope constructions used in the automotive, aerospace, industrial, and other di-verse OEM markets in such products as trunk, hood and gas cap latch con-trols, security locks, hoist and winch applications, rescue cables, lanyards, marine rigging, architecture and push/pull type controls for lawnmowers, golf carts and motorcycles.

This firm is the newest of the wire rope companies manufacturing aircraft cable. Many people now working at the firm used to work at others that were MIL-spec qualified, according to Harry Fleming, sales manager. A number of these older firms had since gone out of business, such as Carolina Cable and Strand-flex.

“The number of people in this indus-try had shrunk and SE Specialty real-ized there was room for another player in the field,” says Fleming. “One reason there are fewer firms in aircraft is they were also manufacturing push-pull ca-bles (big in auto industry), which have gone import.

“Aircraft cable has come to be a ge-neric term, meaning any galvanized or stainless steel cable in small diam-eters. We have inquiries and they ask for aircraft cable and you have to ask them if they want the MIL-83420 or if


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continued from page 30they’re just looking for commercial ma-terial. A lot of people, even at the larger companies, are not familiar with the difference. There was a push by at least one manufacturer that tried to not call it aircraft cable if it wasn’t 83420, but just call it commercial or industrial ca-ble, which doesn’t go through anywhere near the same amount of testing. It’s not 83420 unless it’s on the QPL.

“We’re still the new guy on the block and are just looking to build up our QPL. In this economy we’re trying to have as many capabilities as possible to meet the needs of companies needing wire rope cable.”

Continental Cable, LLC – GBG Industries, Hinsdale, New Hamp-shire, started manufacturing aircraft cable in the early 1970s. At that point, the large cables had begun to be im-ported and this was causing the compa-ny some problems. So, they headed in the direction of making smaller aircraft cables, according to Brian Nadeau, vice president of business development. “We’re pretty much exclusively in the range of 1/32 to 5/8” in diameter in the cable we work with now,” says Nadeau. “Other countries have tried to copy what’s being done with aircraft cables here in this country and they’re getting

pretty good,” says Nadeau. “But there’s no comparison, really.

In the mid-1980s Continental started getting on the QPL for the MIL DTL 83420. “The technology has pretty much stayed the same over the years,” says Gary Preston, COO. “We continue to use wire rope layouts that were done back in the early 1970s.”

They do quite a few cables for the Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation, manu-facturer of helicopters used in com-mercial, industrial and military appli-cations. The bulk of the work done at Continental Cable’s New Hampshire headquarters is cable assemblies for the aircraft industry, OEMs and relat-ed segments of the business.

“Obviously, we use our own wire rope,” says Nadeau. “We manufacture the cable here and purchase the wire elsewhere. Our test bed employs the same machine as that used by other wire rope makers. Ours simply has different specs involved to handle the thinner diameter wire rope used in the aircraft industry.”

Continental Cable has their own MIL spec cable. This has its own separate endurance test. Each cable needs to go on this tester and depending upon what the size of the cable is, it has a certain weight placed onto it. The cable

goes over pulleys for a certain amount of revolutions. Then it must be broken.

“To be 83420 cable that is actually going on aircraft, it needs to be lubed, certified, have tighter tolerances on di-ameter; therefore, we are taking things up to a different level with what we re-fer to as aircraft cable.

“The aircraft cable we’re constructing to the 83420 spec can be for all differ-ent types of things used on an aircraft such as for the door, which also con-tains cables and still has to be 83420 cable; we would sell those to people who are making the aircraft door, not necessarily directly to Boeing or such a company as that,” says Preston.

Regarding new technology, one of the things Preston finds helpful, is that yearly the various aircraft cable com-panies get together as an industry at their ACCG meetings. At that time they have opportunities to roundtable different things they’re involved with. It’s also an occasion for people to di-rect each other on what things they are exploring, and what types of speci-fications can be added, including what they are going to require on their end in order to meet those specifications.

When new technologies are discussed, this is an opportunity for Continental Cable as well as their competitors and their brethren to gather and stay on the same page with one another.

“Even though we use those old lay-outs from the mid-70s, every year we still get together with other cable man-ufacturers and deal with problems, questions, discussions and any need to make changes,” adds Nadeau. “It’s never a thing where we sit and say ‘it’s been great for 25 years; we don’t need to get together.’ There’s always some-thing to be added or that we might no longer need. This is beneficial to the whole industry. This gathering doesn’t just include the aircraft industry peo-ple but also the end terminal manufac-turers, makers of fittings. Engineers are there assisting us.”

Loos and Company, Pomfret, Connecticut, is a domestic manufac-turer of military specification aircraft cable, wire rope, and stainless steel wire. Mike Wallace, vice president of sales and marketing at Loos, worked with a USAF mechanic who was very familiar with cables, on a couple of restoration projects, a B-29 and a P-38 Lightning. Loos was asked to build all new cables for both. They were sent the original drawings of the assemblies and were able to duplicate every one of them with basically the exact same

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continued from page 32cables and terminals.

Wallace shares a little bit on each of them: In July of 1942 a squadron of B-17’s and Lightning P-38’s was forced to land on the Greenland Ice Cap dur-ing an attempted crossing of the Atlan-tic. The planes were abandoned and 50 years later, one P-38 nicknamed “Gla-cier Girl” was recovered from over 250 feet below the surface of the ice. Over time the planes had been covered in snow and ice which made it seem that they had sunk. They retrieved Glacier Girl and began a lengthy restoration program. Loos was contacted to manu-facture the new flight control cables during the restoration. She has now been fully restored and made her maid-en flight on October 26, 2002. http://p38assn.org/glacier-girl.htm

“Doc,” (B-29 Super fortress 44-69972, Production #10805) was manufactured by Boeing Aircraft Company at Wichi-ta, KS, and delivered to the Air Force on March 23, 1945. “Doc” has four engines with 2,200 horsepower each. The plane has a wingspan that stretches 141 feet, three inches, is 99 feet long and stands 29 feet, seven inches high. When fully loaded, she weighed 141,000 pounds. The plane could fly up to 358 mph, had

a range of 4,100 miles, could carry up to 20,000 pounds of bombs, and held enemy aircraft at bay with 10 machine guns and one 20mm cannon. It took a crew of ten to fly the plane.

Doc is being restored to flying form by volunteers in Wichita, Kansas. Loos is proud to have provided the new flight control cables for this historic restora-tion. http://www.b-29doc.com.

Strand Core, Inc. in Milton, Flor-ida has approximately 75% of their work involving the manufacture of air-craft cable. Strand Core’s President, Al Brown, III, echoes what has been mentioned regarding wire rope appli-cations and how little they’ve changed over the years.

“Not much drastic has happened in this area, so there is not much need to re-invent,” says Brown. “However, with the aerospace industry moving to-ward tighter tolerances, higher perfor-mances (longer life, break forces, safety margins, etc.), there are constant chal-lenges to meet these demands.”

When asked how Strand Core has grown or changed over the years as the aircraft and aircraft industry has changed, Brown notes that with the de-mand for quality and safety increasing over the last 20 or more years, certified

quality management systems have be-come an integral part of their every day business.

Challenges involved with the manu-facture of aircraft cable include the dearth of experienced employees. “There are no schools to go to, to learn the art of manufacturing wire rope,” explains Brown. “The only way to learn is what a rope mill provides for educa-tion and training. Since there are only a handful of us left in the US, there are not many people getting trained.”

The CEO of Strand Core, Inc., Al Brown, Jr. worked for John A. Roe-bling and Sons (CF&I) in Roebling, NJ and US Steel from the early 60’s to mid 70’s. These companies were pioneers in aircraft wire ropes. Strand Core’s foun-dation was built on the history that came from these companies. “I guess what I’d most like people to know about us is that we are a family-owned small business that strives to understand and help navigate the challenges a customer may face; that’s all any busi-ness – any good business - can really do. We take a lot of pride in being able to manufacture a quality product at a competitive price with customer sup-port. That’s saying something these days.” WRN


Is there a global marketfor riggers?

Or is international trade viable onlyfor large companies?

By Thomas G. Dolan

As we are now told time and time again, we are all now part of the global economy, interconnected with everyone else on earth if not through our common humanity, at least through our common currency. On a day to day level, it’s difficult to buy a piece of clothing or a dinner wear set which doesn’t state it was made in China, India, or even Bangladesh. But, in terms of doing business, does the global market exist only for governments and giant multinational corporations? Or is there also room for the smaller type of business, such as a rigging shop?

In speaking to seven riggers around the country, we found the opin-ion ranged from what might be

expected to some who see a real po-tential in international trade, and a few who have actually begun mak-ing inroads into this new arena.

Starting at one end of the spec-trum, Alice Jull, president, Van Port Rigging, Inc., Vancouver, WA, says, “The big guys are doing it, but the little guys don’t have the financial background to solicit that kind of business.” Jull maintains that the same dynamics which allows im-ports to be sold cheaper here would adversely affect the typical small American business from compet-ing abroad. “With more and more imports, you can pick them up any-where, and we’re selling more of them,” says Jull. “I run a small lo-cal company, so the global mar-ket has nothing to do with me. I’m just trying to put bread on the table.”

“To become global and be able to handle multiple accounts in different countries means we would really have to ratchet up our operations,” says Tom Miller, president, Marcal Rope & Rig-ging Company, St. Louis, MO. “I think the larger rigging companies on the coasts might be able to do some of this work, but here, in St. Louis, in the mid-dle of the country, with freight always being an issue, the global market is kind of a pipe dream really. I’ve never been one to aim low, but, realistically speak-ing, being a midwestern rigger becom-ing a global powerhouse is difficult to do. If someone can find a niche market, and offer what no one else has, that’s one thing, but standard rigging prod-

ucts are made all around the world.”When asked whether, in a general

sense, the global market has any ef-fect on him, Miller replies, “It would be foolish and short-sighted to say that we are not affected in some way. Ev-erything can affect something else. When the U.S. economy was going well, that had an effect. When the dol-lar dropped, that had an effect too. And imported products, especially from Europe and Southern Korea have definitely improved. Their technology has started to catch up. But nine out of ten things we sell are still domestic made. The midwest, as opposed to the east and west coasts, where there is a prevalence of imports, is almost unique in that regard. That’s because we push made in the U.S.A. products and say buying them keep the domestic manufacturers going. We use made in the U.S.A. as a marketing tool.”

David Seale, vice president, Sul-livan Wire Rope & Rigging, Inc., based in Houston, TX, says that that domestic loyalty is not nearly as common in his area. “As the qual-ity of imports becomes better, more people tend to accept them in their daily business. Then it becomes a question of cost effectiveness, and products become price driven. It boils down to if a customer asks you for a domestic product or one that has the best cost. Most purchases are price driven. So, as suppliers, we have to supply to meet the demand. Right now the total portion of our business is 70 percent import and 30 percent domestic. I don’t foresee that changing in the near future.”

On the other hand, Seale says that

there are two situations which have oc-casionally developed which has allowed Sullivan Wire Rope to ship abroad. The first is when a company headquartered overseas sets up an office in this coun-try and Sullivan wins it as a customer. When a project engineer or other key personnel returns to his home coun-try, this may be a relationship that can be nurtured to ship overseas. The second is when a company based in this country that Sullivan does busi-ness with initiates a project overseas. This can also provide a connection. “While not a normal core part of our business, relationships like this have led to overseas orders,” Seale says.

Rich St. Pierre, vice president, St. Pierre Chain & Wire Rope, Worcester, MA, is among those who agree there might not be much going on for riggers in the global market currently, but foresees a change in the future. The In-ternet, of course, is a driving factor in international sales. But there are still many reasons to be cautious about the Internet. “At least through the Inter-net, the further you go from your base, the more likely you are to be caught in a credit card scam. Many of the Inter-net shoppers are fraudulent, and we lost $6000 to $7000 through one scam.”

St. Pierre says he has learned “to ask for a letter from a bank or a letter of credit, and you’ll likely find you’ll nev-er hear from them again. We received a letter supposedly from a priest in Afr.ica who said he had $50 billion tied up in a bank, and all he wanted was for us to forward him $10,000. Whenever we get something like this through email or fax we turn it over to the FBI.”

The Internet has garnered St.

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Pierre some business nationally well beyond the company’s normal mar-keting area. “Every once in a while you can get an inquiry which can turn into a nice order, but it’s not common,” he says. “You can spend a lot of time quoting, expending time which would be better spent on serv-ing your regular customers. If you concentrate on the Internet, you can get a lot of business from it, but we’re not yet at that stage of evolution.”

On the other hand, St. Pierre says he is evolving in that direction, how-ever cautiously. “We’re updating our website with a global industrial search company, listing our products and ser-vices, and hope to gradually increase our foreign business.” One of the prob-lems St. Pierre is addressing in this update is the fact that international, not to mention national buyers, use the Inter net as an easy way to shop price. “You think you’re offering a good price, but so are 50 other people,” he says. “But we try to put ourselves in the buy-er’s shoes. If he’s looking only at price, we’re not interested. But, if we have an attractive, professional website and the buyer is looking for more than price, then we have a chance of attracting him.

St. Pierre says that both the in-

crease of foreign competition, the improvement of their products, and lower prices, is not as negative as might first appear. “It’s a double-edged sword, and can cut both ways,” says St. Pierre.” He explains that the first imports started from Japan, then came North Korea and China, and now India. So there’s a shift in suppli-ers, but an increase in both the over-all market and demand for quality.

“This means there will be more of a global demand to buy both quality do-mestic and foreign products. Both are on the increase. There is more global demand and only so much product to go around. Where it’s all going I can’t say for sure. But I’m being surprised on a weekly basis. I think as the In-ternet reaches out more and more effectively, there will be more and more business. I’m convinced of that.”

In agreement is Jerry Murphy, presi-dent, Greenshields Industry Supply, Everett, WA. “Before the crash there were the fears that we were going to run out of this or that, and then came the recession and demand went away,” Murphy says. “The story we’ve heard again and again is that the global econ-omy is caving in and would never come back. Well, it is coming back. Larger

companies are competing to sell sup-plies. Some of the large rigging sup-ply companies are doing quite well. The small shop would still have a hard time globe hopping. But that is chang-ing. The global economy is not roaring back. Some segments, such as hotels, might be lagging. But infrastructure is happening, from the U.S. to China to parts of South America, and some other areas around the world. As the demand increases, most resources will pick up, and prices will go up as there is more demand than supply. In our own chain and wire rigging division, the stimu-lus contracts have gone into effect and our business picked up in October.”

Moreover, although Murphy didn’t search it out, through a domestic channel came an opportunity for him to bid on a $200 million dollar proj-ect in Africa. “We’re still in the bid-ding process so I don’t want to com-ment further on this project,” Murphy says. “But I believe that opportunities like this will increase in the future.”

Jim Boyko, president of Mill Valley Splicing Inc. in Belchertown, MA de-scribes his company as a small fam-ily business that, about a year ago, found itself doing business in China.


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“There is a market, a real market out there,” Boyko says. “But it’s not for ev-erybody. You’re not going to get far with everyday commercially available items you can pick off the shelves. But there is a market for specialty items. You have to be connected to ship interna-tionally. And it takes an effort to train the internal office staff. You have to prepare documents and educate your-self on issues regarding exporting. It’s not an easy thing, and it takes effort.”

Also, Boyko cautions, “You have to be careful. I would not rely upon the charm of China, or put all my eggs in that one basket. By nature of their cul-ture, they think differently. You have to understand where they’re coming from. China tends to look at whatever

continued from previous page anyone else is doing, then try to dupli-cate it through reverse engineering.”

Nevertheless, Boyko believes that “though this is a niche, it is a small but important part of our busi-ness.” He adds, that, as new fron-tiers open up, and if trading con-ditions become more stabilized, that more opportunities will arise.

One rigging company which has extensive experience in exporting, and has been doing so for the past twenty years is Certified Slings & Supply, Inc., Casselberry, FL “We do a lot of exporting,” says Jim Flow-ers, manager of business develop-ment, “and, with the economy the way it’s been, we’ve been looking for new markets. In Latin America in-terstructural growth is very big, as is

offshore drilling, especially in Brazil.“Overall, there is an appetite in

these foreign markets for quality American-made products, originated and fabricated here. These custom-ers want American expertise and know-how.” The foreign attraction for American products, Flowers contin-ues, is because they tend to be both more customized and more mass pro-duced as well as certified. “We are ISO qualified and certified, and this is a critical factor,” Flower says. Much of this has to do with the fact that much of Certified’s exports are for oil rigs. “Two things are going on at once,” says Flowers. “One thing that is driv-ing this is the insurance companies. The company has to know what he is getting, so if something happens there is traceability, which won’t be there if the product came from China. Sec-ond, with critical overhead lifting on an oil rig platform you have incred-ible value at stake. So for those ap-plications you need quality assurance, even though you have to pay more for what you are getting. It’s not like buying tie-downs for farm fencing.”

Flowers says his company of-ten works through exporters. This might mean Certified provides for a job it doesn’t even know about, such as a dam project in Pakistan. On the other hand, Flowers sug-gests that exporters might be a good way for domestic riggers, even in the interior of the country, with-out access to the coasts, to find for-eign markets for their products.

What Certified has going for it, however, is location. “Miami is like the capital of Latin America,” Flowers says. “It’s the gateway to the south.”

When asked about the obstacles to foreign trade, Flowers replies, “The first is cultural. You’re going in as an American company dealing with an entirely different culture. Then there’s the language barrier.”

Yet Certfied has obviously overcome these barriers, as evi-denced by the fact that it recently won an award from the Interna-tional Business Council for being one of the country’s top exporters.

When asked the main criteria upon which the award was based, Flowers responds, “It was basically customer satisfaction. We do a lot of investiga-tion on our own, and a lot of trial and error. We talk to a lot of people who have been both successful and un-successful in that country. There can be pitfalls to international trade, so you have to do your homework.” WRN



Preliminary steel imports decline 16% in FebruaryImport market share at 18%

Based on preliminary Census Bu-reau data, the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported that the U.S. imported a total of 1,777,000 net tons (NT) of steel in February, including 1,371,000 NT of finished steel (down 16% and 19%, respectively, from Janu-ary final data). Annualized total and finished steel imports in 2011 would be 23.4 and 18.4 million NT, respectively, each down 2% vs. 2010. Finished steel import market share in February was an estimated 18% and is 20% through 2 months of this year, a slight decline from the 21% for full year 2010.

In February 2011, compared to the month before, imports of reinforcing bars were up 63%; they are up 79% year-to-date. Other major products with significant year-to-date import increases vs. the same period last year include oil country goods (up 90%) and cut length plate (up 84%).

In February, the largest volumes of finished steel imports from offshore were from South Korea (183,000, down 15%), Japan (123,000 NT, down 5%), Turkey (70,000 up 96%), Germany (64,000 NT, down 34%) and Austra-lia (53,000, down 29%). For the first 2 months of 2011, the largest offshore suppliers were South Korea (396,000, up 59%), Japan (252,000 NT, up 29%) and Germany (162,000 NT, up 150%). Below are charts on estimated steel import market share in recent months and on finished steel imports from off-shore by country.

American Iron and Steel Institute supports President’s priorities for boosting manufacturing; urges administration to adjust regulatory burden, take tougher stance on China trade

Supporting President Obama’s chal-lenge to invest in America’s future is-sued during comments delivered to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Amer-ican Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) agreed that American workers nation-wide will benefit if the nation is able to increase exports and rebuild America’s infrastructure.

“We endorse the President’s call to to put more people to work rebuilding crumbling roads and bridges,” AISI President and CEO Thomas J. Gibson said. “The steel industry agrees this should be an immediate focus and we

Source: U.S. Department of Commerce

are urging that Congress approve a new multi-year surface transportation act that will provide an adequate level of funding for significant infrastructure projects with an emphasis on highways and specifically bridges. This will not only make America a better place to do business, it will also put Ameri-cans back to work in high-paying jobs.” Gibson said the Department of Trans-portation reports that every $1 billion federally invested in highway capital supports nearly 35,000 American jobs.

“We are also on record supporting the President in his goal of doubling U.S. exports by 2015,” Gibson said. “In that regard, we agree with his desire for ‘an economy that’s based on what we make and sell around the world.’ But to achieve that, we must have a level playing field for American manufactur-ers. The most egregious competitive disadvantage we face at present is Chi-na’s undervaluation of its currency by as much as 40 percent, which directly undercuts U.S. manufacturers and is costing valuable American jobs. Our nation must get tough with China on currency and other abusive trade prac-

tices before we can achieve this laud-able goal.”

Gibson said the President is on the right track with his stated goal of eliminating ‘outdated and unnecessary regulations’ that hamper economic growth. He said AISI believes, howev-er, that the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) regulation of green-house gas emissions from stationary sources will have to be addressed by Congress.

“These regulations will negatively impact American manufacturing jobs by adding to our domestic regulatory burden even while emissions continue to increase from sources in nations without similar regulations,” Gibson said. “Members of Congress in both the Senate and the House of Represen-tatives understand that unilateral cli-mate regulation will not result in any emissions reductions if production is merely shifted offshore. Perversely, it will only result in increased emissions as we import steel and steel-containing goods from economies that are less ef-ficient than our own. We look forward

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to working with Congress to push back these misguided regulations that will simply shift American jobs and emis-sions to unregulated nations.”

AISI board of directors approves 2011 Public Policy AgendaPolicy priorities are part of an overall pro-manufacturing strategy

The Board of Directors of the Ameri-can Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) has approved AISI’s 2011 Public Policy

Agenda. Priorities of the agenda are all part of an aggressive pro-manufactur-ing strategy that AISI and its member companies are advancing, according to AISI President and CEO Thomas J. Gibson.

“The North American steel industry strongly supports implementation of a pro-manufacturing policy agenda that ensures U.S. manufacturers are able to compete in today’s global economy,” Gibson said, “and as such, it remains the organizing principle for our entire set of public policy priorities. Whether

it is implementing an effective trade remedy to address China’s currency manipulation, overturning the Envi-ronmental Protection Agency’s efforts to regulate greenhouse gases from sta-tionary sources under the Clean Air Act or reauthorizing a long-term sur-face transportation bill—all of these are critical areas in helping to revive America’s manufacturing base. Our Agenda supports a range of policy mea-sures designed to help create a compet-itive business climate in which manu-facturing can thrive.”

The following are key issues in AISI’s 2011 Public Policy Agenda:

• Pro-Manufacturing Agenda: Streng- then the U.S. industrial base by reform-ing tax policies to promote investment in manufacturing, avoiding excessive government regulation that reduces in-dustrial competitiveness, and support-ing research and development of break-through technologies for the future.

• Trade: Expand rules-based trade, keep strong our laws against unfair trade and injurious surges, strictly enforce trade agreements, and combat Chinese currency manipulation and other protectionist foreign government policies.

• Energy: Adopt an energy policy that promotes development of cost-competitive domestic energy sources and provides incentives for industrial energy efficiency projects and research into breakthrough technologies, while avoiding unilateral regulation of green-house gases by EPA.

• Environment: Examine the impact of proposed environmental regulations on industrial competitiveness, require adequate cost/benefit analysis, and en-courage greater transparency and in-dustry access to the regulatory process.

• Transportation and Infrastruc-ture: Invest in upgrading America’s transportation and water infrastruc-ture through a long-term strategy that makes the nation more efficient, while energizing commerce and creating jobs.

• Occupational Health and Safety: Encourage greater focus on coopera-tive government-industry approaches to promoting worker health and safety.

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 pre-ferred material of choice. AISI also plays a lead role in the development and application of new steels and steel-making technology. AISI is comprised of 25 member companies, including integrated and electric furnace steel-

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continued from page 40makers, and 140 associate and affili-ate members who are suppliers to or customers of the steel industry. AISI’s member companies represent approxi-mately 80 percent of both U.S. and North American steel capacity. For more news about steel and its appli-cations, view AISI’s Web site at www.steel.org.

Thyssenkrupp Steel USA joins The American Iron And Steel Institute

The American Iron and Steel Insti-tute (AISI) welcomes ThyssenKrupp Steel USA as a member, AISI Presi-dent and CEO Thomas J. Gibson an-nounced. The AISI Board of Direc-tors welcomed the company, which is headquartered in Calvert, Alabama, as a producer member at its quarterly meeting held February 3 in Washing-ton, D.C. Development of the compa-ny’s Alabama plant operations began in 2007 and when fully operational, ThyssenKrupp USA will have the an-nual capacity to produce 4.7 million tons of carbon steel coiled product.

“As Chairman of AISI, I’m pleased to welcome ThyssenKrupp Steel USA President and CEO Christoph Lack-

inger to the AISI Board of Direc-tors and to extend that welcome to all the employees of ThyssenKrupp Steel USA,” AISI Chairman Daniel R. DiMicco, chairman and CEO of Nucor Corporation, said. “As our industry ad-vances its pro-manufacturing strategy, having a unified voice and presence throughout the country is a tremen-dous asset to the progress of our public policy agenda.”

“It is a pleasure to welcome Chris-toph Lackinger to the AISI Board of Di-rectors,” Gibson, said. “ThyssenKrupp Steel USA is part of the global technol-ogy parent company, ThyssenKrupp, and as such, brings its long-established reputation for quality performance, to its North American presence. We are pleased that ThyseenKrupp Steel USA is joining the Institute as we work steadily to influence public policy and to educate and shape public opinion in support of a strong, sustainable North American steel industry.”

“We are pleased at the opportunity to join the work of AISI. In Alabama, we have combined ThyssenKrupp’s nearly two hundred year old metallurgical expertise and technical support with a new state-of-the-art facility to pro-duce a high quality American product.

We look forward to adding our voice to AISI’s efforts to strengthen the North American steel industry as a leader in the global marketplace,” Lackinger said.

Gibson said ThyssenKrupp USA joins the Institute as AISI embarks on intensive efforts to inform the tre-mendous number of new Members of the 112th Congress of the industry’s top policy priorities and of its impres-sive environmental achievements. He said that AISI is focused on advocating for policies to expand the competitive-ness of the domestic steel industry, in-cluding the need to develop a range of sustainable domestic energy sources, better trade enforcement and infra-structure investment, with particular focus on upgrading America’s high-ways and bridges.

AISI strongly supports USTR request for WTO dispute settlement panel

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imposition of anti-dumping and coun-tervailing duties on imports of grain-oriented flat-rolled electrical steel from the United States.

“We commend U.S. Trade Represen-tative Ron Kirk and the Administra-tion for taking definitive steps to have the WTO establish a dispute settle-ment panel to address this troubling determination that was made by the Chinese government, which appears to violate numerous WTO requirements,” Thomas J. Gibson, AISI president and CEO, said. “We urge that WTO ap-prove this request and move forward to assemble a panel.”

Gibson said that, according to USTR, China did not follow WTO require-ments in numerous aspects of the anti-dumping and countervailing duty pro-ceedings in this case, which in turn has led to serious and unjustified restric-tions on exports of American steel. He noted that, in contrast to the United States – where trade remedy proce-dures are transparent, WTO-consistent and provide due process for all parties — China has engaged in a gross abuse of its trade remedy procedures by deny-ing due process and access to key infor-mation and by using WTO-inconsistent

methodologies.“We believe that China’s gross abuse

of antidumping and countervailing duty procedures must be brought un-der WTO scrutiny in order to achieve clarity and an equitable solution to this unresolved dispute,” Gibson said. “This failure of China, once again, to live up to its WTO obligations has hindered U.S. steel exports and put valuable American jobs at risk.”

FeMET initiative accepting proposals for 2011–2012 design and curriculum development grants

The American Iron and Steel Insti-tute (AISI) and the Association for Iron & Steel Technology (AIST) Founda-tion’s “Ferrous Metallurgy Education Today,” or FeMET Initiative, which is aimed at attracting top scholastic tal-ent to the North American steel indus-try, is now accepting design and cur-riculum development grant proposals for the 2011-2012 school year.

The FeMET Design Grant Program seeks innovative designs and solutions for industry-related issues. Student-professor teams are asked to address an important industry concern or “challenge” by working collaboratively.

Proposals must include the team’s ap-proach/methodology, including a bud-get and schedule. Proposals will be judged based on: technical approach and relation to the theme, probability of success and its potential benefits, and team qualifications. The program may award a grant of up to $50,000.

The theme for 2011 is “the recyclabil-ity of automobiles — past, present and future — i.e., the impact of advanced high-strength steels (AHSS) and em-bedded electronic components.” Teams should quantify the benefits arising out of the proposed technique/s and the study. Teams may propose to perform one or more comparative studies, as long as they remain within the budget parameters outlined in the proposal in-structions.

Completed proposals must be sub-mitted electronically, via PDF, to [email protected] by 28 May 2011. Awardees will be announced 29 July 2011. Questions about the design grant program and/or proposal process should be directed to BV Lakshmina-rayana at [email protected] or +1.202.452.7143.

FeMET Curriculum Development Grant proposals are being solicited

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from professors of ferrous metallurgy or materials science at North American universities for funding of a curriculum development assistant to enhance or update industry curriculum in ferrous metallurgy programs. The program ob-jective is to utilize students to assist in the editing and updating of textbooks and/or other course materials for use in ferrous metallurgy education, with an underlying objective to increase in-dustry awareness within the academic community. The proposals must indi-cate how the professor will approach the task, including budget and sched-ule requirements.

Up to five university professors will be awarded $5,000 each per year to fund initiatives designed to enhance or update industry curriculum in ferrous metallurgy programs. The maximum allowable time for a Curriculum Devel-opment Grant is five years, beginning in the fall of 2011, for a total of $25,000 per grant. The number of awards de-pends on fund availability.

Proposals will be evaluated according to the following criteria: direct benefits to the iron and steel industry and the ferrous metallurgy/materials science programs in North America, the plan’s potential to increase the number of stu-

dents studying metallurgy and materi-als science in North America, and the expertise and capabilities of the profes-sor to fulfill the program objective.

Completed proposals must be sub-mitted electronically, via PDF, to [email protected] by 28 May 2011. Awardees will be announced 29 July 2011. Questions about the Curricu-lum Development program and/or proposal process should be directed to Lori Wharrey at [email protected] or +1.724.814.3044.

AISI and the AIST Foundation to-gether launched the FeMET Initiative to encourage more students to choose metallurgy or materials science as their field of study, to recruit more of such graduates into the steel industry and to increase the number of profes-sors knowledgeable in steel in North American universities.

The AIST Foundation is a Pennsylva-nia-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit corpora-tion organized for charitable, education and scientific purposes that seeks to attract technology-oriented profession-als to the steel industry by educating the public about the high-tech, diverse and rewarding nature of careers in modern steelmaking. Scholarships are awarded on an annual basis to talented

and dedicated students to encourage the pursuit of a career within iron and steel-related industries. Approximately $400,000 was awarded in 2010 through the AIST Foundation and its affiliated groups. The AIST Foundation is part of AIST, an international professional and technical association of more than 13,700 professional and student mem-bers. As the industry evolves, the AIST Foundation will strive to develop new and innovative programs to support the future of the iron and steel technol-ogy. For more information about AIST, visit AIST.org.

AISI calls for Congress to pass currency reform legislationAISI dismayed at Treasury Department’s failure once again to name China a currency manipulator

Thomas J. Gibson, president and CEO, the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI), issued the following statement regarding the Obama Ad-ministration’s decision not to name China a currency manipulator:

We are extremely disappointed and dismayed with the Administration’s decision to once again fail to name



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continued from page 48China as a currency manipulator, par-ticularly considering that U.S. Trea-sury reported last week that the yuan ‘remains substantially undervalued’ to the detriment of other nations.

With U.S. unemployment remaining at high levels and job creation a top priority, we cannot allow China to con-tinue undercutting American manufac-turers by giving its own manufacturers as much as a 40 percent subsidy for their exports.

It’s clear that we need to turn to Congress to level the playing field by enacting an effective trade remedy tool to deal with the problem of cur-rency undervaluation by China and other governments. Representatives Tim Murphy (R-PA), Tim Ryan (D-OH) and Sander Levin (D-MI), joined by a growing group of co-sponsors, plan to reintroduce the Currency Reform for Fair Trade Act, which AISI strongly supports. We look forward to simi-lar currency reform legislation being brought forward in the Senate by Sen-ators Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and Charles Schumer (D-NY). We encourage the swift pas-sage of currency reform legislation by both chambers, which is urgently need-

ed to prevent further damage to U.S. manufacturers and workers.

AISI launches redesigned website featuring its steel network of websites

The American Iron and Steel Insti-tute (AISI) has launched a new net-work of websites that includes a rede-sign of its flagship steel.org, launch of the brand new smdisteel.org dedicated to the steel markets and a totally new face for North American steel recycling at recycle-steel.org. The Steel Market Development Institute (SMDI), which is a business unit of AISI created in 2008, has unveiled its new website as part of the launch, while the Steel Re-cycling Institute (SRI), also a business unit of AISI, features a redesign of its website, including expanded content on sustainability and life-cycle analysis.

“The network of sites offers visitors access to anything they might need to find out about the North American steel industry, its market applications, general statistics or the industry’s com-mitment to sustainability,” AISI Presi-dent and CEO Thomas J. Gibson said. “It also features content important to our major advocacy issues, tools to en-able our members to take action on

relevant legislation and information about the industry’s major thrust in the area of research and development, which will translate into new technolo-gies to advance the future of the North American steel industry.”

The Public Policy section of the rede-signed website features content dedicat-ed to AISI’s policy priorities, including positions on pro-manufacturing, energy and climate, environment, transporta-tion and infrastructure, and health and safety. A Resources page features mate-rials that include white papers (policy analysis), fact sheets, AISI testimony, Steelgrams on legislation, AISI com-ments and the AISI 2011 Public Policy Agenda, among other tools.

A unique element of the network is a global navigation bar at the top of each page that enables visitors to move ef-fortlessly among the network of web-sites. For example, if someone is on the steel.org site learning about how steel is made, and then wants to learn all about steel recycling, he or she can do so by moving the cursor to point to “The Steel Network” drop down menu, and click on Steel Recycling Institute. The Steel Network is also expandable, enabling future websites that are part of the AISI family to become accessible

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through this global navigation. “The site is designed to make it as

easy as possible for people to find any-thing about steel and the steel indus-try,” Gibson said.

The global navigation also features a media center, information on events, access to the online store, contact infor-mation for AISI and its business units, SMDI and SRI, and a place for Mem-bers to login to password protected con-tent reserved for members.

The steel.org site continues its pop-ular “Steel Comment of the Week,” which features current commentary by Members of Congress about the domes-tic steel industry. It also includes the Steelworks Blog, and a North American map that shows the various geographic locations in the United States, Canada and Mexico where steel is produced.

The menu tab on sustainability de-scribes the steel industry’s perfor-mance in terms of energy efficiency, reducing its carbon footprint, use of life cycle analysis and new technologies being developed to further advance the industry’s environmental achieve-ments. For example, between 1990 and 2009, the North American steel indus-try reduced the CO2 intensity per ton of steel produced by 35 percent and en-ergy intensity 30 percent as a result of the industry’s voluntary efforts to im-prove its efficiency.

The smdisteel.org website offers pro-files of major steel applications, includ-ing automotive, construction and con-tainer. Because the construction market is highly segmented, visitors will find that the construction section of the SMDI website offers a variety of market segments within that part of the web-site. These include bridges, cold-formed steel design, codes & standards, utility poles, framing, roofing, corrugated steel pipe, steel pipes and tanks, reinforced pavement and green building.

The recycle-steel.org website con-tains a tremendous range of informa-tion related to recycling, including overall recycling rates as well as the rates for each market segment, infor-mation about LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) cer-tification, a searchable online database to locate the nearest steel recycling op-tion by filling in a state and zip code, and access to educational tools for teachers and students who want to learn more about how to recycle their steel-containing products.

For more information, go to www.steel.org. To learn more about the Steel Market Development Institute and the Steel Recycling Institute, go to The

Steel Network at the top of the website’s global navigation, and click on the or-ganization’s name. You can also access SMDI directly at www.smdisteel.org and SRI at www.recycle-steel.org.

AISI commends members of Congress for reintroduction of currency reform legislationAmerican Iron and Steel Institute calls on Congress to support action immediately

The American Iron and Steel Insti-tute (AISI) commended Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), Congressional Steel Caucus Chairman Tim Murphy (R-Pa.), Ways and Means Ranking Member Sander Levin (D-Mich.) and Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) for introducing the Currency Reform for Fair Trade Act of 2011. Last September, the House passed similar legislation by an overwhelming vote 348-79, but it was not taken up during the Senate’s lame-duck session.

“We greatly appreciate the tremen-dous leadership shown today by the sponsors of the Currency Reform for Fair Trade Act. This bill has wide bi-partisan support as shown by both the overwhelming vote in favor of it in the last Congress and the large number of

original co-sponsors committed to its reintroduction in the 112th Congress,” AISI President and CEO Thomas J. Gibson commented. “The Currency Reform for Fair Trade Act is common sense legislation that adds no addition-al cost to the federal government but does provide the U.S. with a legal tool to use in addressing the unsustainable trade balance we have with China and its built-in export subsidy, which un-dercuts American manufacturers and costs valuable manufacturing jobs. The bill would give U.S. manufacturers the ability to use the existing countervail-ing duty law to obtain a remedy for in-jury caused by goods benefiting from a currency manipulation export subsidy.

“China Inc. continues to flagrantly disregard its WTO commitments by de-liberately undervaluing its currency by as much as 40 percent to gain an unfair trade advantage for its manufacturers. Last Friday, the Obama Administration sidestepped another opportunity to cite China as a currency manipulator. We cannot keep giving China a free pass on this critical issue. It’s time that Con-gress directly address these protection-ist and trade-distorting currency prac-tices and make China play by the rules.”


continued from previous pageSteel Industry urges action by U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk against raw material export restrictions

In a letter sent to the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Ron Kirk, the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI), the Steel Manufacturers Asso-ciation (SMA), the Specialty Steel In-dustry of North America (SSINA) and the American Scrap Coalition (ASC) urged Ambassador Kirk to take action to address the growing imposition of

restraints on exports of raw materials used in steel making by a number of major steel producing countries. These raw material export restraints give for-eign steel producers an unfair artificial advantage in international competition at the expense of the U.S. steel industry.

In the letter, American steel indus-try representatives urged the USTR to lead the global trading community in addressing the issue of restraints on exports of raw materials, pointing to In-dia’s recent quadrupling of export duties on certain types of iron ore, and Russia’s

announcement that it will limit exporta-tion of iron and steel scrap through only certain ports. The letter also noted that China has announced further restric-tions on exports of fluorspar and refrac-tory bauxite, despite an ongoing WTO challenge to such restrictions.

The letter notes that while some ex-port restrictions – such as those im-posed by China – are in clear violation of WTO rules, some of the other re-strictions – for example, export duties – may not be subject to uniform inter-national disciplines. The letter recom-mended that export duties that do not appear to be subject to adequate WTO or other disciplines, should be a prior-ity of international negotiations. “This may require action at both the multi-lateral and bilateral levels,” the letter stated, “and it will also require greater ambition and effort than contemplated with the current Doha initiative on transparency,” the letter concluded. For a complete copy of the letter, go to our web site at www.steel.org/~/media/Files/AISI/Public%20Policy/Letter-tra-deUSTRreRawMaterials.ashx.

Steel industry responds to President Obama’s call to improve energy efficiency in buildings Steel provides retrofit opportunities to reach ambitious energy-saving goals

Responding to President Obama’s Penn State address calling for busi-nesses to improve energy efficiency in commercial buildings across the United States, the steel industry announced it has the products and technologies to help building owners achieve these long-term goals.

“The President has laid out an ag-gressive plan for retrofitting commer-cial buildings with energy-efficient upgrades,” Lawrence W. Kavanagh, president of the Steel Market Develop-ment Institute (SMDI), said. “We can help businesses meet this challenge with steel technologies and products that are durable, cost-effective, provide long-term energy savings, and are available now.

“Steel offers energy-saving solutions for many building components,” Kava-nagh said. “An example is cool metal roofing and wall products that help reduce building energy consumption by lowering cooling loads. Reflective metal roofs can save up to 40 percent in building cooling energy costs and are excellent options for commercial retrofit applications. In many retrofit applications, metal roofing can be effi-ciently installed with above sheathing

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ventilation (ASV), which allows heat to dissipate through the ridge vent in hot weather while acting as an insulating layer when it is cold. With ASV, steel roofs can contribute to a 30 percent re-duction in heat gain through the roof.”

Kavanagh explained that the steel industry, partnering with manufactur-ers and installers, continues to invest in innovative technologies to improve the energy efficiency of building clad-ding products.

Steel roofing and siding offers an ex-cellent base to provide a building with electrical generation and innovative solar thermal systems. Metal roofs pro-vide the optimal foundation for photo-voltaic installations, since the roof can be expected to last longer than the PV system it supports. New technologies are being developed with the potential to allow the PV generating system to be painted directly on the metal roofing substrate. Wall and roof solar heat re-covery systems can be integrated with steel cladding and used to provide air, water, or process heating needs.

In addition to these direct energy-saving benefits, steel roofing and wall cladding contribute to an overall reduc-tion in environmental impact. Steel construction materials in retrofit ap-

plications typically generate credits in green building certification programs and reduce the building’s carbon foot-print. Steel cladding is durable, offer-ing long-term resistance to weather, including wind, hail, ice, and snow. Commercial metal roofs have been in service in excess of 30 years, and paint-ed metal roofs are credibly warranted for a minimum of 30 years. Steel is produced using recycled materials and is fully recyclable at the end of its use-ful life. Reflective metal roofs can help reduce urban heat island effect. As an added benefit, steel roofing is light-weight, so a retrofit steel system can often be installed over an existing roof covering, reducing landfill waste.

“Wall and roof cladding products us-ing steel can play a key role in achiev-ing the President’s energy objectives by providing an attractive, durable retrofit alternative for the commercial building market that also reduces overall envi-ronmental impact,” Kavanagh said.

For more information on the benefits of cool metal roofing, visit www.cool-metalroofing.com.

The Steel Market Development Insti-tute, a business unit of the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI), grows and maintains the use of steel through

strategies that promote cost-effective solutions in the automotive, construc-tion and container markets, as well as for new-growth opportunities in emerg-ing steel markets. For more news or in-formation, visit www.steel.org.

The investor companies in the Con-struction Market program of the Steel Market Development Institute are:

• AK Steel Corporation• ArcelorMittal Dofasco• ArcelorMittal USA LLC• Nucor Corporation• SSAB Americas• Steelscape, Inc. • United States Steel Corporation• USS-POSCO Industries

AISI commends U.S. Commerce Department for ruling on Chinese circumvention Preliminary determination will apply antidumping order to all Chinese producers

The American Iron and Steel Insti-tute (AISI) commends the U.S. Com-merce Department for its preliminary determination that Chinese producers are circumventing an antidumping or-der on plate products through the addi-


continued from previous pagetion of boron.

“We are pleased to hear that the Com-merce Department has taken action on what is one of the oldest tricks on the book, trying to slightly modify the chem-istry of a product to evade antidumping orders,” AISI President and CEO Thom-as J. Gibson, said. “Particularly note-worthy is the fact that the Commerce Department decided, appropriately, to apply the antidumping order broadly to all Chinese producers, not just the specific Chinese producers found to be circumventing. This is a clear victory for U.S. plate producers. Commerce will now collect cash deposits on all Chinese boron-added plate, unless the produc-er can clearly verify that the product meets very specific additional testing requirements showing that the boron addition actually was added to improve the characteristics of the steel to meet required specifications.”

“We are also pleased that Commerce is going to move forward swiftly on a quick schedule to render a final deter-mination,” Gibson said. He said it is also positive that the additional AD duty collection begins immediately, and cash deposits are actually required retroactive to April 2010.

AISI releases final report of the Technology Roadmap Research Program describing 47 R&D projects valued at $38 million supported by the steel industry and U.S. DOE

The American Iron and Steel In-stitute (AISI) has released the Final Report of the Technology Roadmap Research Program for the Steel In-dustry—an account of collaborative R&D efforts jointly funded by the steel industry and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The report details 47 R&D projects valued at $38 million for research into all areas of steelmaking conducted over a 10-year period.

The Technology Roadmap Program (TRP) was designed to develop new tech-nologies directed at joint government and industry goals—saving energy, in-creasing competitiveness and reducing emissions to the environment. The pro-gram results provided significant energy and CO2 savings in steel manufacturing. More importantly, even greater savings are being realized by the users of steel products. For example, several advanced high-strength steel projects resulted in lightweight automotive designs—in turn reducing gasoline consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.

“The TRP Final Report is the cul-mination of a decade of collaborative R&D work that defined a pathway for achieving the North American steel industry’s established energy and envi-ronmental objectives,” AISI President and CEO Thomas J. Gibson said. “The results speak for themselves. We have achieved a 30 percent energy intensity reduction since 1990. To make future reductions of this magnitude, we are exploring ‘breakthrough technologies’ and must have continued collabora-tion between industry and government through successful partnership pro-grams like TRP.”

Breakthrough technologies are those that are significant departures from current technology. The TRP began the steel industry’s efforts in this area. Several projects begun under TRP are continuing and have the potential to substantially reduce CO2 emissions: Paired Straight Hearth Furnace (Mc-Master University); Hydrogen Flash Smelting (University of Utah); and Molten Oxide Electrolysis (Massachu-setts Institute of Technology). AISI and its members are working to continue partnering with DOE to develop these next generation processes.

TRP supplemented the in-house R&D

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of the various steel companies co-fund-ing the work. It provided a vehicle for performing collaborative R&D benefit-ting the entire industry rather than a single company. TRP also introduced the steel industry to new and cross-cutting technologies developed outside its industry, such as Laser Sensors from Sandia National Laboratories and Com-putational Fluid Dynamics modeling of the blast furnace vessel and off gas from Purdue University—Calumet and the University of New South Wales.

The Report details the program and methodology, sources and distribu-tion of funds, and also provides high-lights of selected R&D projects. Areas covered include: Ironmaking, CO2 Abatement and Alternative Ironmak-ing Processes, Basic Oxygen Fur-nace (BOF) and Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) Steelmaking, and Rolling Mill Operations. It also highlights Sus-tainability, Recycling and CO2 Se-questration. TRP ran from July 1997 to December 2008.

January steel shipments up 5.9 percent from DecemberUp 14.4 percent year to date

The American Iron and Steel Insti-tute (AISI) reported that for the month

of January 2011, U.S. steel mills shipped 7,528,655 net tons, a 5.9 per-cent increase from the 7,111,031 net tons shipped in the previous month, December 2010, and a 14.4 percent increase from the 6,579,808 net tons shipped in January 2010. Shipments year-to-date in 2011 are 7,528,655, a 14.4 percent increase vs. 2010 ship-ments of 6,579,808 for one month. 2011 shipments for January would annual-ize at 90.3 million tons.

A month-to-month comparison of shipments shows the following chang-es: cold rolled sheet, up 19 percent, hot dipped galvanized sheet and strip, up 14 percent and hot rolled sheet, up 5 percent.

FABTECH shifts show dates to November 14-17Increased automation and de-mand for floor space fuels date change.

FABTECH show management an-nounced a shift in dates for FABTECH 2011. North America’s largest metal forming, fabricating, welding and fin-ishing event will now open on Monday, November 14 and run through Thurs-day, November 17 at Chicago’s McCor-

mick Place. The show originally was scheduled to begin on Sunday.

The change is due to a number of fac-tors, including an increase in exhibitor participation and demand for larger booth spaces. In addition, exhibitors are making plans to display highly au-tomated machinery on the show floor. This type of equipment requires a min-imum amount of set-up time and the new dates will provide an additional move-in day.

“We are pleased to hear exhibitors plan to demonstrate more never-before-seen machinery, high-tech equipment and advanced technology at FABTECH 2011,” said John Catalano, FABTECH co-show manager. “We feel the date adjustment will better accommodate our exhibitor set-up needs and dem-onstrates our commitment to ensuring both exhibitors and attendees have the best show experience possible.”

The 2011 event is expected to draw 30,000 attendees and 1,200 exhibiting companies covering more than 450,000 net square feet of floor space. Buyers and sellers from around the world will come together to exchange products and services, network with peers, prob-lem solve and discover new products.

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


continued from previous pageFor more information about exhib-

iting or attending FABTECH 2011, please visit www.fabtechexpo.com/or call 800-432-2832.

FABTECH is co-sponsored by the American Welding Society (AWS), Fab-ricators & Manufacturers Association International (FMA), Society of Manu-facturing Engineers (SME), Precision Metalforming Association (PMA), and Chemical Coaters Association Interna-tional (CCAI).

Messe Düsseldorf to pro-mote four wire trade fairs at Interwire 2011

Messe Düsseldorf will participate in Interwire 2011 in order to promote its worldwide program of international wire and cable trade fairs, including wire Düsseldorf 2012 (to be held from March 26 - 30, 2012 in Düsseldorf, Germany), wire Southeast ASIA 2011 (to be staged from September 13 - 15, 2011 in Bangkok, Thailand), wire Rus-sia 2011 (to take place in Moscow from May 23 - 26, 2011) and wire China 2012 (scheduled for September 25 - 28, 2012 in Shanghai). At Interwire booth 902, exhibitor, visitor, hotel and travel infor-mation for wire Düsseldorf 2012, wire Southeast Asia 2011, wire Russia 2011 and wire China 2012 will be available.

Every two years, wire - International Wire and Cable Trade Fair - in Düssel-dorf becomes the international meet-ing point for specialists from the wire, cable and tube industry. About 1,200 international exhibitors will present

machinery and equipment for wire and cable production and processing as well as machinery for spring manufacturing, metal forming and quality assurance to 35,000 visitors from around the globe.

wire Southeast ASIA – 3rd Inter-national Wire & Cable Trade Fair for Southeast Asia – will return to Bangkok at an opportune time when a strong economic growth of 5.8% is forecast for the country. Neighboring nations such as Vietnam (6.4%), Indo-nesia (6.4%) and Malaysia (5.3%) also anticipate strong growth. 2011 might be a new era of sustained growth in the ASEAN economies driven by exports and domestic consumption. The event will be organized by Messe Düsseldorf Asia, the subsidiary of Messe Düssel-dorf in Germany.

The Russian market is full of business expansion opportunities within the wire and cable industry for international companies offering the most up-to-date technologies. For this lucrative market, Messe Düsseldorf and its subsidiary Messe Düsseldorf Moscow will organize wire Russia - The International Wire and Cable Trade Fair in Russia - where about 210 exhibitors from 29 countries will present their latest technologies for the wire and cable industry.

Together with its subsidiary Messe Düsseldorf China, Messe Düsseldorf will organize wire China 2012, The 5th All China - International Wire & Cable Industry Trade Fair. As the leading trade fair for the industry in Asia, wire China 2012 will present the technical development and product highlights from the wire manufacturing industry

urgently needed for projects related to government-subsidized housing, construction of railway and other in-frastructure, social development pro-grams and environmental protection.

For information on visiting or exhibit-ing at wire Düsseldorf 2012, wire South-east ASIA 2011, wire Russia 2011 and/or wire China 2012, visit booth 902 at Interwire 2011 or contact Messe Düssel-dorf North America, 150 North Michigan Avenue, 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; Fol-low us on twitter at http://twitter.com/mdnachicago.

SC&RA offers free comprehensive crane accident investigation guide

The Specialized Carriers & Rigging Association (SC&RA) has published its Crane Accident Investigation Guide after two years of planning and prepa-ration by the Association’s Crane & Rigging Group Safety Education & Training Committee. Because SC&RA members typically lift and position over-size objects, frequently at great height and with tight tolerances, the possibil-ity for severe injury or major property damage can never be overlooked.

Available as a free resource exclusive-ly to SC&RA members, the new 10-page guide is offered in PDF format, enabling it to be reprinted very easily. The pri-mary focus is on the determination of the facts surrounding the incident and the lessons that can be learned to pre-vent future similar occurrences.

The easy-to-use checklist format cov-ers many considerations unique to the crane & rigging industry. For example, among the 15 types of accident descrip-tion listings are crane overturned, boom collapsed, load fell, and wire rope/cable broke.

Other categories in the comprehen-sive guide include types of bodily injury and property damage; time of accident; weather; lighting; type of job; type of project; nature of work; property own-ership; legal property status; load de-scription; weight and how determined; training of lift director, crane operator and other key personnel; rigging and equipment information; equipment set-up; lift engineering; types of reports prepared as a result of the accident; con-tractual risk transfer; subrogation; and other factors subject to further analysis and review by qualified experts.

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The Crane Accident Investigation Guide is available in the Members Only section of the SC&RA website.

The Specialized Carriers and Rigging Association (SC&RA) is an internation-al trade association of more than 1,300 members from 43 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 four yearly forums where these and other relevant mem-ber issues can be advanced.

Demag Crane and Hoist service seminars Providing hands on, timely crane and hoist training… for forty years and counting

For over 40 years, Demag Cranes & Components has offered complete and thorough crane and hoist train-ing classes. With rapid developments in technology, Demag recognizes it is

more critical than ever to stay up-to-date with product training and service educational seminars.

Currently, Demag’s most popular classes include a 3 day crane service seminar that focuses on proper mainte-nance and service for all Demag cranes, crane components and hoists, including both rope and chain. This comprehen-sive course covers current and previ-ously available hoists, making it ideal for service technicians who routinely see all types and ages of Demag equip-ment. It also covers basic IDAPSY and PARCOM software, DIC drives, as well as compliance and service issues.

A 2½ day class focuses on proper inspection methods for Demag cranes and provides attendees with a practical understanding of OSHA, ANSI, ASME and CMAA crane codes with an em-

phasis on how to apply them to Demag cranes. Geared for inspectors, attend-ees will receive a set of standards and criteria to apply to their inspection method. This session includes an exam.

A 2 day seminar covers new service requirements for Demag DR wire rope hoists and DC chain hoists. It is de-signed as an update for service techni-cians who have attended a Demag ser-vice seminar in the past 10 years and includes an introduction to IDAPSY and PARCOM software.

Demag’s training facility is optimized for safety and convenience with floor accessible hoists and complete crane control circuits. The training lab is lo-cated just a few steps from the lecture environment making for a seamless and convenient transition between the theo-retical and practical aspects of training.

After providing forty years of excel-lence in crane service training, Demag remains committed to providing cus-tomers with top notch education. Visit Demag’s website for a full description of all Demag training seminars and a calendar of scheduled dates.About Demag Cranes and Components

Demag Cranes & Components based in Cleveland, OH, a subsidiary of Demag Cranes AG, is a world class


continued from previous pagemanufacturer 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.

Harrington Hoists, Inc. launches Kito Americas into Panama, Venezuela & Colombia markets

Harrington Hoists, Inc. has increased its operating authority and expanded its geographic service area to include South America under the Kito brand. In doing so, Harrington has launched the newly created Kito Americas; a Kito brand to support these markets.

“This is an exciting time for Har-rington” commented Carlo Lonardi, VP Sales & Marketing, “for the first time Kito Corporation has sanctioned our ex-pansion into the South American mar-ketplace. Our South American custom-ers will be the benefactors of this historic venture as we begin servicing these mar-kets from our Manheim, PA plant.”

Headed up by International Sales Manager Jim Small, this new venture will bring an increased level of service and improved delivery times to these markets. “Our business relationships in South America will have that solid foundation of Harrington service” com-mented Small. “We will be able to as-

sist on sales calls with the new sales representative in the area and support their efforts with the full cadre of Har-rington contacts. Communication is critical in any international venture; our new customers will feel right at home with our Spanish speaking staff in Manheim, PA.”

Kito Corporation, Harrington Hoists, Inc. / Kito Americas expect significant growth in these markets and have dedicated the resources to make this a successful transition. Harrington sales, engineering support staff and customer service personnel are in place and a new web site specifically designed for these markets will be released soon.

Harrington Hoists, Inc. is a Kito Group Company located in Manheim, PA and Corona, CA. and is a leading manufac-turer and supplier of electric and air powered chain hoists, electric wire rope hoists, lever hoists, manual hand chain hoists, push and geared trolleys, over-head cranes, crane components and a full line of replacement parts.

Samson awarded for outstanding service by Professional Mariner Magazine

Samson, a worldwide leader in high-performance cordage, was pleased and honored to accept Professional Mari-ner’s Samuel Plimsoll Award for Out-standing Service by an Organization for 2011 at the Shipping 2011 Confer-ence held March 21-23, in Stamford, Conn. The award was accepted by Dr. Rafael Chou on behalf of Samson.

The award is named after Samuel Plimsoll (1824-1898) who was a mem-ber of Parliament in Britain and tire-lessly fought against unsafe maritime industry practices. “The Samuel Plim-soll Award honors those whose work has made life safer and more produc-tive for modern day seafarers,” says John Gormley, Jr., editor of Profes-sional Mariner.

Since the introduction of their flag-ship product AmSteel®-Blue in 1996, Samson has been making the commer-cial marine industry safer. This product is, size for size, as strong as steel wire but 1/7th the weight, making it much safer for crews to handle and signifi-cantly reducing back and hand injuries.

As part of their commitment to quali-ty products improving the safety of mar-iners worldwide, Samson has dedicated the rope industry’s leading R&D team to furthering high-performance syn-thetics as a replacement for steel wire rope. This is demonstrated in patented products such as Mooring Defender, a reduced-recoil rope used for mooring tankers and large vessels, and a fire resistant rope that is used as an emer-gency tow-off pendant called Vulcan.

Dr. Rafael Chou, Director of Research and Development for Samson, accepted the Plimsoll Award on behalf of Sam-son. Dr. Chou is also featured in the February issue of Professional Mariner in an article that discusses Samson’s commitment to quality and safety.About Samson:

For well over 100 years, Samson has been recognized as a worldwide leader in the development and manufacture of high-performance ropes. Among its many innovations, Samson invented the double braid and pioneered the first high modulus polyethylene fiber ropes. Today, Samson engineers con-tinue to pioneer the use of new fiber technology and the development of in-novative coatings and constructions to produce ropes with unprecedented per-

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formance characteristics. Samson’s re-search and development team is meet-ing an ever expanding market need for products with exceptional performance in critical applications. Samson is part of Wind River Holdings™ portfolio of operating companies. For more infor-mation about Wind River Holdings™ visit www.windriverholdings.com.

To find out more about Samson call 360-384-4669 or visit our website: www.samsonrope.com.

Unitex Group USA update

Unitex USA is part of the Unitex Group, a global corporation head-quartered in the Netherlands. We are a privately owned corporation, with ownership that has a very long term strategic plan for our company. We have four manufacturing locations in Europe, and one manufacturing loca-tion in China. We are very proud of our product portfolio, and believe that our global sourcing and manufactur-ing capabilities bring great value to our customers.

In the middle of 2010, our owners de-cided that Unitex needed a much great-er presence in the United States in or-

der to service our increasing demand. As a result, a search was initiated for property in which to locate not only a webbing manufacturing facility, but to also relocate our existing fabricating and distribution business. We found the perfect location for our company in South Carolina, and finalized the pur-chase of our facility in October of 2010.

We believe that our new location, along with the resources that will be included here, will allow Unitex to of-fer our customers a level of service that Unitex has not previously attained. Our goal is to provide every customer with a competitive advantage by quick-ly filling orders with the best prod-ucts available at the most competitive prices in the market. Our new facility will also provide us with the capabil-ity of manufacturing and distributing custom made slings with minimal lead-times, thereby helping our customers secure orders quickly and efficiently.

Unitex is now in the midst of relocat-ing our operations from Dallas, Geor-gia, to Piedmont, SC. We are moving both equipment and inventory, and shipping orders to customers from two locations. We expect this transition to be completed no later than Friday, Jan-uary 28. We are excited about our new

location, and proud to be creating jobs in South Carolina.

Slingmax® announces new training company

The founders of Slingmax® Rigging Solutions are proud to announce the launching of their new training com-pany — the Rigging Institute LLC! Congratulations to Mike Riggs who has been named President and Tom DeSoo who has been named Vice President. Rigging Institute, which is headquar-tered in Knoxville, TN, adds a new ele-ment to the rigging training arena. Not only do the trainers have decades of training experience, the founders have been manufacturing rigging equipment since the 1960’s.

CEO Scott St. Germain states, “The demand for quality rigging training has increased dramatically. To satisfy our customers’ needs, we decided the best solution was to create a new com-pany solely dedicated to professional rigging training. We’ve been training end users since my father started I&I Sling back in 1963, so this is a natural progression. Ultimately, it is our cus-tomers who determine what we do; we



continued from previous pageask questions, we listen and then we react accordingly.”

Rigging Institute offers courses in Rigging Theory, Sling and Hardware Inspection, Crane Signaling and prepa-ration classes for NCCCO rigging cer-tification. Classes vary in length from 4 hours to 16 hours and utilize current industry standards and practices as

well as real world examples from the field. All courses over 4 hours receive a written test and passing grades earn a certificate and wallet sized training credentials card.

Rigging Institute currently has 5 expert trainers on staff. In addition to offering training at our Knoxville head-quarters and at customer locations throughout North America, we now have 5 dedicated field training centers at the following rigging shops; Alloy Sling Chain (Chicago), Bishop Lifting Products (Houston), I&I Sling (North Carolina), John Sakach Company (St. Louis) and Lift-It Manufacturing (Los Angeles). Future plans include opening additional training centers throughout North America in support of regional Slingmax® Dealers.

Please visit www.rigginginstitute.com for further information.

Society of Manufacturing Engineers Annual Conference: A “Cool Geek” Candy StoreSME Event Focuses on Manufacturing Innovation and Leadership

Manufacturing professionals who attend the 2011 Society of Manufac-turing Engineers Annual Conference will have a tough time selecting which manufacturing “candy” most appeals to them. The conference, Manufacturing Velocity, to be held in the suburbs of

Seattle, June 5-7, is a treasure-trove of “cool geek” choices – geared to advance both careers and companies.

“This event pulls together the best of everything SME has to offer in just a few days,” said Mark C. Tomlinson, ex-ecutive director and general manager of the Society. “C-level presenters, the year’s biggest manufacturing trends and developments, tours at top-line manufacturing facilities and hundreds of like-minded manufacturing profes-sionals sharing ideas and solutions with each other.”

This highly informative conference presents insights into the latest tech-nologies and processes that span the scope of manufacturing. A primary fo-cus of the event is SME’s 2011 Innova-tions That Could Change the Way You Manufacture (to be announced March 10, 2011). This annual list identifies the latest innovations that are already in use in the manufacturing field. This year’s technologies include a new gen-eration of fasteners, extremely sensi-tive sensors, light “bulbs” that can last a lifetime and robots that can scale walls without touching them.

The keynote presentation by Lou Tice, CEO, The Pacific Institute, will inspire participants to take the limits off their own velocity and understand why any adversity becomes an op-portunity to move forward with both speed and direction.The leadership track will help attendees assess their own leadership style and how it con-tributes to the overall culture of the organization--and understand the cor-relation between leadership styles and bottom line results.

In addition to more than 20 presenta-tions led by industry leaders, attendees also can select a tour of a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility:

Boeing Everett Facility & The Fu-ture of Flight Aviation Center – Par-ticipants will experience the marvel of commercial jet aviation and production in the Aviation Center prior to touring the Boeing commercial jet facility to see assembly production lines for 747’s, 777’s and 787’s.

Nintendo of America Inc., North Bend Packaging and Distribution Cen-ter, which has an order accuracy rating for shipments of 99.99993%. Partici-pants will see the automated lines uti-lizing sophisticated packaging equip-ment and the manual lines used for retailer-specific builds.

The Society of Manufacturing En-gineers is including a one-year mem-bership with all paid conference reg-istrations.

The Society of Manufacturing Engi-neers International Awards Gala will feature the leaders of manufacturing who will be honored for their contribu-tions to the field along with the best of the younger professionals who will be recognized for accomplishments early in their careers. Attendees are always inspired to hear from the SME Educa-tion Foundation scholarship winners who are preparing to enter the field.

This year’s host chapter, SME’s Se-attle Chapter 39, will welcome fellow members to Seattle with a “Night at the Races” at K1 Speed sponsored by Impact Washington. Chapter mem-bers also have organized a session of particular interest to local and region-al attendees: The “State of Manufac-turing in the Northwest,” presented by Egils Milbergs, executive director, Washington State Economic Develop-ment Commission.

Randy Raikes, SME Milwaukee Chapter 4, summarized his experience at last year’s SME Annual Conference: “It was very inspiring. I left with a sense of purpose and action after meet-ing so many motivated people. I was amazed at the quality of presentations offered for the leadership series and the technical topics. I watched presenta-tions on mass production of nanotubes and biodegradable car parts with my mouth open in awe. I will be taking this experience back to my chapter with a renewed sense of purpose and to help my group access the SME resources.”

Event details, registration and hous-ing information for the SME Manufac-turing Velocity Annual Conference are available at www.sme.org/conference or by calling 800.733.4763.

Follow SME on Twitter using the hashtag #SMEannual, on Facebook or the SME member-driven network on LinkedIn.

SME News Feed: To receive the lat-est up-to-the-minute SME news, sub-scribe to RSS at http://feeds.feedburn-er.com/sme.About SME:

The Society of Manufacturing En-gineers (SME) (www.sme.org) is the premier source for manufacturing knowledge, education and networking. Through its many programs, events, magazine, publications and online training division, Tooling U, SME con-nects manufacturing practitioners to each other, to the latest technologies and to the most up-to-date manufac-turing processes. SME has members around the world and is supported by a network of chapters and technical com-munities. A 501(c)3 organization, SME


is a leader in manufacturing workforce development issues, working with industry, academic and government partners to support the current and fu-ture skilled workforce.

wire 2012 exhibitor registration is open

Exhibitor applications for wire Düs-seldorf 2012, International Wire and Cable Trade Fair, are now available online at www.wire.de/2330. wire 2012 exhibitor applications can only be filled out online – no hard copies will be available. The event will be held from March 26 - 30, 2012 at the fairgrounds in Düsseldorf, Germany.

Messe Düsseldorf North America will again organize a North American Pavilion together with the Wire and Cable Industry Suppliers Association (WCISA) of Stow, Ohio as the sponsor. The North American Pavilion provides a cost-effective means for U.S. and Ca-nadian companies to enter into or to expand their business in the lucrative overseas marketplace. The pavilion turnkey rental package includes a fully furnished booth, access to an attractive lounge area and the on-site service of a project manager, hostesses and inter-preters. All technical work, set up and dismantling is included. In addition, U.S. Commercial Service staff will be on hand in the North American Pavil-ion to assist with export and licensing questions. Please contact Messe Düs-seldorf North America at (312) 781-5180 to reserve exhibit space within the North American Pavilion.

Exhibiting within a North Ameri-can Pavilion at one of the specialized industrial trade shows held in Düssel-dorf, Germany, has proven to be the ideal way for small-to-medium sized companies to make a greater impact at a large trade show and is a most effec-tive way to begin or increase overseas trade. Exhibitors at trade shows in Düsseldorf are able to reach over 200 million consumers living within 1.5 hours flight time from Düsseldorf. Al-most 45 percent of all EC citizens live within a radius of 300 miles.

To sign up as a wire 2012 exhibitor for individual space visit www.wire.de/2330. To exhibit within the North American Pavilion, contact Messe Düsseldorf North America, 150 North Michigan Avenue, 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/mdnachi-cago.

For hotel and travel information, contact TTI Travel, Inc. at 866-674-3476; Fax: 212-674-3477; E-mail: [email protected]; www.traveltradeint.com.

Innovations that could change the way we manufacture SME unveils its annual innovations list

Honoring both innovation and manu-facturing, the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) announced the 2011 list of Innovations That Could Change The Way You Manufacture.

This annual list of innovations show-cases new and emerging technologies that are making a difference in manu-facturing. This is not the usual list of emerging technologies. These are inno-vations that can be used today or within a few months and have already shown some successful implementation.

“Not only has innovation enabled us to make better things at lower costs,” said Boris Fritz of Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems and vice chair of SME’s Innovation Watch Committee, the panel of industry experts that se-lected the innovations, “but innova-tion also leads to the development of things we couldn’t even dream of just a decade ago.”

Among this year’s innovations is gra-phene, which is not only the strongest material ever developed, but this one atom thick sheet of carbon is light-

weight and electrically conductive. Fif-ty times stronger than steel, graphene is being used for extremely sensitive sensors, super-fast electronic switches, aircraft braking systems and touch screens. Companies using graphene in-clude IBM and Bell Helicopter, and the material is available from companies such as Angstron Materials.

Programmable magnets open the door to self assembling. The ability to manipulate magnetic fields lends it-self to many applications from preci-sion switches to snowboard bindings to spinal implants. Using heat to erase a magnetic field, the material can be reprogrammed to have multiple north and south poles of differing strengths. These magnets are available from Cor-related Magnetics.

Not all innovations on this list are technical. The committee also recog-nized the Build to Demand (BTD) pro-cess as something that can change the way things are manufactured. BTD, an



alternative to the Toyota Production System (TPS), works well for suppli-ers that experience variable demand and are seeking to increase customer service rates while reducing invento-ries and production costs. Limited or no capital investment is required to implement BTD in most companies. John Deere Horicon Works originally developed BTD in the early 2000s with assistance from the University of Wis-consin-Madison.

Microstructured molding tools will impact manufacturers of products that could benefit from enhanced sur-face capabilities. Created as square or custom inserts for injection or com-pression molds, the innovation adds several capabilities to any molded product: superhydrophobic, reduced friction, reduced fluid drag, increased heat transfer and many others. This approach reduces microstructure manufacturing cost by 83 percent to 98 percent. Developed by Hoowaki, microstructured tooling has been available since the spring of 2010.

Programming light with quantum dots is an innovation that promises not only to change the way things are man-ufactured, but also change the way we light our homes and offices.Quantum dots are nanoparticles of a semicon-ductor material that range from 2 to 10 nanometers in diameter. The abil-ity to control the size of a quantum dot enables a manufacturer to determine the color of light emitted. Quantum dots are currently providing brighter images, lower power consumption and improved color purity for electrolumi-nescent displays. Companies manufac-turing quantum dot-enabled products include QD Vision and Weinberg Medi-cal Physics.

Controlled through a Web-based application, a remote-presence robot allows a telecommuting worker to re-motely attend meetings, drop into the offices of colleagues and otherwise col-laborate with people in another office. With cameras in the eyes to capture video, speakers and microphones to re-lay sound and a laser pointer “finger,” the user can see what the robot sees and direct it around by using a com-puter’s arrow keys. Companies such as Procter & Gamble are using these remote-presence robots to increase the efficiencies of teams working across the world.

Ten times stickier than Velcro® and reusable gecko-inspired glues, Super Velcro is an extremely strong adhesive that comes apart when heated. Using

shape-memory polymers, General Mo-tors researchers have created a product that allows a strong but alterable bond that replaces liquid adhesives requiring lengthy oven curing, which consumes a lot of energy, or foam tapes that do not provide high adhesion strength. Super Velcro is currently being used for inte-rior and exterior automotive trims with potential applications for furniture, toys and buildings.

In reviewing submissions for the In-novations That Could Change the Way You Manufacture, the committee also highlights an Innovation Watch List. These technologies are showing great promise but, as yet, are unproven in the manufacturing setting. This year’s list includes:• Continuous-flow microreactors• Dip-pen nanolithography• Green cement• Large-format ceramic batteries• Laser heating in a diamond anvil cell• Metamaterials• Self-assembling vehicles• Synthetic cells

“Because most people use common, everyday products that are frequently outsourced, they think that manufac-turing in America is dead,” said Fritz. “Innovations like those identified today should be a reminder that American manufacturing has moved beyond the production of commodities and is one of the most technologically advanced sec-tors of our economy.”

The Innovations That Could Change the Way You Manufacturewill be a central focus of the Manufacturing Velocity: SME Annual Conference scheduled June 5-7, 2011, in the sub-urbs of Seattle. The conference brings together manufacturing professionals and leaders from throughout North America and beyond who are inter-ested in innovations and exchanging ideas in one place.About SME:

The Society of Manufacturing En-gineers (SME) is the premier source for manufacturing knowledge, edu-cation and networking. Through its many programs, events, magazines, publications and online training divi-sion, Tooling U, SME connects manu-facturing practitioners to each other, to the latest technologies and to the most up-to-date manufacturing pro-cesses. SME has members around the world and is supported by a network of chapters and technical communi-ties. A 501(c)3 organization, SME is a leader in manufacturing workforce development issues, working with industry, academic and government

partners to support the current and future skilled workforce.

SC&RA seeks papers for presentation during 2011 Crane & Rigging Workshop

The Specialized Carriers & Rigging Association (SC&RA) has issued a call for papers to be presented during the Crane & Rigging Workshop, Septem-ber 21-23, Sheraton Philadelphia City Center, Philadelphia, Pa. Authors are required to present the title and a short abstract of about 100 words for a ses-sion that could be presented in 60 to 90 minutes.

The submission also should include the author’s name, job title and contact information. Each submission must provide sufficient detail to allow the Crane & Rigging Group Workshop Pro-gram Task Force to assess its merits.

The Workshop is the major annual event of SC&RA’s Crane & Rigging Group. Educational sessions during the Workshops traditionally cover such areas as safety, equipment technology, management techniques, and legal and regulatory developments.

The 2010 Workshop in San Diego, Calif. attracted 370 industry experts, including equipment designers, safety directors, crane operators, operations managers, sales representatives and top management. Participants came from 12 nations: the United States, Australia, Canada, Denmark, Ger-many, Guatemala, Italy, Luxembourg, Mexico, Puerto Rico, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom.

Membership in SC&RA is not a pre-requisite for submitting papers for the Workshop. Please e-mail submissions by Friday, April 15 to Beth O’Quinn ([email protected]). For further infor-mation, call SC&RA at (703) 698-0291.

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 four yearly forums where these and other relevant mem-ber issues can be advanced.



Inventor’sCorner

By William Fischer

Lifting apparatus with compensation meansPat. 7,878,347 U.S. class 212/223 Int. class B66C 23/02Inventor: James J. Alday, Honeoye Falls, NY.Assignee: Gorbel, Inc., Fishers, NY.

This patent presents a lifting assembly such as a jib crane or similar apparatus having an articulated arm assembly and a flexible means for connecting a load to an actuator. The lift arm assembly forms an articulated cantilever boom, which is extensible so as to traverse a suspended load within a work cell area. The lift arm assembly further includes a first and second member pivotally connected to one another whereby an inclined plane (e.g., a cam) at the pivot point of the articu-lating arms provides a vertical displacement of the secondary arms thereby moving the distal end of the secondary arm to counterbalance inherent forces acting on it.

Referring to figure 1, depicted in a perspective view therein is an exemplary articulated arm lift 20, a Gorbel EasyArm.TM. lift, having a support column 20 and primary and sec-ondary articulated arms 24 and 28, respectively, connected via pivots. The actuator or winching device 30 is located on the proximal end of primary arm 24, and controls the line or

wire rope 36 that is connected to a user control 40 and load 50 suspended from a hook or other end-effector associated with the control.

There are at least two forces that produce the aforemen-tioned objectionable circumstances as a result of the use of a cable guide pulley 32 adjacent to the pivot point 34 between the arms. One such force is the result of “droop” that occurs when a load is applied to the end of the rope 36, thereby cre-ating a moment relative to the column and the position it is attached to the floor. This obviously varies with the location of the load relative to the column, and the height of the col-umn. While moving the secondary (outermost) arm 28 from an in-line position relative to arm 24, the cable moves toward and contacts the pulley, thereby producing a radial force hav-ing a tendency to move the secondary arm toward an in-line position with the primary (innermost) arm. Such forces may prevent the secondary arm from remaining in a stationary position.

Figure 1: Perspective view of an articulated arm lift device. Figure 2: Partial top-view of the articulated arm pivot embodiment.



As the secondary arm is pivoted further relative to the pri-mary arm, the cable 36 increasingly becomes wrapped about or engages a pulley 32. Consequently, as the cable wraps about the circumference of the pulley, the moment force in-creases thereby producing a radial torque between the two arms. In addition, the load 50 is lifted slightly as direct func-tion of the cable being wrapped about the pulley, thereby causing additional work as the suspended load is moved. The combination of the various forces results in a potentially im-balanced condition.

In order to enable a free-swinging, articulated arm lift, where the various interactive forces are reduced or otherwise controlled, the disclosed embodiment contemplate means to

counteract or negate the forces that act to prevent movement of the load and/or preclude put-n-stay functionality. The vari-ous embodiment disclosed are intended to mitigate or reduce adverse forces that compromise a uniform and sustained ef-fort by the operator to initiate the motion of arm/load, to sus-tain the arm in motion, and to assure the arm remains in a put-n-stay position when an operator-applied horizontal force to the load 50, or controller 40, is removed. The embodiments contemplate the use of mechanical cam or similar means to adjust or compensate for such forces.

Controlled and uniform motion of the articulated arms is compromised by a combination of forces. One force results from the cable 110 consistently pulling the secondary arm 104 towards an equilibrium position, this force results from the tension on the lifting cable, particularly when a load is suspended from it, and the offset of the cable from the center-

line of the pivot point. Referring for example to figures 2 and 3 the clevis or pivot pin 106 defines the center of the pivot and any offset of the cable from such a position, as shown in figure 3, produces a moment between a cable tangent point on pulley 108 and pin 106. Another force is the result of the load being vertically displaced as a function of arm pivoting and wrap-ping of the cable about the pulley when the arms are moved relative to one another. Yet another force is derived from the bending moment of the articulated arms and an associated column or support structure.

The offset, denoted as distance “r” in both figures 3 and 4 represents the distance measured between the cable and the pivot point. This radial moment, in conjunction with wrap-ping of the cable 110 about pulley 108 tends to resist pivoting of the secondary arm relative to the primary arm, as well as, potentially causing the secondary arm to move after being re-leased by the operator. Reference is now made to figures 2-4, where various positions of primary and secondary arms 102

Figure 3: Partial top-views of the articulated arm pivot of figure 2, positioned at about a 45 degree angle.





and 104 are illustrated according to the following stages of movement:

Stage 1—(aligned) In figure 2 cable 110 passes substantial-ly over the centerline of arms 104 and 102, therefore there is no offset and accordingly no force moment or cable wrapping about pulley 108 is evident. However, a moment caused by the load 116 suspended at the distal end of secondary arm 104 is at a maximum, therefore the arms are deflected down-ward. In some embodiments, due to the cable tension caused by the load, the arms are not inclined to freely articulate from the generally aligned configuration of figure 2 without a con-siderable sidewise force to “snap” them off their respective centerline.

Stage 2—(arms @ ±45°) As seen in figure 3, a minor mo-ment force develops as the cable moves off-center and begins to make contact with the outer circumference of pulley 108. Additionally, as the angle between the arms decreased (from a maximum of 180° when aligned), the load is moved closer to the column or support, thereby reducing the bending mo-ment.

Stage 3—(arms @ ±90°) At this point, shown in figure 4, cable 110 has now completely moved across the open space between arm 104 centerline and the circumferential surface of the pulley 108. Notably cable 110 is increasingly wrapped about the radius of pulley 108, thereby progressively raising the vertical position of the load.

Stage 4—(arms @ ±120°) As represented in figure 5, cable 110 continues to cause a larger moment (deflection from the center of the arms) as it wraps about the circumference of the pulley. Additionally, the wrapping about pulley 108 further causes cable 110 to shorten thereby further raising load 116 —resulting in additional work=(force)(distance).

Stage 5—(fully retracted) The cable is now substantially wrapped about approximately one-half of the pulley circum-ference and the maximum radial torque is present, as well as the maximum amount of work expended to attain the load position. However, the moment caused by the load is at a minimum, therefore, the arm deflection or droop is also near a minimum.

Ground anchorPat. 7,887,263 U.S. class 405/259.1 Int. class E21D 20/00Inventor: Miles Edward Moffat, Christchurch, NZ.Assignee: Miles Edward Moffat, Christchurch, NZ.

This patent presents a cable guide mechanism configured to be releasably attached to a shaft, which includes a body portion, an indent or groove and a protrusion, characterised in that the indent or groove is located on the opposite side of the body portion to the protrusion, and is dimensioned and configured to releasably retain an inside edge of a first distal end of a loop which is attached to a terminal end of a cable; the protrusion is tapered with its widest section directly op-posite the indent or groove; the linear distance between the bottom of the indent or groove and the widest section of the protrusion is sufficiently close to the inside length of the loop that in use the first distal end of the loop cannot climb out of the indent or groove; the shaft is configured to freely rotate co-axially inside the cable guide mechanism.

Referring to figure 6, a ground anchor 100 is shown. The ground anchor 100 has a shaft 10. The shaft 10 may vary in length, as indicated by the break in the shaft indicated by arrow 11. Located at the first distal end of the shaft 10 is an extension in the form of an auger 12 on a solid shaft portion 24, for assisting insertion of the ground anchor 100 into the ground (not shown). The auger 12 is attached to the shaft-10 via the shaft portion 24 extending from the auger 12 into the

shaft 10. Preferably, the top distal end of shaft portion 24 has a tapered square shape, which slots into a portion of shaft 10, which is cylindrical. It would be appreciated by a person skilled in the art that in this configuration shaft portion 24 will then be held in place within shaft 10.

Located at the second distal-end of the shaft 10 is a handle 13. The handle 13 is a metal tube attached to the shaft 10 via a rigid loop 14, through which the handle 13 is inserted. Also located on the shaft 10 of the ground anchor 100 is a cable guide mechanism 200. The cable guide mechanism 200 has a body portion, as indicated by line 15, and two protrusions, a first protrusion 16 and a second protrusion 17. Also attached to the ground anchor 100 is a wire cable 18. The cable 18 has two loops (indicated by lines 19 and 20 respectively) at each end of the cable 18. The loops 19 and 20 are retained by grip-

Figure 6: Side plan view of the ground anchor with a cable attached to the cable guide mechanism.

Figure 7: Perspective side view one preferred embodiment of the cable guide mechanism.



ping devices 21, which receive and retain a length of the cable 18 in a loop. The loops 19 and 20 have a teardrop shape, with a wide body portion (indicated by arrow 26) and a narrow por-tion (indicated by arrow 27). The cable 18 is attached to the ground anchor 100 via the first loop 19 of the cable 18, which encloses around the cable guide mechanism 200 of the ground anchor 100.

Figures 7, 8, and 9 show various views of the cable guide mechanism 200 independent to the ground anchor 100. Shown in these figures is the body portion 15, the first pro-trusion 16 and the second protrusion 17 of the cable guide mechanism 200. As shown in these figures, the body portion 15 is in the form of a hollow tube. As shown in figure 7, the first protrusion 16 is indented (as indicated by arrow 22) from the first distal end of the body portion 15 of the cable guide mechanism 200. The second protrusion 17 is tapered, with the widest end (as indicated by arrow 23) of the second pro-trusion 17 being located at the first distal end of the body por-tion 15 and the narrow portion (as indicated by line 25) being located towards the second distal end of the body portion 15.

Figure 8 shows a plan view of the top of the cable guide mechanism 200. The body portion 15, the first protrusion 16 and the second protrusion 17 are all shown. Shown in this figure the cable guide mechanism 200 is enclosed around the shaft 10 and/or shaft portion 24 of the ground anchor 100 and the auger (not shown) respectively. The first loop 19 of the cable 18 surrounds the outside of the cable guide mechanism 200. As shown, the wide portion 26 of the loop 19 sits within the indent 22 of the first protrusion 16, while the narrow por-tion 27 of the loop 19 sits around the second protrusion 17.

Figure 9 shows a detailed view of the cable 18 and cable guide mechanism 200, while the cable guide mechanism is in-serted into the ground 30. Before the cable 18 and cable guide mechanism 200 are inserted into the ground, the loop 19 of the cable 18 sits at a 90° angle to the axis of the body portion

Figure 8: Top plan view one preferred embodiment of the cable guide mechanism.

Figure 9: Perspective side view one preferred embodiment of the cable guide mechanism and the cable while in use.



15, in the orientation indicated by arrow 201.When the ground anchor 100 is twisted into the ground 30,

cable 18 is pulled through the hole 31 that is formed by the auger 12. The narrow portion 27 of the loop 19 moves towards the shaft 10, in the direction indicated by arrow 32, while the wide body portion 26 of the loop 19 is held at the first distal end of the body portion 15 of the cable guide mechanism 200. When the ground anchor 100 is fully inserted into the ground 30, the cable 18 then runs in a position substantially parallel to the shaft 10 of the ground anchor 100, at an orientation as indicated by arrow 202. By allowing the cable guide mecha-nism 200 to rotate independently (or remain stationary in relation to) the shaft 10, and having the particular configura-tion of the two protrusions 16, 17, prevents the cable 18 from wrapping around the shaft 10, while the ground anchor 100 is inserted into the ground 30.

Once the ground anchor 100 is at a depth that can suffi-ciently hold the vehicle (not shown), the handle 13 is removed and the second loop 20 of the cable 18 is attached to the vehi-cle (not shown) or an additional cable (not shown) that is then attached to the vehicle. Once the cable 18 is attached to the vehicle (not shown), the cable 18 can be winched pulling the vehicle forward. When a load is put on the cable 18, the cable 18 will pull in the direction, as indicated by arrow 33, towards the vehicle (not shown). This will force the cable 18 through the ground 30, in the direction indicated by arrow 34. Given that the ground anchor 100 is sufficiently anchored in place, this provides enough tension to prevent the ground anchor 100 from moving out of position. This is achieved as the cable 18 acts to pull the ground anchor 100 substantially horizon-tally through the ground rather than at a vertical angle out of the ground.

Self contained integrated mooring systemPat. 7,891,309 U.S. class 114/230.2 Int. class B63B 21/00Inventor: Frederick R. Driscoll, Pembroke Pines, FL., Pierre-Philippe Beaujean, Fort Lauderdale, FL., John Charles Fran-kenfield, Greenacres, FL.Assignee: Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL.

This patent presents a self contained integrated mooring system configured to contain items within a payload con-tainer in a water body. The self contained integrated mooring system may include components for conveniently collecting and storing the components of the self contained integrated mooring system. The self contained integrated mooring sys-tem may be formed from the payload container, a mooring line handling and storage module, an anchor and a system container in a single system that eliminates having to work and rework anchor lines on a deck of a boat.

As shown in figure 10, the payload 12 may be formed from a container adapted to contain the payload components, which may be, but is not limited to batteries, electronics, a trans-ducer for underwater acoustic communication and position-ing system, and other appropriate items. In particular, the payload container 12 may include an internal cavity 20 con-figured to retain the payload components. The internal cavity 20 may have any appropriate size and shape, which is de-pendent upon the size of the components and the particular application for which the self contained integrated mooring system container 10 is designed.

The system container 18 may also include one or more lids 22, which may be a reusable lid, attached to the system con-tainer 18 to seal one or more openings 24 in the payload con-tainer that facilitates access to the internal cavity 20. The lid 22 may include seals to seal the internal cavity 20 to prevent water intrusion when the system container 18 is deployed in

water. The lid 22 may be multipurpose and include antennas 78. The system container 18 may include a handle to facilitate handling of the container 12. The system container 18 may be formed from any appropriate material or combinations of ma-terials, such as, but not limited to, stainless steel, aluminum, fiberglass, epoxy, foam, and plastic.

The system container 18 may also contain or be attached to a mooring line handling and storage module 14 that is config-ured to contain a mooring line 28. The mooring line handling and storage module 14 may be in communication with the payload container 12 or other components. The mooring line handling and storage module 14 may be formed from one or more spools 30 configured to store the mooring line 28. The mooring line 28 can include, but is not limited to, plastic rope, wire rope, armored cable with internal optical and electrical conductors, monofilament line, chain, fishing line and any combination thereof.

The mooring line 28 may be formed from diameters, such as about 1/8 of an inch, which are much less than conventional anchor lines because the mooring line handling and storage module 14 contains the line and prevents the line from tan-gling, which is typical of unconfined, thin diameter lines. Use of the smaller diameter lines by the mooring line handling

Figure 10: Perspective view of an embodiment of the self contained integrated mooring system.

Figure 11: Perspective view of spools of the mooring line handling and storage module.



and storage module 14 enables longer lines to be used, there-by permitting the self contained integrated mooring system 10 to be deployed in deeper water.

The spools 30 may be supported by a single shaft 32. The shaft 32 may be attached to a driver 34, such as a motor, an electric motor, a mechanical winder, or an electro-mechanical winder, or handle 36, or both, for rotating the shaft 32 and spools 30, to retrieve the mooring line 28 onto the spool 30. One or more winder receiving adapters 58, as shown in figure 11, may be coupled to the shaft 32 supporting the spool 30. The winder receiving adapter 58 may be adapted to be at-tached to a drill or other mechanical or electrical system to rotate the spools to retrieve the mooring line. A drill, such as, but not limited to, a cordless drill, or other appropriate rotary device may be used to rotate the shaft 30 to retrieve mooring line 28 and store it on the spool 30.

The mooring line handling and storage module 14 may be fixedly attached to the payload container 12 or attached via a line. The mooring line handling and storage module 14 may be attached to the system container 18 or may be a stand alone unit not attached to any of the components of the self contained integrated mooring system 10. In at least one embodiment, the mooring line handling and stor-age module 14 may be attached to a head 38 of the payload 12 in a position enabling the mooring line 28 to be paid out of the mooring line handling and storage module 14 and attached to the anchor 16.

The mooring line handling and storage module 14 may be attached to the head such that the mooring line handling and storage module 14 is in proper orientation to prevent the pay-load 12 from being damaged when mooring line 28 is being paid out or retrieved and to reduce torque on the payload 12. In at least one embodiment, a sleeve 62 extending from the mooring line handling and storage module 14 extends partial-ly over the payload 12. Attaching the mooring line handling and storage module 14 directly to the payload 12 reduces the overall size of the system. In at least one embodiment, the payload 12 may include a plurality of studs 64 that may be

inserted through orifices in the mooring line handling and storage module 14. The mooring line handling and storage module 14 may be retained in position with clips 66 attached to grooves in the studs 64. The mooring line handling and stor-age module 14 may be attached in other appropriate ways as well. The mooring line 28 may be fed through a guide at a base 40 of the payload 12 to keep the payload container positioned upright when deployed.

As shown in figure 12, the mooring line handling and stor-age module 14 may also include a locking mechanism 68 that is configured to prevent the spool 30 from rotating such that after an amount of mooring line 28 is paid out, the spool 30 may be prevented from being rotated. In one embodiment, the locking mechanism 68 may be formed from a latch 70 config-ured to slide within a channel 72. The latch 70 may be slid into contact with the shaft 58. In one embodiment, the shaft 58 may be generally square, and the latch 70 may be configured to engage the shaft 58 to prevent the shaft 58 from rotating. The latch 70 is held in place with a set screw 74. The locking mechanism 68 may be formed from other appropriate systems as well and is not limited to this particular configuration.

Steerable paravane system for towed seismic streamer arraysPat. 7,881,153 U.S. class 367/18 Int. class G01V 1/38Inventor: Jan Erik Stokkeland, Heggedal, NO., Ole-Fredrik Semb, Borgheim, NO.Assignee: PGS Geophysical AS, Lysaker, NO.

A paravane for a seismic acquisition system includes a float,

Figure 12: Perspective view of a mooring line handling and storage module.



a frame suspended from the float, deflectors affixed to the frame, and means for coupling a tow rope to a lead-in func-tionally extending between a forward end and an aft end of the frame. The paravane includes means for selectively changing an effective position along the lead-in of the means for coupling the tow cable.

Figure 13 shows a typical marine seismic survey system that can include paravanes and paravane connecting bridles according to the various aspects of the present invention. The acquisition system includes a seismic vessel 10 that moves along the surface of a body of water 11 such as a lake or the ocean. The seismic vessel 10 may include certain electronic equipment, shown at 12 and for convenience collectively called a “recording system.”

The recording system 12 typically includes a recording unit for making a record with respect to time of signals gen-erated by various seismic sensors in the acquisition system.

The recording system 12 also typically includes navigation equipment to determine at any time the position of the ves-sel 10 and each of a plurality of seismic sensors 22 disposed at spaced apart locations on streamers 20 towed by the ves-sel 10. The foregoing elements of the recording system 12 are familiar to those skilled in the art and are not shown in the figures for clarity of the illustration. In the present invention, the recording unit 12 may also include devices for controlling operation of a paravane steering device.

In the seismic data acquisition system shown in figure 13, there are six seismic sensor streamers 20 towed by the seis-mic vessel 10. The number of seismic sensor streamers may be different in any particular implementation of an acquisi-tion system according to the various aspects of the invention, therefore, the number of streamers shown in figure 13 is not intended to limit the scope of the invention. As explained in the Background section herein, in seismic acquisition systems such as shown in figure 13 that include a plurality of laterally spaced apart streamers, the streamers 20 are coupled to tow-ing equipment that maintains the streamers 20 at selected lateral positions with respect to each other and with respect to the seismic vessel 10.

As shown in figure 13, the towing equipment can include two paravane tow ropes 16 each coupled to the vessel 10 at one end through a winch 19 or similar spooling device that

enables changing the deployed length of each paravane tow rope 16. The other end of each paravane tow rope 16 is func-tionally coupled to a paravane 14, typically through a set of cables called a “bridle”. The paravanes 14 are each configured to provide a lateral component of motion to the various tow-ing components deployed in the water 11 when the paravanes 14 are towed in the water 11, and in various aspects of the present invention such lateral component of motion can be adjustable or controllable. Lateral in the present description means essentially transverse to the direction of motion of the vessel 10. The lateral motion component of each paravane 14 is opposed to that of the other paravane 14, and is generally in a direction outward from the centerline of the vessel 10. The combined lateral motion of the paravanes 14 separates the paravanes 14 from each other until they put one or more spreader ropes or cables 24, functionally coupled end to end between the paravanes 14, into tension.

As used in the present description, the term “cable” gener-ally means a device that includes one or more electrical and/or optical conductors therein for carrying electrical power and/or signals from the vessel 10 to and/or from various components of the seismic acquisition system. A cable as used in the pres-ent context may also include various forms of armor or other device to carry axial loading along the cable, and thus may be a load bearing part of the acquisition system.

The term “rope” is generally used in the present description to refer to a flexible, axial load carrying member that does not include any form of electrical and/or optical conductor, and as such is used essentially only to carry axial loading. Such rope may be made from fiber, steel or other high strength

Figure 14: One embodiment of a paravane.

Figure 15: Adjustable position bridle that can be used with the paravane shown in figure 14.

Figure 13: Plan view of a typical marine seismic survey system that can include steerable paravanes.

Pat. 7,881,153


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metal, or combinations thereof. In typical multiple-streamer acquisition systems, such as shown in figure 13, the laterally outermost towing elements, the paravane tow ropes 16 are in fact typically ropes as defined above. However, such configu-ration is not meant to limit the scope of this invention. Other embodiments within the scope of this invention may provide cables at the laterally outermost towing positions coupled be-tween the paravanes 14 and the seismic vessel 10. Therefore, as used herein, the tow rope 16 may also be cables.

Figure 14 shows a cross section of one embodiment of a paravane. The paravane 14 includes several principal compo-nents, including a generally longitudinally extending float or buoy 40 that maintains the paravane 14 in a selected position with respect to the water surface and buoyantly supports the remainder of the components of the paravane 14. The float 40 can be coupled, for example, by clamps, brackets or bands 42 to an upper diverter frame 52A. The upper diverter frame 52A provides mounting and support for the uppermost ends of a plurality of substantially vertically extending diverters 44, each of which has a selected shape and orientation with respect to the longitudinal axis of the paravane 14 to redirect movement of water as the paravane 14 is towed by the vessel.

Such redirection of the water movement results in lateral force being generated by the paravane 14. In the present em-bodiment, the diverters 44 can be supported approximately in their longitudinal center by a center diverter frame 52B, and at their lower longitudinal ends by a lower diverter frame 52C. Collectively, the frames 52A, 52B, 52C maintain the po-sition of and the orientation of the diverters 44 with respect to the float 40. The diverters 44 are rigidly mounted in the frames 52A, 52B, 52C such that the amount of lateral force

generated depends essentially entirely on the speed of the paravane 14 through the water.

Each diverter frame 52A, 52B, 52C may include respec-tive forward bridle cable couplings, such couplings shown at 56A, 56B, 56C, and aft bridle cable couplings, such couplings shown at 54A, 54B, 54C. An arrangement of a bridle and as-sociated cables according to another aspect of the invention will be explained below with reference to figure 15.

The effective tow point of the tow rope 16 in the present embodiment can be moved with respect to the paravane in the present using a node position controller 60. The node posi-tion controller 60 in this embodiment provides that the node lead-in line 58 can be coupled at each of its ends to one of the nodes 54D, 56D, thus effectively coupling each end of the node lead-in line 58 to a respective end of the paravane. The node lead-in line 58 can also be wrapped around a sheave or sprocket 62 rotatably mounted within a frame 60A. A sheave is typically used when the node lead-in line 58 is in the form of a rope, wire rope or a cable.

A sprocket is typically used when the node lead-in line 58 is in the form of a chain. The frame 60A is functionally coupled to the distal end of the tow rope 16 and transmits towing force from the tow rope 16 to the sheave or sprocket 62, which then transmits towing force to each end of the node lead-in line 58, and thus ultimately to each node 54D, 56D and to the respective ends of the paravane. In the present embodiment, the distribution of tow forces on each set of the forward bridle cables 56 and aft bridle cables 54 can be changed by changing the distance between each node 54D, 56D and the frame 60A. Such distance change in the present embodiment is effected by rotation of the sheave or sprocket 62, thus changing rela-tive length of each segment of the node lead-in line 58.




Load control power transmissionPat. 7,900,894 U.S. class 254/348 Int. class B66D 1/14Inventor: Bruce A. Copp, Burnsville, MN., Gary L. Veikley, Inver Grove Heights, MN., Ryan M. Stanoch, Oakdale, MN.Assignee: Hydralift AmClyde, Inc., St. Paul, MN.

The present invention is a transmission used with a winch drum. The transmission includes a drive shaft, an output shaft, a hydraulic or pneumatic system, a cooling system, a gear coaxially mounted on the output shaft, and an electric motor for powering the gear. The drive shaft is adapted to drive the winch drum and includes a clutch disc extending generally radially outwards from the drive shaft. The clutch disc has a face. The output shaft coaxially surrounds at least a portion of the drive shaft and includes a friction surface ex-tending generally radially inward. The friction surface has a face opposing the face of the clutch disc. The hydraulic or pneumatic system is adapted to bring the faces into contact, and the cooling system is adapted to remove heat from the friction surface via a fluid coolant.

Towing/anchor-handling marine vessels are equipped with winches. When paying out or hauling in wire rope or holding a load stationary, the winches and their wire rope are often subjected to load surges and peaks because of wave action encountered by the vessel. These load surges and peaks can cause the wire rope to fail. The length of wire rope to be paid out from a winch can be significant. Thus, payout of wire rope at normal winch operating speeds can require substantial amounts of time.

Figures 16 and 17 are, respectively, a starboard elevation and a plan view of a marine vessel 1 equipped with the an-chor-handling/towing winch system 2 of the subject inven-tion. As illustrated in one embodiment, the winch system 2 is mounted on the deck 3 of the marine vessel 1 with the winch system’s wire ropes 4 feeding towards the stem 5 of the vessel from the winch system 2. In other embodiments, the winch system 2 is mounted on the deck 3 of a marine vessel 1 so the wire ropes 4 feed towards other parts of the vessel 1, such as the bow 6.

Figure 18 is an isometric view of the anchor-handling/tow-ing winch system 2 as viewed from an elevated, port/stern position. As shown in figure 18, the winch system 2 includes a port tow drum 10, a starboard tow drum 11, an anchor-han-dling drum 15, and a load control power transmission 20. The

drums 10, 11, 15 carry wire rope 4.The load control power transmission 20 drives and/or

brakes the drums 10, 11, 15 during the winch system’s vari-ous in-hauling and payout operations. As shown in figure 18 and explained in the following discussion of figures 19 and 20, the load control power transmission 20 employs a load limiting clutch 65a, 65b directly on each drive shaft 70a, 70b to eliminate the effects of motor and power train inertia. Be-cause of each clutch’s location, the speed of its associated mo-tor 45a, 45b, which is operably coupled to a shaft 70a, 70b

and associated drum or drums 10, 11, 15, does not have to remain directly proportional to the drum speed during pay-out. Thus, the load control power transmission 20 allows full control of the wire rope 4 for normal in-hauling and payout operations, while allowing rapid payout of wire rope 4 dur-ing surge or peak load situations, thereby reducing the risk of broken ropes.

For a more detailed discussion of the load control power transmission 20, reference is now made to figure 19, which is an isometric view of the transmission 20 illustrated in figure 18, as viewed from the same elevated, port/stern position. As shown in figure 19, the transmission 20 includes a starboard power assembly 25, a starboard drive shaft assembly 30, a port power assembly 35, and a port drive shaft assembly 40. The starboard power assembly 25 is operably coupled to the starboard drive shaft assembly 30. Similarly, the port power assembly 35 is operably coupled to the port drive shaft as-sembly 40.

As shown in figure 19, the power assemblies 25, 35 each include an electric motor 45a, 45b, a power shaft 50a, 50b, a

Figure 16: Starboard elevation of a marine vessel equipped with an anchor-handling/towing winch system.

Figure 17: Plan view of the marine vessel illustrated in figure 16.

Figure 18: Isometric view of the anchor-handling/towing winch system as viewed from an elevated, port/stem position.

Figure 19: Isometric view of a load control power transmission as viewed from an elevated, port/stem position.


brake 55a, 55b, a primary gear reducer 60a, 60b, and a fluid cooled multi-disc clutch 65a, 65b. Each electric motor 45a, 45b drives a power shaft 50a, 50b that runs a primary gear reducer 60a, 60b coupled to a fluid cooled clutch 65a, 65b. Each fluid cooled clutch 65a, 65b, when engaged, transfers the power of its respective electric motor 45a, 45b to its re-spective drive shaft assembly 30, 40. The less a clutch 65a, 65b is engaged, the greater the amount of slip between its power assembly 25, 35 and the respective drive shaft assem-bly 30, 40.

The drive shaft assemblies 30, 40 each include a drive shaft 70a, 70b supported by drive shaft support bearings 75. The port drive shaft 70a has a port tow drum drive pinion 80a and the starboard drive shaft has a starboard tow drum drive pin-ion 80b. In one embodiment, as shown in figure 19, the star-board drive shaft 70b has an anchor-handling drum drive pin-ion 80c. In another embodiment, the anchor-handling drum drive pinion 80c is located on the port drive shaft 70a. Each pinion 80a, 80b, 80c is paired with a jaw clutch 85a, 85b, 85c.

As can be understood from figures 18 and 19, the port tow drum drive pinion 80a interfaces with, and drives, a drive gear on the port tow drum 10. When the port tow drum 10 is to be driven, the jaw clutch 85a engages the pinion 80a, causing the pinion 80a to rotate with the port drive shaft 70a, thereby driving the port tow drum 10. When the clutch 85a is disengaged from the pinion 80a, the port tow drum 10 is not driven because the port drive shaft 70a is free to rotate within the pinion 80a.

As shown in figure 19, a center jaw clutch 90 resides be-tween the opposed ends of the drive shafts 70a, 70b. When the center jaw clutch 90 is disengaged, the drive shafts 70a, 70b are independent of each other and free to rotate at dif-ferent speeds and different directions, each drive shaft 70a, 70b being driven by its own power assembly 25, 35. Thus, for example, when the center clutch 90 is disengaged, the port power assembly 35 may drive the port drive shaft 70a in one direction to cause the port tow drum 10 to payout its wire rope 4, while the starboard power assembly 25 may drive the star-board drive shaft 70b in the opposite direction to cause the anchor-handling drum or the starboard tow drum to haul-in its corresponding wire rope 4.

As indicated in figure 19 and more fully shown in figure 20, which is a sectional elevation along section line AA of figure 19 and through the port clutch 65a, port gear reducer 60a, and outer end of the port drive shaft 70a, the outer end por-tion of each drive shaft 70a, 70b passes through the primary gear reducer 60a, 60b and terminates within the clutch 65a, 65b. As shown in figure 20, the primary gear reducer 60a in-cludes a housing 100, a drive gear 105, a reducer output shaft

110, support bearings 115 for supporting the reducer output shaft 110 off of the housing 100, and support bearings 120 for supporting the reducer output shaft 110 off of the drive shaft 70a.

As indicated in figure 20, the drive shaft 70a is supported by the support bearings 75 and is coaxially, rotatably displaceable within the reducer output shaft 110 when the clutch 65a is not fully engaged. The reducer output shaft 110 is rotatably dis-placeable within the housing 100 and supported by the support bearings 115, 120. The drive gear 105 is coaxially mounted on the reducer output shaft 110 and transmits the power from the electric motor 45a, via the power shaft 50a, to the reducer out-put shaft 110. The power is then transmitted from the reducer input shaft 110 to the drive shaft 70a to a greater or lesser degree, depending on the degree of clutch engagement.

Method and apparatus for manufacture of a non-heli-cal subsea umbilicalPat. 7,903,914 U.S. class 385/100 Int. class G02B 6/44Inventor: Ronald E. Smith, Seabrook, TX.Assignee: Deep Down, Inc., Channelview, TX

This patent presents a method and apparatus to produce a non-helically wound subsea umbilical. The apparatus to pro-duce a non-helically wound umbilical may be portable to facil-itate manufacturing of subsea umbilicals in remote locations. This apparatus is smaller and more economical to build and operate than conventional cabling machines that currently are used by many manufactures to produce helically wound subsea umbilicals.

The machine shown in figures 21 and 22 may produce any type of umbilical. In figures 21 and 22 it is configured to pro-duce a “10 around 4” type umbilical, as better seen in section view in figure 23. The “4” refers to the four inner conduits and the “10” refers to the ten outer conduits. This machine may be reconfigured to produce other types of umbilicals such as those shown in figures 24 and 25, and other types of umbili-cals, not shown. For different configurations, the feed section 172 is modified from that shown in figure 21 as will be ap-preciated by those skilled in the art. For example, to make the 12 around 6 umbilical of figure 24, twelve outer conduit reels are positioned behind 6 inner conduit reels in an alter-native design of the feed section. For example, to make the 14 around 8 umbilical of figure 25, fourteen outer conduit reels are positioned behind eight inner conduit reels in an alterna-tive design of the feed section.

Referring back to the feed section 172 shown in figure 21, a first inner conduit 10 is wound on a first reel 12 which is supported on a first reel stand 14, not shown. A second inner conduit 16 is wound on a second reel 18 which is supported

Figure 20: Sectional elevation of figure 19 through the port clutch, port gear reducer, and outer end of the port drive shaft.

Figure 21: Schematic view of a front portion of a machine to produce non-helical umbilicals.




on a second reel stand 20, not shown. A third inner conduit 22 is wound on a third reel 24 which is supported on a third reel stand 26, not shown. A fourth inner conduit 28 is wound on a fourth reel 30 which is supported on a fourth reel stand 32, not shown.

As shown in figure 21 by the bracket A, the first back ten-sioner 34, the second back tensioner 122, the first entry guide 36, the first sizing die 38, the first taping head assembly 40, the second entry guide 48, the second sizing die 126 and the second taping head assembly 128 may be mounted on a skid, not shown to facilitate portability. A second skid and a third skid are indicated by the brackets B and C in the following figure.

Figure 22 is a schematic view of a rear portion 148 of the ma-chine to produce non-helical umbilicals 164. Reel X is shown

full of the taped bundle of outer conduits 129 which surrounds the taped bundle of inner conduits 146. These bundles of con-duits pass through a crosshead extruder 150, well known to those skilled in the art. The crosshead extruder applies a jacket 51, better seen in figure 23, to the taped bundle of outer con-duits 129. The jacket may be plastic, elastomer, rubber and/or combination thereof. Reinforcements, not shown, may be used in the application of the jacket for strength.

The non-helical umbilical 164 then passes through a cooling tunnel 152 at a temperature and rate suitable for cooling the jacket. A caterpillar draw machine 154, well known to those skilled in the art, includes an upper tread assembly 156 and a lower tread assembly 158. The upper tread moves counter-clockwise in the direction of the arrow and the lower tread moves clockwise in the direction of the arrow to pull the um-bilical through the cooling tunnel. The completed umbilical 164 may be fed to a carousel, not shown, the reel Y in figure

22 or to the reel 376 on vessel 372.Figure 23 is a section view of a “10 around 4” umbilical 158

produced by the machine 8 of figures 21 and 22. The umbili-cal 158 is non-helically wound, unlike the prior art. The term “conduit” as used herein includes: a) tubes for fluids including hydraulic fluids and/or chemicals; b) electrical power cables; c) fiber optic cables; d) wire rope; e) fillers; f) reinforcements and/or combinations thereof. The umbilical 158 is called 10 around 4 because there are four inner conduits, 10, 16, 22 and 28 surrounded by ten outer conduits, 60, 66, 72, 78, 84, 90, 98, 104, 110 and 116. In this view, conduit 116 is a wire rope 117. In this view, the fourth inner conduit 28 is a fiber optic cable 29 and second inner conduit 16 is an electric power cable 17. To add weight to the umbilical 158 every other out-er conduit could be a wire rope or some combination of wire ropes and conduits. Weight may be added to reduce vortex induced vibration which is sometimes referred to in the indus-try as “strumming.”

Take-up reel for metallic filamentPat. 7,891,599 U.S. class 242/580 Int. class B65H 75/28Inventor: Kazuhiro Kishimoto, Hyogo, JP., Akio Kataoka, Hyogo, JP.Assignee: Tokusen Kogyo Co., Ltd., Hyogo, JP.

The present invention relates to a reel for taking up a metal-lic filament such as steel wire, steel cord, wire rope, electrical wire, and the like, and particularly relates to a reel structure for securing an end part of the metallic filament that has been wound up onto the reel. To secure the end part of a metallic filament taken up onto a reel, the take-up reel for metallic filament has a recessed portion provided in the inside surface of a flange, the recessed portion extending in the radial direc-tion to the flange outer edge; and a connecting portion that straddles the recessed portion. A tabular end retaining mem-ber having elasticity is fitted into the recessed portion. The base end portion of the end retaining member is passed under the connecting portion and butted up against the end surface of the recessed portion on the winding drum side, and a space is provided between the tip end portion of the end retaining member and the flange outer edge to allow the end part of the metallic filament to be caught therein. The end retaining member is anchored to the connecting portion through spot welding, using a welding portion set in the vicinity of the base end portion.

In a take-up reel for metallic filament provided with a flange on both sides of the winding drum, the following can be given as a general example of a conventional structure for securing the end part of the metallic filament when the me-tallic filament is fully wound up on the reel. A small hole is provided in the outer circumference of the flange, and an end retaining member composed of steel wire, a plate spring, or the like is provided on the surface of the outer circumference of the flange in the vicinity of the small hole. The end part of the metallic filament is led through the small hole and is then sandwiched between the end retaining member and the outer surface of the flange. However, in such a case, the operation for passing the end part of the metallic filament through the small hole is troublesome, as is the operation for removing the end part when releasing the metallic filament.

In particular, with steel cord used in tires, steel cord is typi-cally unwound from more than 500 reels during the rubber coating process (calendaring process), one of the intermedi-ate processes in tire manufacturing; it takes an inordinate amount of time to release the end parts of the steel cord from the end retaining members of such a large number of reels.

Figure 22: Schematic view of a rear portion of a machine to produce non-helical umbilicals.

Figure 23: Section view of a 10 around 4 umbilical produced by the machine of figures 21 and 22.


Furthermore, if the metallic filament is a stranded wire such as steel cord or wire rope, there is a problem in that the end part frays and becomes difficult to pass through the small hole; for this reason, it is necessary to wind the end part in tape or weld the strands to one another through fusion in ad-vance, which has been a very complicated process. In order to solve the abovementioned problems, there has been pro-posed a reel onto which is attached an end retaining member capable of protruding from and receding into an access hole formed in a flange, the end retaining member having a catch-er for retaining the end of the metallic filament at the tip.

Figure 26 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configura-tion of a reel for metallic filament, whereas figure 27 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of an end retaining member of the reel for metallic filament. The take-up reel for metallic filament according to this embodiment has, as shown in figure 26, flanges 2 and 2 provided on both ends of a winding drum 1. A recessed portion 3 is provided in at least one area in the inside surface of the flanges 2 and 2, and extends in the radial direction to the flange outer edge 2a; and a connecting por-

tion 4 is provided partway along the recessed portion 3, strad-dling the recessed portion 3 in the circumferential direction, thereby connecting the inside surface of the flange on both sides of the recessed portion 3, the connecting portion 4 being flush with the inside surface of the flange on both sides of the recessed portion 3.

A tabular end retaining member 5, which is a metallic plate having elasticity, is fitted into the recessed portion 3; the tip end portion 5a of the end retaining member 5 is slightly bent outwardly along the flange outer edge 2a, and the corners of the tip end portion 5a are rounded off through beveling. The base end portion 5b of the end retaining member 5 is passed under the connecting portion 4 and butted up against the end surface 3a of the recessed portion 3 on the winding drum side, and a space A is provided between the tip end por-tion 5a of the end retaining member 5 and the flange outer edge 2a to allow the end part of the metallic filament W to be caught therein. In such a state, the end retaining member 5 is anchored to the connecting portion 4 through spot weld-ing, using a welding portion 6 set in the vicinity of the base end portion. In this example, a metallic plate is used as the tabular end retaining member 5 having elasticity; however, a material having elasticity, such as plastic or the like, may be used instead of metal.

Furthermore, the end retaining member 5 may be processed as appropriate so as to take on a bumpy shape, a wave shape, or the like, so that the end part of the metallic filament W is caught thereby; the surface roughness of the end retaining member 5 may also be increased so as to increase the friction between the end retaining member 5 and the end part of the metallic filament W.

A steel cord having a so-called 1x7 construction, in which seven metallic strands 0.33 mm in diameter each are twisted together, was taken up using this reel. The overall diameter of this steel cord is 0.99 mm. When the end part of this cord is introduced through the space A and is drawn in the central direction of the reel, the end part is securely sandwiched be-tween the end retaining member 5 and the flange 2. At this time, the end part of the metallic filament W is drawn into the space between the end retaining member 5 and the flange 2, and the end retaining member 5 is bent into a bow shape, as indicated by the dash-double-dot line in figure 27, to a degree that does not exceed the elastic region of the end retaining member 5, with the part where the connecting portion 4 and the end retaining member 5 make contact with one another being the point of support; force is exerted in the direction that presses down upon the end part of the metallic filament W. Furthermore, static friction arises between the end re-taining member 5 and the end part of the metallic filament W, and between the end part of the metallic filament W and the flange 2. The end part of the metallic filament W is sand-wiched due to these forces.

Next, it was confirmed that the metallic filament W can be released easily simply by strongly pulling the end part of the metallic filament W in the outer radial direction, from the state mentioned above. After the metallic filament has been released, the end retaining member 5 returns toward the flange 2 due to its elasticity, and returns to the form indicated by the solid line in figure 27.

If the space A between the tip end portion 5a of the end retaining member 5 and the flange outer edge 2a is too large, the tip part of the metallic filament W will be caught therein when the filament is taken up on the reel, and thus it is pref-erable for the size to be such that the tip end portion 5a is nearly touching the flange outer edge 2a, and the end part of the metallic filament W barely fits therein. WRN

Figure 24: Schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of a reel for metallic filament.

Figure 25: Enlarged cross-sectional view of an end retaining member of a reel for metallic filament.


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ObituaryGeorge W. Cross

39 year veteran of Bethlehem Steel

Matt Bergdoll and Bruce Thompson have purchased an interest in Fort Wayne Materials Handling, LLCPartnership to support American Wire Rope & Sling’s initiative to be one of the largest material handling solution provider in the Region

American Wire Rope & Sling (AWRS) announced it has reached terms for a partnership with Matt Bergdoll and Bruce Thompson, both from Fort Wayne, IN to acquire an ownership interest in Fort Wayne-based Fort Wayne Materials Handling, LLC (MHE) for an undisclosed amount. In addition, Matt Bergdoll will assume the title of Vice President of Sales and Bruce Thompson Vice President of Operations. The partnership will al-low MHE & AWRS to strengthen and diversify its services and product of-ferings to current customers, as well as significantly broaden its customer base in the Midwest.

“We are excited about the new part-nership,” announced AWRS President, Eric Stetzel. “Matt and Bruce bring a focused and vested interest in re-devel-oping our forklift business as a market-leader. Our collective customers will benefit from the material handling ex-pertise MHE has developed throughout the years in forklift sales and service, as well as the solutions AWRS and MHE - Crane & Hoist offers through a wide range of rigging accessories including slings, wire rope, clamps, cranes and hoists.” The acquisition will make MHE and AWRS, together, one of the Midwest’s largest providers of material handling equipment, services, and solutions.

MHE was established as a result of AWRS’s asset purchase of Fort Wayne-based Material Handling Equipment Corporation. The finan-cially strong organization, with the new leadership of Matt and Bruce, are committed to utilize its’ experi-enced, knowledgeable and committed workforce to re-develop their market share footprint in forklift sales - new & used, rental, leasing, service parts and service repair markets.About American Wire Rope & Sling

AWRS is a national fabricator and supplier of wire rope slings, chain slings, nylon slings and other related products. It has been doing business

Mr. George Willis Cross, 87, hus-band of Mrs. Eleanor Calley Story Cross died on Saturday, March 12, 2011 at Kentwood Nursing Home Augusta, GA. A memorial service was held at 2:00 PM on Saturday, March 19, 2011 at Platt’s Crawford Avenue Chapel with the Rev. Dr. Hugh McClure officiating. Interment was private.

Born in Richmond, VA, Mr. Cross graduated from E C Glass High School and then attended the Virgin-ia Military Institute. Following his service in World War II he attended the University of Richmond where he was a member of Kappa Sigma Fra-ternity. George spent his entire 39 year business career with Bethlehem Steel Corp. For the last 20 years of his career he served as the regional sales manager for the Southeastern United States, New Orleans, LA. He retired in 1982.

George lived in Covington, LA for 47 years and was active in many civic and church activities. After Hurricane Katrina George and his wife moved to Augusta, GA where they spent the past five years enjoying their family. George was a member of St. Mary on the Hill Catholic Church. He was a devoted and loving husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and friend and will be deeply missed by his family and friends.

In addition to his wife, George is survived by his children, George W. Cross, Jr. (Spencer), and Louise Mallan Cross Kelbaugh, four step-children, seven grandchildren, his brother, John Haw Cross, and four great-grandchildren. Mr. Cross was preceded in death by his parents, Charles F. Cross and Virginia White Cross, his first wife, Louise Mallan Hughes Cross, and his grandson, Stacy Hammond Story, IV.

for over 70 years, with offices cur-rently in Fort Wayne, Indianapolis and Mishawaka, Indiana. The com-pany is owned by ECP American

Steel, LLC, an affiliate company of Equity Capital Partners, LLC, a Fort Wayne-based capital investment and management company.



Lincoln Hoist announces addition of RFID to its productsEnhances safety and accident prevention programs

Lincoln Hoist, the originator of the lever ratchet winch hoist or “come-along,” is introducing im-proved new models that include RFID tags, serialization, and more visible markings. These benefits will be made available to customers with no change in prices.

Regular inspection by a qualified person is one of the best ways to pre-vent accidents using this, or most any other tool used for lifting or pulling heavy loads. RFID tags help reduce the paperwork burden of performing and maintaining those inspection records, according to a company release. Lincoln Hoist’s newest improvement embeds a small 8mm RFID chip directly into the main hoist housing to facilitate the task.

In addition, Lincoln Hoist has reached an agreement with Info-chip Systems to provide free in-spection, certification and tracking software**. This limited version (for Lincoln Hoist products only) of the widely used Infochip sys-tem is intended to offer inspection and certification report functions to smaller companies. According to Lincoln president Dave Hallen, “Large customers are requesting the RFID tags more and more. They have already discovered the bene-fits of using RFID software systems to keep track of fixed assets and to record inspection and certification information. Even though we aren’t charging customers for the chips, we want to be sure that smaller cus-tomers can get the benefit of RFID without the need to get into a full installation of the software. We are very pleased to be able to offer this package through Infochip Systems.”

RFID technology enables custom-ers to quickly call up specific hoist information by reading the data em-bedded in the chip. They can then see pre-loaded information regard-ing inspection points, evaluate and record the various attributes, create notes, and generate inspection re-ports or certificates.

Enhancements planned for the fu-ture include the ability to have parts diagrams immediately available for quick call-out of correct repair part

numbers. According to Hallen “It’s important to understand that no other changes are being made to our tried and tested products. All of the internal workings are identical to (and interchangeable with) our older hoists. If you liked the tools that we’ve built for the past 60 plus years, you will like these. You just get new added functionality at no cost.”

**While the software license is free, InfoChip software is web based (no soft-ware to install) and so does require a modest fee for setting up each new cus-tomer.

To learn more about Lincoln Hoist and RFID, please visit us at www.lincolnhoist.com.

Demag’s DCS-Pro electric chain hoists with infinitely variable speed control allow precision control of load

The DCS-Pro electric chain hoist line from Demag Cranes & Components is packed with standard features that al-low operators to handle and precisely position critically sensitive loads with ease, according to a company release. These include an infinitely-variable speed control with soft starting speeds as low as 3.15 inches/minute; a 1:200 control ratio that produces gentle posi-tioning in addition to high speed travel; automatic switchover to low speed prior to reaching the upper/lower stop; accel-eration and braking ramps to prevent load sway; and up to 90% higher nomi-nal speed for partial load or no-load op-erations.

Designed with safety, convenience and low maintenance in mind, the en-tire family of DCS-Pro chain hoists in-cludes as standard 24V control voltage and operating limit switches for im-proved safety and reliability, a brake-coupling system which ensures that loads are held securely in all operat-ing situations, and a speed monitored slipping clutch for effective cut-off on overload allow safe operation. The DCS also comes standard with “plug & lift” connections that make the hoist simple to install, while the gearbox, brake and slipping clutch are maintenance-free for up to 10 years, while the modular chain drive can be quickly and easily replaced without having to remove the motor or gear parts.

For complete specifications and fea-tures, please visit our web site at www.demagcranes.us.About Demag Cranes and Compo-

nentsDemag

C r a n e s & Com-p o n e n t s based in C l e v e l a n d , OH, a subsid-iary of Demag Cranes AG, is a world class manufacturer of high quality industrial cranes and components, elec-tric chain and wire rope hoists, and load handling attachments and accesso-ries for material handling flow, logistics and industrial drive applications. The com-pany offers a complete range of services and support pro-grams including replacement parts, maintenance and refur-bishment.

Mighty-Eco-Ergo mobile crane“New” reversible boom crane, Eco-Conscious, for indoor use

Air Technical Industries announc-es the launch of the NEW RBC-50000SPBW Self-Propelled Walk-Be-hind Mobile Crane. The first of its kind, it is Eco-Conscious and energy-efficient in lifting-transporting technologies with the mighty muscle power of 50,000 lbs capacity, according to a company re-lease. Designed for indoor use where heavy components need to be lifted, transported, positioned, installed and assembled to help make your job easier, along with satisfying the green initia-tive. Keep the facility cleaner, quieter, and safer, with environmental overtone; no fumes, no gas, no smell, no smoke, just mighty power and flexibility.

The crane can lift up to 50,000 lbs and up to 240 inches high. It is self-propelled with infinitely variable speed controls. It features power steering with sharp turning to each side making it very easy to maneuver. The powered telescopic boom will reach beyond, over and under, or into hard to reach places. These features make it ideal for lifting components such as large castings, mo-tors high up on to a pedestal, gen-packs, compressors, boilers, transformers and aircraft engines. It can be used for many applications such as assembly work, loading trucks, container handling, etc.

The unit is user friendly. It is very


continued from page 76simple and easy to operate with dual controls for greater flexibility. All con-trols are push button operated and built into the steering handle. It has another control on a remote pendant so that operators can align the load precisely where needed. The unit featured is equipped with an optional Gooseneck Boom to reach into tight spots between the ceiling and highest positioned item for installation and removal. This is ide-al for low-headroom applications.

The crane travels on ten (10) poly-urethane wheels to reduce and spread floor loading and to protect the floor. All wheels are equipped with precision ma-chine roller bearings for smooth, quiet and easy mobility. The propulsion is DC battery powered 48V. Solid state control provides smooth acceleration and decel-eration. An automatic braking system is built into drive wheel motors, and is applied when the controls are released. The travel speed is from 0-3 MPH.

The boom lifting, telescopic boom ac-tion, and powered steering are hydrau-lically operated. The hydraulic cylinder shafts are made from high carbon tough steel, ground, polished and chrome-plat-ed, which protects from corrosion and provides smooth, efficient operation. The Hydraulic system is equipped with safety relief valves to protect the system and to prevent over loading.

The RBC-series of cranes are available in a variety of capacities and sizes from 1000, 2000, 3000, 4000, 6000, 10,000, 15,000, 20,000, and 50,000-pound ca-pacities. Smaller models start at only 34” wide, narrow enough to fit through a doorway.

Built to make the job ERGONOMI-CALLY easier and safer in any opera-tion, the RBC will help increase effi-ciency, productivity, save time, and energy. Made in AMERICA with heavy-

duty steel welded construction for many years of tough industrial use.

Wiley X® Airborne™ model flys high above the rest with sleek styling and safety features ideal for industrial workers

Bring on the dirt. Bring on the glare. Bring on the wind. Bring it all on be-cause you’ll be ready with the Wiley X® Airborne™ safety-rated sunglasses built tough enough for work, but cool enough for play. From machining to assembly to work on an oil rig, these RX-ready glasses have been designed specifically for the special safety needs of the industrial workplace. A member of the Wiley X feature-packed Climate Control™ Series, the Airborne glasses were created by the same designers that developed the company’s U.S. Military grade glasses. According to a company release, this means precision, safety and ultra functionality were principal factors when crafting these performance safety glasses.

The design of the Wiley X Airborne begins with meticulously crafted com-fort and fit. The Airborne includes Wiley X’s patented removable Facial Cavity™ seal made of soft, comfortable foam, which easily snaps in and out of the frame, virtually presenting a pair of glasses and goggles in one. The seal works to keep wind, dust and debris out of the wearers’ eyes and features the company’s special Top Down™ Venti-lation to prevent fogging while hard at work.

The Wiley X Airborne glasses are con-structed from some of the world’s most indestructible materials. The ANSI Z87.1-2003 safety-certified frames are fashioned from tough Triloid Nylon, so they can stand up to even the most chal-lenging work environments.

The Airborne lenses play two vital roles: providing for paramount clarity as well as ultimate safety. Far exceed-ing ANSI Z87.1-2003 safety and optical standards, each lens is crafted from shatterproof Sel-enite™ Polycarbonate and is fin-ished with a scratch-resilient T-Shell™ hardcoat to protect against scratches and nicks. The Airborne is available in various lens tints includ-ing smoke grey, polarized smoke green, LA™ Light Adjusting bronze and clear.

While safety and clarity came first, perhaps the best thing about the Wiley X Airborne glasses is that designers have taken all this advanced technology and transformed it into great-looking glasses that workers will want to wear. With frames available in gloss black,

matte black and metallic black, the Air-borne is a truly striking pair of glasses. Fitting medium to large head sizes the Airborne can also be fitted with pre-scription safety lenses that meet ANSI Z87.1-2003 safety requirements.

When it comes to protection, no one beats Wiley X, the only premium performance sunglass manufacturer whose entire line meets ANSI Z87.1-2003 high velocity and high mass impact standards.

To learn more about the Airborne glass-es, the Safety Series from Wiley X — or the company’s full line of high performance eyewear for work and play — visit Wiley X Eyewear at 7800 Patterson Pass Rd. Livermore, CA 94550 • Telephone: (800) 776-7842 • Or visit online at www.wileyx.com. For updates on Wiley X pro athletes and events, find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/wileyxeyewear.

Gigasense Anti-Collision SystemThe Gigasense Anti-Collision Sys-

tem controls and protects track bound cranes or similar machinery against ac-cidental collisions. The system prevents costly equipment breakdowns and op-erational downtime, according to a com-pany release.

The distance, speed and movement of the crane can be controlled from the re-lay box using a Doppler technique.

The Gigasense Anti-Collision Sys-tem has been in use for many years with more than 4,000 units installed in heavy duty operations world wide and

has recently received approval for use in North America.

The Gigasense Anti-Collision System and other Piab Force Measurement products are available exclusively from Strider-Resource.

For additional information, contact Tom O’Rourke: [email protected] (905) 859-3901.


Please turn to the pages indicated belowfor a detailed view of

advertisers’ products or services.

Advertisers Index

AccuTech .......................................................59

Allied Power Products .....................................37

All Material Handling .......................................52

Alps Wire Rope ..............................................46

Associated Wire Rope & Rigging, Inc. .......50, 58

Buffalo Lifting and Testing ..............................68

C. Sherman Johnson Co., Inc. ........................40

Cableway Technical Services ..........................81

Caldwell Company, Inc. ............................28, 84

Chant Engineering Co., Inc. ............................11

Chicago Hardware ..........................................14

The Crosby Group ................................2, 38, 45

Distributor Computer Systems ........................37

Downs Crane & Hoist Co., Inc. .......................70

Elite Sales ......................................................15

Engineered Lifting Technologies.......................55

Esco Corporation ...........................................22

Filtec Precise, Inc. ..........................................34

Gaylin International Co. Pte. Ltd. .....................83

GBG Industries ...............................................20

Holland 1916 .................................................21

Huskie Tools ..................................................54

Ken Forging, Inc. ............................................12

KWS, Inc. .......................................................59

Landmann Wire Rope Products ........................4

Letellier M.H.E. ...............................................77

Lincoln Hoist ..................................................13

Lug-All ...........................................................49

Miller Products ...............................................17

Morse-Starrett Products Co. ...........................32

My-Te Products ..............................................57

C.S. Osborne & Co. ........................................55

Pewag ...........................................................51

Quality Marine Hardware ................................19

Renfroe & Sons ................................................3

Rope Block/Sea Link .......................................31

Rud Chain, Inc. ..............................................53

Samco Sales, Inc. ..........................................35

Sea Catch ......................................................61

Sea-land Distributors ................6, 27, 33, 41, 47

Slingmax Rigging Products ...............................5

Slinguard Protectors .......................................61

Southern Weaving Company ..........................25

Strider~Resource ..........................................57

Suncor Stainless, Inc. .............................. 42-43

Taylor Chain Company ...................................56

Thern .............................................................23

Van Beest BV .................................................44

Wichard, Inc. .................................................66

Windy Ridge Corporation ................................70

Wirop Industrial Co., Ltd. ................................29

WSTDA ..........................................................48

Yale Cordage ..................................................26

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 flem-ish eye slings along with hand splicing, both 4 tuck and hidden tuck. Competitive 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 can-didate has the ability to establish accounts and build strong business relationships.

Excellent base and commission, comp. vehicle and benefits. Submit qualifications 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 expand-ing its distribution and requires sales personnel. Experience in chain and wire rope sling industries is an asset. Send re-sume 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. Competitive salary and benefits. Reply to box 11-4, care of Wire Rope News, 511 Colonia Blvd., Co-lonia, NJ 07067.

A fantastic opportunity is available to manage the sales force of a well known distributor and manufacturer of industrial

rigging and material handling products in the Midwest. This senior position will develop and implement the company’s sales strategy from a business, sales and technical perspective. This person will be granted the task of increasing sales on both a short and long term basis. Not only will this individual manage sales efforts but they will maintain and grow their own accounts as well. Experience in the rigging industry is a must. Competitive pay and benefits package available. Please email resume to [email protected] box no. 11-01.

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/Fabrica-tor needed. QC21 Lifting Products is seek-ing quality craftsmanship and shop lead-ership for our recently relocated wire rope and synthetic operations in Harrison, 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 Maf-co, Inc owned company and a leader in the specialty rigging and nylon sling industry. If you are interested in joining 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 service. Work in a family oriented business with an opportunity to earn part ownership. Need someone 35-55+ years old who started at the bottom and looking to finish at the top. Need hands on splicing experience, lifting rigging experience, test bed knowledge, able to direct small growing crew. Basic computer knowledge. Willing to train and mentor young employees. Top wages and benefits for the right individual. Problem solver that our customers 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 business in Nashville, TN. Contractors & Industrial Supply Co., Inc. founded in 1970 is a dis-tributor of wire rope, rigging hardware, chain and related industry products is ex-panding our sales team. The qualified in-dividual will possess industry knowledge and the ability to develop new accounts and maintain existing. We offer a competi-tive base salary plus commission and an outstanding benefits package. If qualified, please email your resume with salary his-tory 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 Office and ERP distribution software required. Knowledge of wire rope, rigging, construc-tion and industrial supplies preferred. Traveling required. Company vehicle and expenses along with competitive base sal-ary 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 marketing and business plan. This position will eventu-ally evolve to a sales manager or general manager. Fax your resume in strict confi-dence to 330-452-2331 attention Kris Lee or email to [email protected].

Texas Wire Rope Company expanding inside sales department. Individuals must have a strong technical, mechanical and basic mathematical aptitude, including basic computer knowledge. Selected candi-dates must be quality conscious and able to handle multiple tasks. Previous experience in the industrial supply market is neces-sary. 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 ac-counts and build strong business relation-ships. Knowledge of DCS based computer 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 can-didates meeting our eligibility require-ments. 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, Re-

gional 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 Man-ager, Wire Rope Ind Product Manager, Rud Chain, Inc. Interested parties reply to M.E. (Mike) Givens [email protected], ph 256-476-7700.

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)

Ad To Read:

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

REPS WANTEDKennedy Wire Rope and Sling Company

is seeking a qualified inside sales repre-sentative for their South Texas rigging shop located in Corpus Christi, Texas. We service various markets locally and glob-ally. Solid sales skills working closely and interacting with customers directly, on the phone and in e-commerce is paramount. The candidate must have two years ex-perience in sales and marketing of lift-ing products. Current knowledge of sling manufacturing and field use of rigging is very helpful. Basic computer skills are a must. Kennedy Wire Rope and Sling uti-lizes DCS software. We offer competitive 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 Lift-ing Equipment & Accessories wanted by ALL MATERIAL HANDLING, Inc. Terri-tories are now available and supported 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.allmaterialhandling.com and reach us at 877 543-8264, or e-mail [email protected].

Well established manufacturer of wire rope assemblies seeks manufacturer rep-resentatives for most major U.S. and Canadian markets. Visit our web site at www.thecableconnection.com. Please con-tact [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 current management. Also open to explore merg-

ers, joint ventures or strategic alliances in lieu of acquisition. Pelase reply to [email protected]. Strict confidentiality 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 assembly manufacturers and specialty producers of miniature and small diameter strand and cable. The company has the financial ability to structure a transaction that is responsive to the owner’s needs. Be as-sured that we will exercise the appropri-ate confidentiality. Interested parties 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 alliances 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” diam-eter, 23,700 lbs breaking load, .58 lbs/foot, 16,489 feet. Contact Draka Elevator Prod-ucts 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 Industries 732-574-0700.

Overstocked inventory for sale, 1-3/8” Shackle, WLL 13½ ton, galvanized, round pin, import. Super savings. Sold in mini-mum lots of 50 at $9 each. Eric Parkerson, 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 machines. 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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