Wastren Advantage dedicates new headquarters built by Geiger Brothers

Officers and staff of Wastren Advantage, Inc. (WAI) formally dedicated the company’s new office building near Piketon on May 18, 2011, following a Geiger Brothers fast-track construction effort that spanned less than six months from groundbreaking to readiness for occupancy. The visually stunning and extremely functional energy efficient corporate office building rose quickly to house about 50 core WAI executives and staff.

Geiger Brothers began site preparation in late November 2010 on Shyville Road just north of the Pike County (Ohio) uranium enrichment complex and near the OSU South Centers.

Geiger Brothers began clearing and grading work as design continued. Completion requirements were aggressive due to WAI commitments.  January was not an ideal time of year to start foundations, but Geiger Brothers was able to come out of the ground and get enclosure by using lean construction scheduling methodology and tightly controlling milestones while dovetailing self-performed work with managed subcontracts.

In an effort to keep the project moving in order to meet WAI’s time frame for being fully functional and moving staff in place, Geiger Brothers’ constructability review changed the structural steel primer requirements to AISC allowable finishes in a concealed space, modified the HVAC equipment and controls for a simpler integrated approach, and changed many of the exterior site features to allow for better drainage solutions on this beautiful wooded site.

The 11,000-square-feet contemporary corporate office building features multiple and flexible conference rooms; large, open and expandable work areas; and a centralized core area for building services and common spaces.

The exterior has vertical metal siding panels, cement fiberboard panels and some masonry veneer with a standing seam metal roof. The building meets sustainable design standards and features rain garden storm water control, natural lighting, a high efficiency HVAC system, low VOC finishes and the use of recycled materials.

Geiger Brothers received accolades from WAI and the project architect for being able to meet a demanding schedule while safely performing the work in a quality and cost-efficient manner.

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Geiger Brothers hosts ASQ section’s monthly program

Nearly 50 local quality professionals, primarily members of the American Society for Quality’s (ASQ) local Scioto Valley Section, toured the Geiger Brothers fabrication shop April 28, 2011. The program and tour served as the monthly program of the regional ASQ Section, which serves 17 counties in south central and southeastern Ohio, eastern Kentucky, and southwestern West Virginia.

The dinner program and tour began at Iron City Pipe & Supply and finished in the Geiger Brothers piping and structural steel fabrication shops.

Following registration and networking, ASQ section members and guests toured and heard about the quality aspects of pipe, valve and fitting (PVF) distribution at Iron City Pipe & Supply.

Following dinner, the second part of the program was a tour of the fabrication shop at Geiger Brothers, where company officers Scott Massie and Erik Massie talked about piping-based work packages, material certifications, and receipt and welding inspections. Guests then observed a demonstration of submerged arc pipe welding.

Attendees included ASQ section members, guests, and management and staff of the two companies, as well as special guests including two Jackson County commissioners, the mayor of Jackson, representatives of the Jackson County Economic Development Board, and local news media.

The evening provided opportunity for these special guests to learn of the services and activities of Iron City Pipe, of Geiger Brothers, of the American Society for Quality, and of the local Scioto Valley Section.

Geiger Brothers CEO Scott Massie discussed fabrication work packages, drawings, material certifications and inspections as part of the ASQ tour of the Geiger Brothers piping and structural steel fabrication shops on April 28, 2011.

Geiger Brothers pipefitter James Blazer (left) demonstrated submerged arc welding to more than 40 ASQ Scioto Valley Section members and guests participating in the tour of the Geiger Brothers pipe and structural steel fabrication shops during the section’s April 2011 dinner program.

The Geiger Brothers marketing consultant designed and produced three separate poster boards to illustrate the activities of Iron City Pipe & Supply, the Geiger Brothers fabrication shops, and the ASQ Scioto Valley Section.

Geiger Brothers has key role in building dry air and nitrogen complex

Under contract to CDM Smith, Inc., and in doing “fast-track” construction, Geiger Brothers recently was responsible for pipe support and pipe spool fabrication and installation, concrete pours, earthwork, and underground system installations for new facilities on the U. S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) reservation in Pike County, Ohio.

The design-build contract for the $6.2 million X-670 Dry Air Plant, X-670A Cooling Tower and X-675 Nitrogen Station complex was completed within less than four months. The fast-track was required to move functionality of existing plant air and nitrogen systems from one of the large site uranium enrichment process buildings to enable DOE turnover of the building to the site decontamination and decommissioning (D&D) contractor.

To meet the deadlines Geiger Brothers used Primavera P6 CPM Scheduling software and lean construction techniques, and placed an extraordinary effort on pre-fabrication of components in its shop at Jackson, just 30 minutes from the project site. Geiger Brothers implemented just-in-time delivery of fabricated plumbing, piping and HVAC components working multiple shifts in a 24/7 environment to complete and commission project systems.

More than 4,800 code ASME B31.3 Process Piping and B31.1 Power Piping welds were completed for the air, cooling water, nitrogen, steam, natural gas, condensate and boiler blowdown and auxiliary system piping.

Geiger Brothers and designers from CDM Smith utilized virtual and BIM techniques to coordinate the placement of equipment, vessels and heavy piping and electrical components within the building structure.

More than two miles of 18-inch aboveground cooling water lines and structural supports and bridges previously had been installed to link the new dry air plant compressors and nitrogen plant from throughout the DOE reservation.

Geiger Brothers installs Piketon plant cooling water piping and supports

On behalf of the United States Enrichment Corporation’s Government Services Division, Geiger Brothers has completed work under an accelerated contract to install piping and supports for alternate route cooling water supply and return at the U. S. Department of Energy’s former gaseous diffusion uranium enrichment plant in Pike County, Ohio.

The cooling water system configuration change involved the plant’s X-300 central control facility and X-710 laboratory building and included routing for tie-in to a new dry air plant, cooling towers and nitrogen tank farm that are under construction.

Geiger Brothers provided materials, labor, equipment and supervision to install and test the new tower cooling water supply and return piping for the water cooled chillers in the X-300 and X-710 facilities.

Concrete foundations along with some fabrication of new and modification of existing pipe bents were required. The project involved below grade isolations, installations and the connections to existing recirculating cooling water (RCW) piping.  The contract included line routing to the area of the future cooling tower for the new dry air plant, for which Geiger Brothers has design and construction responsibility under contract to CDM Smith, Inc.

The pipe varied in sizes from 6 to 18 inches. To complete the project, Geiger Brothers painted all new pipe and bents and those areas of existing bents that had been modified.

Geiger Brothers completes rehabilitation of three Jackson County truss bridges

Geiger Brothers has completed renovation of three steel truss bridges under contract to the Jackson County Engineer. The company removed, rehabilitated and then replaced these bridges after completing truss structural upgrades in its Jackson fabrication shop.

The bridges span Salt Lick Creek on Jackson Township Road 217 (Brohard Road) just west of U. S. Route 35, Symmes Creek on Jimes Emory Road (County Road 49) in Madison Township, and Four Mile Creek on County Road 11 (Four Mile Road) near Franklin Grange Road.

PHOTO GALLERY BELOW

The Jackson County Board of Commissioners, upon recommendation of the Jackson County Engineer, awarded the contract for the rehabilitations. The Engineer noted the bridges were installed in the 1950s and 1960s.  He stated this method of giving new life to older bridges saves funds and that the rehabilitation project will make them last another 50 or 60 years.

Geiger Brothers provided design services in addition to dismantling, removing, rehabilitating and replacing the bridges.

Geiger Brothers removed the existing bridge flooring, dismantled the structures, and then removed and cut each of the four- to six-ton trusses for transport. Structural upgrades were made in the Geiger Brothers Jackson fabrication shop, where welding personnel reinforced truss members and gusset plates and re-joined each truss.  Once repaired, the bridge components were sandblasted and galvanized.

Each bridge was then reconstructed at the sites. Upon re-setting the trusses, construction personnel installed new stringers, floor beams and decking and then applied the asphalt paving to complete the work.

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Geiger Brothers builds and installs new JHS baseball scoreboard frame

With help from Geiger Brothers, the Jackson High School baseball field entered a new era with the dedication and first use of a major improvement.

The late Dick “Sparky” Haller served as Jackson High School baseball coach for many years and the Huron Street field had been renamed in his honor in 1990.  On Tuesday evening, April 20, 2010, a pre-game ceremony highlighted the dedication of a new permanent granite monument designating the facility as Haller Field and the unveiling of a new scoreboard.

Geiger Brothers designed, built and installed the frame for the new scoreboard.  Company craftsmen built the frame and sleeves in the Geiger Brothers fabrication shop.  Then at the site, craftsman removed the old scoreboard, posts and concrete base and set the new sleeves.  Several days of Geiger Brothers work at the field finished with installation of the new frame by crane on April 16.  The 24-feet wide x 14-feet tall frame weighed just over 1,900 pounds.  The steel posts and sleeves combined weighed another 3,700 pounds and were set in 21 cubic yards of concrete.

Speakers at the dedication included the honored coach’s son, Paul Haller, who said Geiger Brothers “stepped up to the plate” by building the frame and installing the scoreboard.  “It’s been a tremendous team effort to get the scoreboard up in the last few days for this home game today,” he concluded.