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OCTOBER 2016 | 53 Reinforcing Steel PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY AGF GROUP A Developments in reinforcing steel boast ingenious technical solutions by ROBIN BRUNET As with any discipline within the construction indus- try, reinforcing steel has had its share of challenges, from lack of raw supply on the world market, declin- ing demand due to deflating economies, to the inher- ent shortcomings of the product itself (as the various solutions addressing the material's tendency to cor- rode demonstrate). But arguably these challenges have resulted in rebar manufacturers and installers being an unusu- ally resilient and resourceful part of the construction industry, and as 2016 draws to a close, they have suc- cessfully cleared the usual amount of hurdles, one of the biggest being that the cost of maintaining Canada's infrastructure continues to rise – and the demand for better quality, more cost-effective and longer-lasting products is rising accordingly. Some of the solutions are dramatic, such as stainless steel being used as an alternative to traditional corro- sion resistant epoxy or zinc coatings, or the concrete mix designs that inhibit chloride intrusion (in theory, stainless steel's higher costs are more than offset by lon- ger life expectancy and improved seismic capacities). But more often, problems are solved due to the sheer acumen of companies such as AGF Group, whose mission to provide ingenious technical solutions in the fields of reinforcing steel and access has built AGF into a powerhouse employing over 3,000 people in over 45 different locations across the world. With a head office in Longueuil, Quebec, AGF was recently recognized by the Ontario Concrete Awards for its participation in two Canadian projects. For the Ryerson Student Learning Centre in Toronto, AGF-C&T supplied 1,750 tonnes of steel for this nine-storey edifice, which includes an elevated plaza and bridge. The project involved construction of angled architectural reinforced concrete columns that spanned many floor levels. The second project, which won in the Institutional Building category, was the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre. AGF-Albrecht installed a total of 1,380 tonnes of steel for this facility, whose design features a sloping custom pre- cast panel facade and a precast concrete diving tower. This year finds AGF busy with a variety of jobs, includ- ing the new Champlain Bridge in Montreal, a contract that requires a huge volume of black, galvanized, and stainless steel reinforcing steel (the latter product being a first in Quebec). Installation has commenced and com- pletion is expected in August 2018. Other projects for AGF in the Montreal area include Maison Symphonique, Taking The Hard Line the McGill University Health Centre, construction of the new CHUM (University of Montreal Health Centre), the Nouvelle Autoroute 30 and the Tour Des Canadiens. Increasingly, the portfolios of major reinforcing steel companies include significant projects in coun- tries other than Canada (geographical diversification being crucial to growing market share in the world economy), and such is the case with Harris Rebar, which is owned by Nucor and has over 70 locations across Canada and the U.S. In addition to supplying and installing rebar for homegrown projects such as the new Port Mann Bridge (which required 28,000 tonnes of rebar and 13,000 tonnes of structural steel, along with 116 steel com- posite segments for the cable-stay span of the bridge and 45 kilometres of cable), Harris has provided its ser- vices to the Willamette River Transit Bridge construc- tion in Portland, Oregon, the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts in Kansas City and most famously, the $3.8-billion One World Trade Center, a significant job for the rebar sector overall in that cast-in-place reinforced concrete is the construction material of choice for secu- rity-sensitive structures and the tower required a core of cast-in-place, reinforced concrete as an extra-strong backbone running the full height of the building. Partnerships between reinforcing steel companies are proving to be another way to prevail at a time of unusually vigorous competition and thin profit mar- gins. The 2013 liaison between Salit Specialty Rebar (SSR) and Heritage Steel Sales Ltd., for example, has resulted in the latter being able to continue a pattern of sustainable growth, ensure a safe work environ- ment for its employees, and maintain its core values that emphasize customer service from initial consul- tation and budgeting through to delivery and instal- lation, according to Heritage president Martin Gobin. Heritage is a prime example of a local company that makes aggressive use of the latest technology: in its 24,500-square-foot Langley, B.C. plant, computer software is designed specifically for reinforcing steel products. The largest shear-line is computer aided and automated, as are the benders and stirrup machines. Bluetooth Wi-Fi scanners allow real-time tracking, mill/heats assignments to releases, inventory func- tions, loading/shipping functions, and auto setting of the shear-line and benders – all of which provide even higher quality and more efficient fabrication. As for SSR, which is based in Niagara Falls, Ontario, it distinguishes itself by stocking all sizes and grades of rebar, including Nitronic32 and 2205 Duplex, and by its stainless-only production line, which eliminates rebar contamination that is normally caused by black carbon dust. For the record, its specialty of stainless steel has benefitted projects throughout North America, Hawaii and the Caribbean, with more and more developers understanding that the material is ideal in regions subject to de-icing salts, chemicals or salt water, or in structures where magnetic permeability is a concern. Salit representatives point out that stainless steel rebar products do not need expensive coatings or treatments to be corrosion resistant. There is noth- ing sprayed on that could crack during fabrication, and the material has good high and low temperature mechanical properties. Purely from a procurement perspective, Salit is also a desirable choice for devel- opers because at any given time it has over one mil- lion pounds of stainless steel rebar in stock, including domestic and foreign inventory, plus stainless steel wire mesh, tie wire and couplers. Unlike some competitors, Sherwood Steel Limited has risen to prominence by restricting its customer .ca .ca .ca .ca