Rubb Fabric Building News

This was an exciting week for the construction of the new welding shop!  On Monday the remaining spans of roof trusses were assembled on the ground.  Tuesday was the big day: the crane arrived bright and early and the first span was lifted shortly after.  After guying off the first span to stabilize it, two more spans were lifted into place and roof purlins added to tie them to the first span.  Finally, axial frames, cables and more roof purlins were fitted in to complete a “braced bay”; a very solid structural element at the end of the building that will act as an anchor for additional spans to be fitted in place.  A video showing the day’s events is to the right.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

The crane lifted some more axial steel into place Wednesday morning, but the rest of the day was rained out.  The crane returned on Thursday, and the time-lapse to the right shows a solid day’s work, despite a few intermittent showers.  The majority of the remaining spans were lifted into place and tied together with roof purlins.  As you can see, the building assembles quickly with a full crew working. Finally, on Friday, three more spans were lifted before rain cut the day short.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

This was a slow week of construction as the axial steel and cables were fitted in between the standing leg trusses.

A few roof spans were also assembled on the ground in preparation for next week’s crane lifting. This week’s video shows the leg longitudinal tubes and leg bend d-frames fitted into place.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

This spring we have begun construction of a new building at Rubb, Inc. It will primarily be used for welding of steel components of our buildings. At 110′ wide and 267′ long, it is more than double the size of our current shop. The site was excavated and the foundation poured last fall, and now that the snow has melted, it is time to begin putting the steel up.

We have decided to use this opportunity to create a complete video documentation of the building assembly using time-lapse photography. To do this, I chose the Sony M3W digital network camera. It was placed atop a 50′ steel pole with power and network cables. With a built-in web server and FTP client, it allows remote viewing of live video as well as timed upload of images every minute. In addition, it has remote pan/tilt capability to ensure it captures all the activity.

The pace of construction is somewhat relaxed from a typical Rubb Building; this building is being put up with our crews in between normal shop/site duties and during downtime. The first week consisted of standing up leg trusses and starting to connect them with purlins. This is work that can be done with minimal personnel and is mostly ground-based. Here is a video of the first day:

For over 25 years the skyline of Newcastle Upon Tyne, England, has been dominated by the Swan Hunter Shipyard buildings located in the dockyards on the banks of the river Tyne.

Originally manufactured by Rubb back in 1982, the two rail mounted liftable structures measuring 27m span x 24m long and a large 11.5m sidewall, were often moved from shipyard to shipyard along the river by barge, and were used to house the ships and frigates being built by Swan Hunter during manufacture. The structures are to be dismantled and shipped to India where they will continue to be used by the shipbuilding industry.

The Hot Dipped Galvanized steel framework of Rubb structures has proved to be long-lasting and durable — already 26 years old, the structures are still able to preform in the harshest of climates. The PVC fabric membrane is also to be rolled up and reused once the structures arrive at their new destination.

The long life and continued re-use of these structures is a further testament to the longevity, value and flexibility of Rubb structures.

Of the many assets that make Rubb a great company, our people are the most valuable. Many of our employees have worked with us for decades and their loyalty and dedication has made us the successful company we are.

On December 20th, 2007 we had the honor of awarding Solveig Agasøster with the the King’s silver medal for 30 years service to Rubb Norway. As production leader of Rubb Industri AS, Solveig is in charge of cutting fabrics and planning certain production tasks. She is also involved in welding fabric and from time to time quality control. The King’s award recognizes a career of hard work and loyalty, and her very valued role with the Rubb organization.

Thank you Solveig, and all Rubb employees, for your contributions in building the very finest fabric buildings in the world. We look forward to many more years of service, growth, and innovation worldwide.

Rubb’s port buildings continue to be popular options for marine uses, demonstrated recently by a purchase of two Rubb Structures by Maher Terminals (PDF). As one of the world’s biggest independent multi-user container terminal operators, Maher Terminals requires world-class storage facilities that help them handle cargo as efficiently and economically as possible, and continually enhance their facilities to achieve this goal. The two Rubb BVR structures are for their Elizabeth City, New Jersey facility. Both buildings measure 50’ (15.24m) x 83.3’ (25.4m) with 19.7’ (6m) and will be used to house Maher’s chassis repair operation.

Rubb Building suit the needs of many industries, not the least of which is mass transit and transportation. One of the latest of these is a temporary vehicle repair facility developing by Rubb Buildings, Nason Construction and Amtrak’s designers during the winter of 2006y. The structure measures 130’ (39.63m) x 180’ (54.88m) with 21’ (6.4m) sidewalls and is located in Wilmington, Delaware. This facility is set up for efficient service of up to 12 rail engines at one time and is erected over four existing railroad tracks for easy entrance and exit.

Download the PDF of this release.

The versatility and portability of Rubb structures is often the key selling point of Rubb structures, as demonstrated recently by the engineering company ABB ordering three 32.8′ (10m) wide x 78.8′ (24m) long with 11′ (3.35m) side wall THAB shelters for a major communications project in Saudi Arabia. These shelters, like many Rubb structures, are used as general warehouses in a harsh and unforgiving environment. The modular structures were delivered to the site and constructed using local labor and Rubb’s detailed assembly instructions.

The Rubb Group is also pleased to announce the acquisition of a shipyard on the island of Bømlo, Norway, where the original Rubb factory started in 1968. The property was purchased via Zurhaar & Rubb AS which is a Rubb and Zurhaar/ Birkeland Famiily jointly-owned property company based in Bergen, Norway. The Rubb Group will run the shipyard and have re-named the company Rubb Marine Ltd. The shipyard builds glass/fibre boats up to 70 feet (21.34m). Rubb Marine AS will carry on this tradition, but with focus on maintenance and repair of ships and boats. The factory is located very close to the Rubb steel manufacturing plant. The location could not be more convenient, located only a few kilometers from the Rubb steel manufacturing plant.

Rubb Poland (Viking Ltd) has developed their own folding door. This has initially been installed in Viking’s own production facilities, but will be tested in a Rubb building in 2007. The door to be installed in a Rubb Building will be 14.8′ (4.5m) x 14.8′ (4.5m) and should be ready for delivery in the autumn of 2007. Naturally, the color is the Rubb blue.