Central Welding expands into new digs: bridge, structural work keeps fabricator expanding.Infrastructure work on bridges, dams and canals has been a huge leap forward for a North Bay fabrication fabrication (fab´rikā´sh  n),n the construction or making of a restoration. shop. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Steady work at Central Welding and Iron Works I´ron works` a. 1. See under Iron, a. os> Group has meant two major shop expansions within the last year at the 52-year-old company worth a combined $4.6 million. At their main building on 1811 Seymour, they've now expanded to a 75,000-square feet shop with a new 20,000-square foot addition. Known as the bridge shop, it's mostly dedicated to piece work for Ontario highway bridges and dams on the Trent-Severn Waterway
Erik Thomsen, vice-president of operations, says they haven't joined the industry's rush to the Oil Sands project, but there's plenty of bridgework bridgework /bridge·work/ (brij´werk) a partial denture retained by attachments other than clasps. fixed bridgework one retained with crowns or inlays cemented to the natural teeth. available in southern Alberta Southern Alberta is a region located in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of the year 2004, the region's population was approximately 272,017[1][2]. . Besides performing the fabrication in North Bay, the company will send their crews travelling out to a job site, doing the delivery, painting and erection. "We offer the full package." Originally founded by Mac Yetman, Central Welding was purchased in 1983 by Stephan Thomsen, Erik's father. The company is a partnership between Stephan and his wife, Gail. Back then, it was only a small five-man shop on Fisher Street doing light fabrication work, such as stairs and hand railings. Central Welding began its bridge fabrication in the mid-1980s for highway four-laning projects and rehabilitation work across Ontario. Some off-shore contract work in the Caribbean for a lift-bridge in St. Martins led to the construction of the bridge shop in 1985. Four doors away at 1891 Seymour St. is their structural steel fabrication shop, a new 18,000-square-foot building. It's a fully automated machine shop, outfitted with the latest in computer-controlled machinery including CNC (Computerized Numerical Control) See numerical control. CNC - Collaborative Networked Communication drills, a fully automatic welding machine, wheel abrader, three-quarter inch plate rolling machine A rolling machine is a machine that is designed to roll either tobacco or cannabis into individual cigarettes or joints. To roll a cigarette (B) with cannabis, one must break up the smoking material (C) as well as remove any stems so they won't puncture the paper. and three-inch shear for doing structural steel. The new additions represented a total investment of more than $4 million and resulted in 10 new jobs to boost their current workforce to 77. While the structural shop is geared to the mining industry, making pieces such as ventilation doors, the company will be doing the steel fabrication work for the new One Kid's Place treatment centre in North Bay as well as working on a hospital project in Iroquois Falls. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Thomsen says there's some projects brewing in Toronto. If they come to fruition, it could mean the need for more employees. "There's a couple of big jobs in Toronto of over 5,000 tonnes and if that happens we would need more guys for sure." He says the company is always looking to recruit skilled North Bay ex-pats with the offer of a good pension plan and an aggressive benefits package. The Ontario government's re-examination of the state of Ontario's bridges and other infrastructure has led to a lot of activity, says Thomsen, "contrary to what people think." "They're doing a lot of studies and we are doing a lot of rehabilitation work." He's expecting similar projects in the near future. The company's work is already on display on highway overpasses across northeastern Ontario Northeastern Ontario is the region within the Canadian province of Ontario which lies north and east of Lakes Superior and Huron. Northeastern Ontario consists of Algoma District, Sudbury District, Cochrane District, Timiskaming District, Nipissing District, Manitoulin . Their crews assembled the steel box overpass at Mississauga Road and Highway 401. Many of the overpasses on Highway 400 from Major Mackenzie Drive to the 401 were Central Welding jobs. They've also worked on highway on-ramps on the Gardiner Expressway and in bridge reconstruction in Toronto. Closer to home, they've performed jobs on the new Highway 11 bridges at Burk's Falls and Huntsville. Thomsen is most proud of a massive project involving two railway spans of 240 tonnes each, which were lifted into place at Finch and Morningside Avenue in Toronto. His four-man crew worked with the general contractor and a crane operator to put the bridges into place in record time. "We demolished three temporary steel spans, and brought the two spans in and erected them, with the general contractor putting in the ballast and track within 36 hours. That was pretty amazing." www.central-welding.com By IAN ROSS Northern Ontario Business Northern Ontario Business is a Canadian magazine, which publishes monthly in Greater Sudbury, Ontario. The magazine covers business news and issues in Northern Ontario. RELATED ARTICLE: North Bay THE SKINNY Population (2006 Census): 53,966 Construction values 2007: Permits 2007: 602 valued at $77,541,871 Average selling price The average sales price of goods or commodities. Especially used in the retail sector and technology distribution. home in 2007: $157,457 (Source: Annual Multiple Listing Services) Mayor employers (public/private) as of January 2008 Near North District School Board The Near North District School Board ("NNDSB") administers public education in an area of southern Ontario that is includes all of Parry Sound District, plus a northerly portion of Muskoka District and the western portion of Nipissing District. : 1,331 North Bay & District Hospital: 1,186 Ontario Northland north·land also North·land n. A region in the north of a country or an area. north  land Transportation Commission: 749
Northeast Mental Health Centre: 650 TeleTech (call centre): 646 Canadore College: 490 Conseil scolaire catholique Franco-Nord: 485 Nipissing University: 478 Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services: 472 Nipissing-Parry Sound Catholic District School Board The Nipissing-Parry Sound Catholic District School Board administers Catholic education for an area of 11,653 km² in central Ontario. Its headquarters are in North Bay. The Board manages 13 elementary schools, and one secondary school (St. : 450 City of North Bay: 322 Boart Longyear (mining supplier): 307 Wal-Mart Canada: 300 Voyageur Airways: 300 TRG TRG Training Group TRG The Resource Group TRG Technical Resource Group TRG Technical Review Group TRG Technology Research Group TRG Tory Reform Group TRG Tactical Reconnaissance Group TRG Training received (on overtime forms) Customer Solutions: 300 Source: City of North Bay website |
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