The nest section of the “Out On A Limb” Tree Adventure

The American Galvanizers Association finished its 76th Annual Meeting in Cancun, Mexico last week and American Galvanizing Company won an Excellence Award in the Recreation and Entertainment Category for the “Out On A Limb Nest’ project found at the Morris Arboretum in Philadelphia.  Galvanized and erected in the first half of 2009, the “Out On A Limb Tree Adventure” is billed as a main attraction at the University of Pennsylvania site.  It consists of a 450 foot long galvanized canopy walk constructed around a 250 year old chestnut oak tree that hangs 30 plus feet in the air.  It culminates in another walkway that takes the visitor to a human sized nest made out of galvanized steel and interwoven natural branches that hangs approximately 80 feet above the steeply sloped Wissahickon Valley.  The total project represented over 155 tons of galvanized steel consisting of walkways, framing, handrails, canopy, tube steel supports, and tower structures.  The architect and engineer was Metcalf Architecture and Design who chose galvanizing as its coating of choice for the contrast of the “glinting galvanized steel” amidst the lush, green forrest and the sustainable protection that would remain attractive, structurally safe, and environmentally friendly for decades to come.  

The award marks the fifth year in a row where American Galvanizing Company (AGC) has secured such an honor.  The galvanizing required a “show room” quality finish that AGC was able to provide in a timely fashion recognizing that thousands of patrons would be visiting the finished product year in and year out.  As is the case in many projects, AGC personnel worked with the fabricator to help tweak the actual design in order to allow for the most efficient processing through the various dip tanks in the galvanizing process.  Management met with the fabricator at their facility to get a hands on view of what the architect’s vision was to ensure that the high profile structure would be galvanized and handled at AGC with that in mind.  The results speak for themselves. 

The Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania and an Official Arboretum of Pennsylvania is located in the northwestern part of Philadelphia.  It is dedicated to displaying and exposing over 13,000 plants to its thousands of visitors who tour the grounds each year.  The new centerpiece to the compound is called “Out on a Limb” where galvanized steel was used to erect a platform 30 feet up in the air around trees over 200 years old culminating in a walkway out to a “nest” hanging over the edge of a stream.  Galvanizing was used for its maintenance free, long term corrosion benefits as well as its high marks as a sustainable material in this environmentally friendly installation.  AGC worked with the fabricator, DDM, to help design a galvanizing friendly design that satisfied all the requirements of the architect and engineer.  The nest was large enough that double dip galvanizing was required and venting/drainage issues were solved that ensured a top quality coating.  There were delivery expectations that had to be met in order for the Arboretum to have the display ready for its Spring opening and AGC met every demand with time to spare.  The project highlighted many of AGC’s strengths:  on-time delivery, large structural steel quality galvanizing, handrail quality galvanizing, and willingness to communicate with its customers for seemless execution of the project.

The new-year welcomes in new changes at American Galvanizing Company. While many of you were off enjoying the holiday season and ringing in the new-year, American Galvanizing Company was retrofitting the plant with a new larger tank to help accommodate our customers needs.

The staff at American Galvanizing Company worked around the clock starting on December 19, 2008 to meet an aggressive deadline of Jan 6, 2009. With our dedicated professionals at American Galvanizing Company, we pulled together to accomplish our goal. On January 7, 2009 our 1st dip in our 6-6 x 10-0x 55-0 long kettle took place and American Galvanizing Company was back in business.

The installation of this deeper kettle completes our latest expansion at the AGC plant which started in late 2007. The new AGC boasts an increase of 20 % more floor space-giving the operation over 60,000 square feet- as well as one of the longest and deepest galvanizing kettles on the East Coast. Dubbed The Double Nickel Kettle, for its overall length of 55 feet, this new, deeper (10-0) kettle will help service our customers who have large sized structures that otherwise would have had to be double dipped, but now can avoid the extra handling and extra cost.

If you are an existing customer or new to our site, don’t hesitate to contact us should you have any questions, need quotations, or simply would like to tour our facility. Someone from our talented staff would be happy to assist you and make 2009 a great year.

The Team at American Galvanizing Company.

AMERICAN GALVANIZING COMPANY WINS MULTIPLE EXCELLENCE AWARDS AT AN ANNUAL INDUSTRY CONFERENCE

(FOLSOM, NJ) – American Galvanizing Company (AGC) was recently honored with three “Excellence in Hot-Dip Galvanizing” awards for projects completed in 2005.  Awards were accepted by AGC at the American Galvanizers Association (AGA) Annual Conference, held in Tucson, Arizona on March, 15, 2006.  Awards are presented annually for projects that utilize hot-dip galvanizing in an ideal, creative, innovative or monumental fashion.  American Galvanizing Company was commended for exemplary projects in the Bridge and Highway, Industrial, and Duplex Systems categories.

AGC accepted their first award in the “Bridge & Highway” category for a pedestrian bridge located over a major thorofare in Northern Virginia.  This cable-stay pedestrian bridge is visible to thousands of daily commuters.  It was built so employees could access both sides of the Freddie Mac Corporate Complex without crossing a busy highway. Fabrication of this project was completed by The Chesapeake Machine Company located in Baltimore, MD.

Earning AGC’s second award in the “Duplex Systems” category are the gasoline canopies and exterior trusses for new Wawa convenience stores.  When the fabricator brought the failure of the original three-coat paint system to Wawa’s attention, it was quickly agreed that a specification change was needed.  Working closely with the steel fabricator and painter, a new specification was written requiring hot-dip galvanizing prior to painting, providing a virtually maintenance-free system.  The structural steel fabricator and erector is Eagle Erectors located in Bear, Delaware. Painting is done by Color Works in New Castle, DE.

Lastly, AGC teamed up with fellow galvanizer New Jersey Galvanizing Company, located in Newark, New Jersey, to secure a joint award in the “Industrial” category for the reconstruction of the A&M Composting Facility in Manheim, Pennsylvania.  The 45,000 square foot facility is a state-of-the-art sewage containment & remediation facility which breaks down bio-solids from water treatment plants to produce nutrients that will safely fertilize plants and farms. Since moisture is necessary to stimulate these nutrients, the hot-dip galvanized coating helps to maintain the steel structure in this corrosion-rich atmosphere.

American Galvanizing Company offers customers a proven solution to the problem of corrosion – hot-dip galvanizing. Under factory controlled conditions, zinc and steel are metallurgically bonded to provide corrosion resistance through cathodic and barrier protection for a wide variety of environments. The result is one of the most economical methods of effectively protecting steel and extending the life of the product.  Located within the pine barrens of Folsom, NJ, AGC features a virtually “lead-free” environmentally friendly zinc bath.   Established in 1982, American Galvanizing Company boasts one of the largest hot-dip galvanizing operations on the East Coast.  Additional information about AGC can be found on the internet at www.amergalv.com.

American Galvanizing Company Begins Third Decade in Business
Leads Industry Through Technology, Quality & Service

American Galvanizing Company operates from its plant in Folsom, New Jersey and has developed a solid reputation over the past twenty years for its zinc coating process. As the firm begins its third decade of operation, American Galvanizing Company is recognized as a national leader in the galvanizing industry. The company has achieved great results after taking over a struggling operation that existed at the site in 1982.

John Gregor, President of American Galvanizing Company, took over operations at the Folsom site in 1986. He brought with him over 10 years of experience in steel fabrication and a general understanding of galvanizing, with a reputation for success in turning around floundering operations. Within a short time, Gregor instituted a number of changed at the plant, instilled the concept of “Quick Turnaround Service”, and got the operation up to speed.

Through the application of new technology in zinc coating and a focus on quality and service, American Galvanizing instituted the guarantee of an expedited galvanizing job, at the time required by the customer, whether it was in a few days, the next day or even the day the product is delivered to the plant. The firm’s operation is predicted on a scheduling discipline that has earned high marks with its customers.

American Galvanizing Company has established the latest technologies in its zinc coating operation. The company instituted up to date environmental controls and focused on safety throughout its plant. Most key employees have been with the company for much of the last twenty years and are particularly knowledgeable about their tasks. Quality assurance is the driving force during the galvanizing operation.

Personnel at the plant begin the process through careful surface preparations that involves degreasing, pickling and fluxing under tightly controlled shop conditions. This process provides for a consistent and reliable coating which leads to a long predictable service life. Hot dip galvanizing coatings are applied by immersing the prepared iron or steel fabrications in a bath of molten zinc.

American Galvanizing’s “Double Nickel Kettle” is fifty-five feet long, eight and one half feet deep and an environmentally friendly, “low lead” zinc bath. After the galvanized metallingical bond is completed, the product is withdrawn from the tank carrying with it a layer of molten zinc which solidifies and compliments the underlying iron-zinc phases. This process is followed by careful inspection to assure the high confidence level in the quality of the product.

One of the ways that the firm achieves excellent quality is in its two-shift operation. The first shift includes the most experiences personnel who are responsible for operating the actual immersion process through the kettle. Added to that Quality Control personnel who interphase with customers and inspection agencies to assure that all pertinent specifications are met. This group follows each product through its final inspections. The second shift is primarily responsible for setting up the next day’s dipping, and some clean up on a daily basis allow for a smooth flowing and efficient operation.

Another interesting aspect of American Galvanizing Company is the strong background of key personnel, not only in galvanizing, but in the steel industry as a whole. Joe Hickey, Vice-President of Sales and Marketing, has over 30 years of steel, of which 10 are at AGC. George Cheesman, Operations Manager, boasts 30 years in steel as well (20 in fabrication and 10 years at AGC) and Ryan Lux, Q>C. Manager, who has been in the galvanizing industry over 10 years of which the last 6 have been at AGC. Couple all this with the experience of John Gregor, and American Galvanizing brings to the table over 100years of experience in steel or 50 years if experience in the galvanizing field!

American Galvanizing Company takes great pride in providing the finest zinc coated product available in the industry. This philosophy, when combined with its commitment to meeting product delivery schedules, is the reason for the firm’s remarkable growth and success over the years. Its finished products are part of our bridges, transit facilities, power plants, communications centers and sports stadiums throughout the country.

Some of the firm’s recent customers include L.B Foster, L&M Fabricators, RCC Fabricators, Skyline Steel, Watson-Bowman and High Steel. The products for these firms can now be found as part of the new Philadelphia Eagles Stadium, Lincoln Tunnel, Brookdale College, Passaic River Bridge, Ben Franklin Bridge, Secaucus Transfer Stations, PSE&G Linden Plant and at the Battleship New Jersey.

American Galvanizing Company and its 75 employees have achieved a great deal over the past twenty years. Led by John Gregor, who served two terms as President of the American Galvanizers’ Association and is currently Chairman of Technical Services Committee, the company’s galvanizing operation has been taken to the next level. The knowledge and dedication of the AGC team toward a quality product has set the stage for even greater success in the future.

Lasting Bonds Secure Success for Folsom Firm
American Galvanizing working to become the biggest dipper
By: Joseph Swavy
Staff Writer, (609) 272-7253

FOLSOM – The Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa hasn’t been completed, but John Gregor has already done his part to make sure the steel in the $1 billion structure lasts.

As president of American Galvanizing Co., Gregor was responsible for ensuring the structural steel will weather the harsh, corrosive conditions brought on by the casino hotel’s seaside location.

To do that, each piece of the Borgata’s steel was galvanized, a process that requires it to be dipped in molten zinc. The zinc bonds with the steel to form a impact-resistant layer that prevents rust and deterioration.

“The Borgata gas provided us with a lot of work,” Gregor said. “A lot of it is in the parking garages and you don’t even see it. If galvanizing is doing its job, you don’t even know it.”

American Galvanizing has been protecting steel products since 1982, when its parent company, Virginia American Industries, purchased the facility on Route 54 from a guardrail manufacturer, Gregor said. He said the guardrail company had started the galvanizing operation for its own products in 1979, but quickly found it didn’t have the volume needed to make running the kettle a profitable operation.

Gregor, a steel plate fabricator with no galvanizing experience, was sent to run the facility in 1986 and was charged with turning around the operation.

“I put my boots on learning it from the bottom up as quickly as I could,” he said. “We have grown every year since.”

In 1987, the company galvanized about 10 million pounds of steel, Gregor said. Last year more than 45 million pounds of steel was galvanized, and this year American Galvanizing is on pace to dip more than 50 million pounds of steel and generate about $8 million in revenues.

“We’ve grown the business by growing our kettle capacity,” Gregor said. “Our kettle capacity has been increased three times.”

The kettle the company inherited in 1982 was a 5 feet deep, 5 feet wide and 36.5 feet long. The company later increased its capacity by adding a kettle that was 6 feet deep.

In 2000, American Galvanizing spent more than $5million to upgrade its facility, including the addition of a new kettle that has been dubbed “the Double Nickel” by company officials. The kettle is 6.5 feet wide, 8.5 feet deep and 55 feet long and when it was installed, it was the biggest kettle east of the Mississippi River. A facility in Lebanon, Pa., has since claimed that distinction.

The larger kettle not only allows American Galvanizing to handle larger pieces of steel, it also allows the company to gain a greater economy of scale by bundling more pieces together for each dip. The company – which has a total workforce of about 75, including sales and office staff – galvanizes about 200,000 pounds of steel each day.

The galvanizing process requires steel to first be submerged in a caustic tank where an alkaline solution removes dirt, oil and grease. From there, the steel is dipped in an acid tank where it is “pickled” by a solution of hydrochloric acid that gets rid of any rust or mill scale.

After the acid tank, the steel is immersed in a tank containing a zinc ammonium chloride solution that prevents any oxidation before the steel is dipped in the molten zinc.

The steel is then dipped in the zinc, which is kept heated to about 850 degrees by six, high-velocity natural gas burners. If the temperature drops below 790 degrees the zinc would turn to a solid, ruining the kettle, Gregor said.

“This is heavy industry, it’s the bowels of industry,” Gregor said. “Even with all of the technology, it’s still very much a manual business. We touch every piece we galvanize.”

The longest piece of steel the company has galvanized was the 80-foot pole section of a cellular phone tower, Gregor said. The pole, which wouldn’t fit fully in the kettle, was “double dipped,” meaning about half of the pole was submerged at a time.

Having of the largest kettles in the East has helped American Galvanizing attract business from outside the southern New Jersey and Philadelphia regions, and the company now boasts customers from Maine to Tennessee, Gregor said.

“Galvanizing to a certain extent is a very regional business, but you can get into another company’s regions if you can provide something that they can’t provide,” he said.

American Galvanizing also has weathered a slowing economy by pitching its services to a wide variety of steel users. In addition to treating steel for building construction, the company has, among other things, galvanized steel that is being used for bridge decks, railing at the Philadelphia Eagles’ new stadium and for shelves at Lowe’s Home Improvement Warehouse stores.

“We’ve been resilient in this recession, Gregor said. When one market drops off, we’ve been able to replace it with something else. When the cellular market fell flat on its face, we were fortunate enough to pick up the bridge business.”

jswavy@pressofac.com

Galvanizer Cuts Pickling Costs with Tailor-Made Inhibitor
Disposable dollars slashed by more than 50 percent; zinc consumption also reduced.

At American Galvanizing Co. (a division of A Reco Industries, Inc.), a job shop galvanizer in Folsom, New Jersey, steel is galvanized in a three-part process: surface preparation, hot zinc dip and finishing. In the preparation step, steel is initially caustic treated to remove oil and grease, and then pickled in an acid bath. The acid pickling cleans the steel to the point that no mill scale or rust subverts effective coating with the molten zinc. This is critical to the galvanizing process.

The natural result of pickling is spent acid, a hazardous waste. Considering the high charge for waste disposal, pickling costs are generally measured in terms of the haul-off cost of the spent acid/metal salt solution, as well as the cost of replenishing the acid.

In a two-year experiment, from 1994 through 1996. AGC cut haul-off costs by 53 percent by employing an acid inhibitor. Though inhibitors are frequently used with the more aggressive sulfuric acid pickling baths, AGC pickles in hydrochloric acid (HCI). As a point of reference, the galvanizing industry is equally split on its pickling medium: 50 percent sulfuric acid, and 50 percent hydrochloric acid.

American Galvanizing made its choice on the grounds that HCI less likely to over-pickle and eat into the base steel than sulfuric acid, and is more user-friendly to the employees. Traditionally, HCI pickling has seen less use of inhibitors because it is not as aggressive as sulfuric acid. This thinking, however, can potentially lead to such drawbacks as an increased quantity of spent acid created, and a higher ratio of acid used to metal processed.

Acid inhibitors allow the process to use a stronger bath, which works quicker without the fear of over-pickling. Additionally, the inhibitors reduce fuming by lessening hydrogen evolution. However, in the galvanizing industry many processors have chosen not to use inhibitors because their experience had not been positive.

AGC’s attempt to satisfy state government guidelines led to its successful experiment with Rodine acid inhibitors as developed and supplied by Henkel Surface technologies (HST), Madison Heights, Michigan. The inhibitor selected for the HCI pickling process is Rodine 1150.

AGC’s Full Process
New acid is brought in at about 30 percent concentration, placed in a pickling vat which is half full of water, creating a 15 percent HCI bath. After preliminary degreasing, steel is immersed in the pickling tank. Time in tank is calculated and set by AGC based on several factors, including strength of the HCI, and condition and physical dimensions of the steel. Once the steel is fully pickled, it travels through a flux tank containing zinc ammonium chloride. This removes oxides and prepares the steel for the proper chemical reaction to occur in the molten zinc at a temperature between 825 and 850F. After just a few minutes, the steel is removed and allowed to cool. It is then inspected and custom packaged as specified by the end-user.

“Indirectly, it was the state that got us thinking about inhibitors again,” said American Galvanizing’s president, John Gregor. “In 1993, New Jersey asked anyone in manufacturing who was listed as dealing with hazardous material to develop a five-year plan for reducing their waste systems. We advised the state we would kick off our plan by reconsidering the use of inhibitors to reduce the hazardous waste material, which we produce by the nature of our process.

“At the outset, we want to Henkel Surface Technologies and they provided us with the multi-use Rodine inhibitor,” he continued. “As we began using it we saw some improvement. However, we also spotted some white crystals forming on the tank and contracted HST. After taking several samples, it was determined that the (multi-use) product was better suited for sulfuric acid and not necessarily for HCI, particularly in the presence of high levels of iron and zinc. As a result, Henkel Surface Technologies introduced the Rodine 1150 inhibitor for a plant trial with our AGC bath. Since then we have had no problems.”

Halving Waste Removal Costs

With the use of Rodine 1150l, from 1995 through 1996, AGC has had a decrease of 25 percent in liquid waste removal, which netted a 27 percent drop in waste removal costs. Over the longer period of 1994 through 1996, using both initial and current Rodine formulation, AGC has experienced a cumulative 33 percent drop in liquid waste removal, which relates to a 52 percent decrease in actual costs.

Records for the experiment were kept for both acid use and acid waste. The first set of numbers reflected the amount of acid used relative to tons of steel produced in a year. The second set recorded the amount of spent acid that was hauled off relative to the tons of steel processed.

“These numbers were the only way of being certain that we were comparing apples to apples,” Gregor commented. “As a jobber, all that counts is usage in terms of tonnage processed. The good news is that in the last two years, we’ve done more tons of steel each year than we did in the previous year, and we’ve had fewer haul-offs each year. So our acid usage is less and we’re actually putting through more product. The only thing that has changed in the last two years is that we have employed the use of the inhibitor.”

Using Less Zinc

That was not the only positive result for AGC. The company noted that by not over-pickling, it was able to maintain a more consistent profile by opening fewer pores in the steel. This meant that AGC was actually using less zinc to achieve full, high quality galvanizing, since less zinc entered the pores in the steel. “If you’re putting through millions of pounds of steel, as we do, using less zinc– even in minute amounts—makes a notable difference,” Gregor stated.

AGC’s products serve many industries, including communications, transportations and petrochemical. In the communications industry parts are for towers, both large and small, as well as the auxiliary components that support the cellular, CAT, and HDTV industries. In the transportation field, AGC galvanizes parts for highway sign supports, sound barrier components, catenary structural, and a small amount of reinforcing bars for highway construction.

Does AGC see future growth? “Our infrastructure continues to be in dire need of refurbishing, and as long as wither federal highway appropriations or state appropriations continue, we will continue to grow,” said Gregor. “As for our use of the Rodine 1150 inhibitor being an experiment, it’s now SOP at American Galvanizing.