WASH WATER TANK — JEFFERSON COUNTY, AL
Jefferson County’s Village Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant is located directly under one of Birmingham’s most commonly-traveled air-traffic flight paths—which offered the perfect opportunity for making a statement to visitors and residents.
The 3 Million Gallon Wash Water tank is impressive on size alone, but what makes this such a special project is the fact that the structure houses office, meeting and change spaces in its Dry Riser section. An idea originated by Project Engineer Gary Owen—who rightly takes pride in noting that, “By housing those spaces in the Dry Riser section—rather than in a separate structure, Jefferson County saved over $1 Million.”
Built and designed by Chicago Bridge and Iron, the tank’s best-known feature is the Jefferson County “buffalo nickel” logo on the top of the tank—the same logo found on county manhole covers. A perfect reproduction of the original design, it was painted using a giant computer-generated stencil.
For the project, Induron recommended the Indurethane 5500 system—which utilizes the following: Epoxy primer shop-applied. Epoxy paint field-coated. Indurethane 5500 finish coat. Indurethane 5000 clear coat.
Completed in 2003, “The paint job still looks brand new,” Owens says, “and there were no skippers. Which is indicative of the quality of the coating system we used.”
| ENGINEER: | Gary L. Owen & Associates |
| CONTACT: | Gary Owen |
| PHONE: | 205-982-9806 |
| OWNER: | Jefferson County Commission – Environmental Services Department |
| FABRICATOR: | Chicago Bridge & Iron |
| PAINTING CONTRACTOR: | Chicago Bridge & Iron |
| PRODUCTS USED: | PE-54 Epoxy, Ruff Stuff 3300 Epoxy, Armorguard Epoxy, Indurethane 5500 Enamel, Indurethane 5000 Clear Coat |
| AWARDS: | Steel Plate Fabricators Association Elevated Tank of the Year 2003 |
SLOSS FURNACES — BIRMINGHAM, AL
Originally opened for business in 1882, Sloss Furnaces produced iron for nearly 90 years. Now recognized as a National Historic Landmark, its web of pipes—and its tall smokestack—stand today as the ultimate symbol of Birmingham’s industrial past.
Induron was selected to participate in the highly-publicized blast repaint of Sloss Furnaces. According to Patton Bradford, who headed the local operation of Atlanta-based Daca (the project’s General Contractor), “There were two critical goals for the repaint: Protect the structure from corrosion, and restore it to its original ‘Primer Red’ appearance. In other words, we almost wanted it to look like it hadn’t been painted at all.”
Among the special challenges Daca had to deal with were lead containment issues—which they handled with draping and negative air. Given the project’s critical goals and challenges, Induron recommended a mastic epoxy, plus two coats of Aquanaut Acrylic—an environmentally-friendly dryfall paint that’s especially effective on jobs with a prevalence of angles and edges.
“Induron gave us good field support,” Bradford continues, “including site inspections and quality control. And with their plant being located near the project, they were certainly on top of all materials ordering and delivery coordination.” Any number of certifications were required for this project—which was completed in 2002. And if we do say so ourselves, the paint has held-up beautifully!
| PROJECT: | Sloss Furnaces Blast Repaint |
| LOCATION: | Birmingham, AL |
| YEAR COMPLETED: | 2002 |
| ENGINEER: | Lane, Bishop, York Delahay |
| CONTACT: | Win Bishop |
| PHONE: | 205-251-4500 |
| OWNER: | Birmingham Park & recreation Board |
| PAINTING CONTRACTOR: | DACA |
| CONTACT: | Dennis Morgan |
| PHONE: | 770-451-6433 |
| PRODUCTS USED: | Induramastic-85, Aquanaut Acrylic |
CIRCUIT CITY TOWERS & CARMAX DEALERSHIPS (NATIONWIDE)
Induron’s Richmond-based rep, Fred Ramsey, landed his first two Circuit City tower projects when he was with a competitor. The projects experienced problems with the primer. When Ramsey joined Induron, he offered Circuit City what he believed was a superior coating system—which we backed with a 5-year warranty on gloss and retention.
In the late 1990’s, Circuit City embarked on an ambitious nationwide store “facelift” program. The Alukabond-panel towers were a key feature of that program. Circuit City therefore expected Induron to meet exceptionally high standards. The system we recommended was Induron’s 85 primer, 5500 Semi-Gloss and 5000 Clearcoat.
Based on the results of our initial project, Circuit City subsequently awarded Induron approximately 350 tower projects between 1999 and 2004. Our recommended system proved versatile enough to work equally well with roller and spray applications. Because the towers were typically coated during hot summer months, Induron formulated special thinners for each application—to slow down drying time and “wet-out” the surface.
In addition to the tower projects, Induron provided coating systems for several Circuit City store exteriors—a combination of AC 402 Masonry Sealer and AC 403 Acrylic Elastomeric Coating for their block and concrete walls.
During that period, Circuit City, Inc. also owned CarMax Auto Superstores—which elected to use Induron coatings for many of its dealerships’ interiors and exteriors, as well as our 85 primer and 5500 High Gloss Polyurethane for its trademark blue roofs.
In 2002, Circuit City, Inc. split-off its Carmax business. Induron managed to maintain strong working relationships with both organizations—due, in no small part, to the fact that Circuit City has not made a single warranty claim on its towers since our first project in 1999.
| PROJECT: | Circuit City Towers & CarMax Dealerships |
| LOCATION: | Nationwide |
| YEAR COMPLETED: | 1999 to 2004 |
| CONTACT: | Jack Kelly |
| PHONE: | 770-505-0500 |
| OWNER: | Circuit City & CarMax |
| PAINTING CONTRACTOR: | Kelley Enterprises |
| PRODUCTS USED: | Induramastic - 85, Indurethane 5500 Semi-Gloss, Indurethane 5000 Clear, AC 402 Masonry Sealer, AC 403 Acrylic Elastomeric |
ELEVATED LEG TANK — CHALMERS, IN
During a routine visit to an Indianapolis consulting engineer’s office, Induron’s Midwest Region Coating Consultant Alex Oliver noticed that the engineer’s tank painting specifications were outdated.
At the time, the engineer had a new tank in the planning stage—and, of course, his specification language did not address the most recent AWWA standards. Alex provided the engineer with the updated improvements. The engineer incorporated those changes and our recommendations into his specification for the project.
The project was very well received. The tank is located right next to the Chalmers high schoo’s football field. Go Falcons!
| PROJECT: | 150,000 Gallon Elevated Leg Tank |
| LOCATION: | Chalmers, IN |
| YEAR COMPLETED: | 2007 |
| ENGINEER: | Fanning/Howey Associates |
| CONTACT: | Dave Ayala |
| PHONE: | (317) 848-0966 |
| OWNER: | Town of Chalmers, IN |
| PAINTING CONTRACTOR: | Phoenix Fabricators & Erectors |
| PRODUCTS USED: | Indurazinc MC67, PE-54 Epoxy, Armorguard Epoxy,Indurethane 5500 Enamel |
GROUND STORAGE TANK — HUNTSVILLE, AL
Winner of the Steel Plate Fabricators Association “Ground Storage Tank of the Year” award for 2004, the owner and engineer on this project (Huntsville Utilities) originally requested bids for three coats of Induron’s PE 54, and three coats of a competitor’s product.
During the bid-evaluation process, a key Huntsville Utilities engineer just happened to be inspecting a cutaway piece from another, nearby company tank. A tank which had been coated 18 years earlier with Induron’s Ruff Stuff 3300. When he saw that the coating was still going strong, he asked Induron to re-bid the job using the same product. After all, why mess with success?
The happy result of that decision: With Ruff Stuff, the tank required only two coats of paint—thereby reducing labor costs by 1/3. “Other than the difficulty of transporting equipment to the tank’s remote location,” remembers Jason Laxson, “this project went fairly smoothly.” Which may not make for a particularly interesting story, but it did make for a much-appreciated industry award!
| PROJECT: | 5 Million Gallon Ground Storage Tank |
| LOCATION: | Huntsville, AL |
| YEAR COMPLETED: | 2004 |
| ENGINEER: | Huntsville Utilities |
| CONTACT: | Jason Laxson |
| PHONE: | 256-535-1492 |
| OWNER: | Huntsville Utilities |
| FABRICATOR: | Fisher Tank Company |
| PAINTING CONTRACTOR: | Worldwide Painting |
| PRODUCTS USED: | PE-54 Epoxy, Ruff Stuff 3300 Epoxy, Armorguard Epoxy, Indurethane 5500 Enamel |
| AWARDS: | Steel Plate Fabricators Association Ground Storage Tank of the Year 2004 |
ELEVATED LEG TANK — MASONVILLE, KY
This project experienced just one tiny glitch: The contractor ran short on paint at a critical juncture. The field painter called Induron’s Indiana-based rep, Alex Oliver. Alex called Induron’s Customer Service department. Customer Service expedited the job through the plant, and Shipping loaded the order on a truck that afternoon.
The paint was shipped directly to Alex—who personally delivered it to the job site. The entire operation—from the field painter’s initial call to delivery—took less than 24 hours. The project was completed with no delays.
We wish we could tell that story every day. But when circumstances all line-up just right, we do enjoy being able to repeat it.
| ENGINEERS: | HRG Engineers, Owensboro, KY |
| CONTACT: | Jim Riney |
| PHONE: | 205-982-9806 |
| OWNER: | Daviess Co. Water District |
| FABRICATOR: | Caldwell Tanks |
| PAINTING CONTRACTOR: | Caldwell Tanks |
| PRODUCTS USED: | PE-54 Epoxy, Armorguard & Indurethane 5500 Plus. |
