Cianbro Fabrication & Coating Corporation:
The MBTA Casey Arborway Project
Fabrication & Coating By Chip Zolinski The Pittsfield Fabrication shop started work in early January of 2018 on a job for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA). The MBTA Casey Arborway Project Upper Busway Canopy is located south of Boston and is a combination of three architecturally exposed canopy structures made up of rolled hollow structural steel (HSS) shapes. This is a unique fabrication project and the Cianbro Fabrication and Coating Corporation (CFCC) team has worked diligently to put extensive planning, proficiencies, and skill sets to work on making the entire project run smoothly. The main upper busway canopy at 241 tons is a marvel of dual axis rolled HSS members. This canopy will be shop-assembled into the skeletal shape of a “fish.” With more than a 74-foot radius and an 80-foot span, the members rest upon dual pitched HSS columns at two locations of the truss and will be a remarkable sight. (Illustration B). The assembly of a 41-ton fixture that was created, designed and built by CFCC team members Bruce Knox, Rob Bagley, Tom Langille, Jurgen Bell, and Craig Chambers will aid the fabrication efforts being performed at CFCC Pittsfield (Illustration D). This will allow team members to access the “fish truss” safely for assembly of its components without the need for fall protection nor utilizing ladders and/or staging for access. This will make the job safer and much leaner. The use of the fixture also insures accurate and consistent assembly for all twelve trusses. After full shop assembly, the trusses will then be cut in half, shipped to a galvanizing facility, coated and sent to Cianbro’s fabrication facility in Georgetown, Massachusetts for re-assembly and coating touch up. n
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Finally, the canopies will be shipped individually to the site. These “Fish Trusses” are the support of an elaborate skylight spanning the interior section of the truss with standing seam metal roofing off the edges between the trusses. There are two other smaller canopies in this scope of work as well. The walkway canopy at five tons is a fully shopassembled single pitch canopy which will offer protection to travelers as they move to and from the Upper Busway Canopy thru the Entrance Canopy. The entrance canopy at 28 tons, has rolled HSS roof members over a 38-foot span, (Illustration F) providing protection to travelers as they move to and from the main bus station building.
Illustration D
4 1,200 Project Safe Hours
Illustration F
Team sets pipe in the jig. (L to R) Michael Stevens, Tom Bean, Scott Penney, Ralph Pearl, Joe Carreira, John Frontiero, Elias Hershbine, (not pictured: Derrick Graves)
C I A N B R O F A L L / W I N T E R C H AT T E R
Illustration B