Mel`s Mettle As seen in print “Sterling is Reborn”

™
VOL. 8 ISSUE.3
Oct. .
2011
What is it?
Winter Quiz Question Winner
Congratulations to Shaun Miller of Williams Form Engineering Corp. for answering the winter quiz question
correctly and winning a Cartharrt sweatshirt. Thank
you to all that entered.
Can you name the MFC part pictured below?
hint: go to www.metalforms.com for clues.
Q. Name the first concrete ship built in the United
States?
Send your answer to info@metalforms.com for a
chance to win a $50 visa gift card. The winner will be
announced in the next Form to Finish issue.
A. SS Faith was the first concrete ship built in the U.S.
by the San Francisco ship building company. It was
launched on March 18, 1918.
A Publication for MFC Dealers
Mel’s Mettle
THE TRAVELING SALESMAN
METAL FORMS CORPORATION
SINCE
Those of you who follow “Mel’s Mettle” on
a regular basis know that I like to travel. The year
started with two trade shows in Las Vegas..........
OK, a couple of floor shows, too. Then it was off to
Bangor (ME), Salt Lake City (UT), Charlotte (NC),
Brownsville (TX) and Vancouver,BC, Canada in
typical “road warrior” fashion.
I was not exactly thrilled, however, upon being informed that Washington D.C. would be my
destination this September. All that political “hot air”
and “inside the Beltway” rhetoric really depresses
me. My gosh, they can’t even agree on a transportation bill which is critical to our economic recovery. My
negative attitude changed when I realized I would be
attending a very special road building tribute.
You see, my boss and MFC president, Tom
Miller, successfully nominated Philip A. Koehring to
the American Road Builders Association’s “Hall of
Fame”. There were only three initial inductees and
Philip was the only one selected in the “innovator”
category. Philip A. Koehring just happens to be Tom
Miller’s great uncle and founded The Koehring Machine Company in 1907. He transformed concrete
road building from myth to reality with his “mixer/paver” invention and inspired MFC to begin the production of paving forms in the 1920’s.
So now I’m delighted to be packing my bags
for our nation’s capitol and the gala celebration. With
Tom Miller accompanying me, my only concern now
is how to “fudge” those entertainment entries in my
MFC expense book.
™
Mel’s Musings
“A bus station is where a bus
stops. A train station is where
a train stops. On my desk, I
have a work station..”
1909
As seen in print
“Sterling is Reborn”
Sterling is featured in the August/September
issue of Contractor Supply Magazine. The featured
article details the transition of moving Sterling Handling to the Metal Forms Corporation. The two companies have a combined history of over 200 years of
manufacturing in Milwaukee, WI. If you do not subscribe to Contractors Supply, you may view the article
on our homepage at www.metalforms.com or contact
us for reprint.
SINCE
1909
METAL FORMS CORPORATION
Form to Finish™
Metal Forms Corporation
3334 North Booth Street
Milwaukee, WI 53212
Milwaukee, WI
PERMIT NO. 1
PAID
PRESORTED
FIRST CLASS MAIL
U.S. POSTAGE
FORM TO FINISH™
STAFDA Show 2011
METAL FORMS CORPORATION
SINCE
1909
Concrete Products Engineered to Endure
Metal Forms will be exhibiting this year at
STAFDA convention in San Antonio, TX between
November 13-15. Our booth #343 will have the new
Sterling POP displayed along with the Poly Meta
Forms®. Please stop by if you are attending to say hi
and discuss future opportunities.
Booth #343
• Concrete Forming
• Material Handling
• Concrete Finishing
Dealers are encouraged to contact us about our products
or MFC Standard and Master Dealer
Programs.
SALES & MARKETING TEAM
Tom Miller
President
temiller@metalforms.com
Dan Block
Vice President - Sales
dblock@metalforms.com
Kathy Karth
Account Executive
kkarth@metalforms.com
Vince Muehlbauer
Marketing Coordinator/Sales
vmuehlbauer@metalforms.com
Matt Michel
National Accounts Manager
mlmichel@metalforms.com
Drew Wallace
Regional Sales Manager
dwallace@metalforms.com
Around we go
Metal Form’s Speed Screed® Cruiser™ was the
preferred choice of Chippewa Concrete out of Eau
Claire, WI when they poured several roundabout
intersections. Chippewa needed to adjust the road’s
crown on the fly when pouring the circular roads. The
Cruiser™ screed gave them the ability to accomplish
this in a timely manner and with minimum
manpower.
3334 NORTH BOOTH STREET
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN 53212 U.S.A.
Phone: 414-964-4550
Fax: 414-964-4503
Email: info@metalforms.com
WWW.METALFORMS.COM
A Texas-Size Connection
When NorthGate Constructors (NorthGate)
was conditionally awarded the (DFW) Connector
Project, there was never a doubt that Metal Forms’
Meta Pave™ forms would be involved.
As the contractor for the DFW Connector Project, NorthGate, a joint venture between Kiewit Texas
Construction L.P. (Kiewit) and Zachry Construction
Corporation (Zachry), will develop, design and reconstruct portions of four highways, two interchanges
and five bridges. NorthGate uses Metal Forms exclusively for any job that involves concrete paving, and
has been doing so for at least 10 years. According to
David Santin, NorthGate’s Concrete Paving Manager,
almost all the forms purchased in his tenure with
Kiweit’s South-Central District have been manufactured by Milwaukee-based Metal Forms.
While large stretches of roadway are ideal
for using a paver, more compact areas for which a
paver is too large or
just impractical require
hand-pours: “We mainly
do hand-pours in intersections, tight areas
and tie-ins to bridge
approaches,” comments
Santin. Metal forms are
used anytime a concrete
section is hand-poured,
and NorthGate relies
heavily on Metal Forms’
Meta Pave style product. Santin cites the
reasons why: “We like
your forms in particular
because they are simple to use and put together, they
make our material handling simple and organized,
and they have a long life in which we can reuse them
for multiple projects.”
Once the forms are set up, the section of
concrete can be hand-poured, after which a motorized screed is run on top of the forms. Finishers come
behind the screed with straightedges and floats to
ensure the concrete is even, level and has a smoothlooking surface. To complete the job, the concrete
is carpet-dragged and tined for texture, and then
sprayed with a cure for final surface protection.
Metal Forms’ products are being used for
many areas of the DFW Connector Project, which
consists of a combination of new main lanes,
frontage road and toll-managed lanes. The current funded configuration of the project consists
of 8.4 miles in Grapevine, Southlake and Irving,
and doubles the existing highway capacity north of
the DFW Airport. This $1 billion, entirely publiclyfunded project will enhance mobility and air quality
through expanded roadway capacity, toll-managed
lanes and continuous frontage roads. The tollmanaged lanes will help to keep traffic flowing at
an estimated rate of 50 mph. All told, the project
has the potential to span 14.4 miles, although at
this time funding for the ultimate configuration has
not yet been identified.
Using a design-build model, design and
construction take place simultaneously, expediting
the project from an original completion date of 810 years (from a start date of February 2010) to a
new date of 2014. This new connection is integral
to north Texas businesses and commercial and
recreational interests, since state highways 114
and 121, and adjacent roadways located north of
the DFW Airport, run near the intersection of the
area’s four most populous counties.
And, it may not stop there. Once the project
is complete, the Texas Department of Transportation can exercise up to three five-year maintenance contracts with NorthGate
Just as the new roadways will connect people with
their destinations, Metal Forms, along with their
distributor, Barnsco, Inc. has once again connected with a contractor build on an already solid
relationship.