Rubb Buildings Ltd are flying high after completing a new hangar facility on behalf of the Bristow Helicopter Group. The project started out as a temporary hangar to house helicopters overnight while a conventional hangar was built.
Then Bristow Helicopters, one of the largest and respected providers of helicopter services, approached Rubb to design and manufacture a structure tailor-made for their needs.
It was a constantly evolving project, changing from a storage facility into a storage and maintenance hangar.
This required a high level of lighting specification, insulation and inner skin features and a custom-made insulated 20m x 6m manual sliding door.
Rubb rose to the challenge.
During the process the structure grew from 35m span x 35m long BVE into a 35m span x 40m long specialist hangar facility, sporting power points, electrics, lighting and ventilation. The high specification electrical system includes 230v and 415v power sockets; a 500 lux lighting system; an independently monitored emergency lighting system; lightening protection and ventilation.
Sales Manager Ray Colby said: “It was a continually evolving project but once again Rubb rose to the challenge.” The hangar, completed in March 2010, will be used by the client to service, maintain and store their fleet of commercial helicopters.
This new website features military structures and shelters available from the Rubb Group. The website will provide a source of technical data that is readily available for users out in the field, and will provide clients will all information, specifications and drawings for their intended usage.
Construction work on site has started at Royal Marine Base Chivenor for Rubb Buildings Ltd. The new Rubb building is a 24.7m Twin Link BVR x 160m long, giving an overall footprint of 7904mª.
The BVR structure is located on a sloping site meaning that the foundation was constructed with incremental steps along the length of the building.
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The finished building will be used as a dehumidified storage and service workshop for military vehicles. This is the second building purchased and located at RMB Chivenor for the same purpose.
The complete framework is built of welded black steel and then hot-dip galvanized to provide a consistent zinc coating over the entire structure.
We received this email a few days ago, and its content was so uplifting that I feel it’s entirely appropriate to be shared at this time of year:
My name is Mary Thatcher (Chapman) and I worked at Rubb from July 1999 to November 2001. I loved my job there and Rubb always treated me well. I worked under Steve Gagnon in the weld shop. I am currently in the Army and I am deployed to Iraq. When I was back in the shop welding on the Kuwait contract, I never thought I’d see the finished product first hand. When I deployed to Iraq in September 2009, we were held in Kuwait until flights were arranged. During my time in Kuwait we stayed in one of the tents that Rubb had built. It was great to see the buildings and know that I was once part of the team that built them. All the hours everyone put in making sure the job got out on time and that it was of the best quality really made a difference in the quality of life for the soldiers who had to passed thru there. I’m glad to see that in the struggling economy that a great company such as yourselves is still strong and alive with business.
I’d like to say hello to all of those I once worked with if they are still kicking around. Maybe if ya’ll (Rubb) are still around when I get finished with my service I might come knocking to see if you need a welder… Just seeing those buildings made me smile and remember how much I loved working there and the great co-workers I had around me. Leaving the country for the first time, Kuwait is not the most up lifting place. So many sand storms you can’t even see the skyline, no sun, no stars nothing but the sand. For me it was kinda hard at first but just seeing a piece of my past put a smile on my face! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone at Rubb USA!
Sincerly,
Mary Thatcher
Thank you, Mary! Merry Christmas to all from everyone at Rubb!
With the ongoing conflicts in Afghanistan, Rubb Buildings Ltd have been at the forefront of supplying hangars to the front line.
The newly developed 25m Span RES Hangar, complete with an 18m wide x 7m high aircraft door is currently being used by many different forces from around the world. To date Rubb Buildings Ltd has supplied and delivered no less than 10 hangars to various forces this year alone.
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The RES hangar can be erected, disassembled and removed easily, if required. Each hangar is constructed of a number of steel fabricated components together with uniquely designed aluminum roof and leg sections, that bolt together to form the span trusses. The leg sections connect to the roof sections and are securely anchored to footplates at 4m centers. When assembled, Insulated PVC fabric sheets slides between the aluminum extrusions of adjacent spans to form the shelter.
The most recent hangars supplied to the front line are complete with an internal 2000kg gantry crane system. The crane system has been designed for helping the users of the hangars with their daily maintenance procedures for the aircraft in the field.
This morning the Max Launch Abort System (MLAS) test vehicle was successfully fired off at the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. As reported in this blog, Rubb supplied the structure that kept the launch pad under cover while the MLAS was being readied. In the video above, you can see the white Rubb building in the foreground at the time of launch, about 2:04 minutes into the video. Photographs of the launch are viewable here.
Rubb has recently completed a structure covering the launch pad at the Wallops Flight Facility for the MLAS (Max Launch Abort System) project. The BVE-range building is 50 feet in length, width and height. The 25-ton building is equipped with Hilman rollers that allow it to be retracted 200 feet from the launch pad in under thirty minutes. This tight-timeframe project had to be finished in time to meet the launch schedule, currently set for 6:15 am EDT on July 8, 2009. The launch status will be updated online through Twitter at http://twitter.com/NASA_Wallops.
2008 saw a new Research and development project come to fruition for Rubb Buildings Ltd: the successful design and manufacture of the REW, or Rapid Erect Warehouse. Rubb Buildings Ltd has developed the building for use in military applications and to be used as a vehicle or aircraft maintenance/storage warehouse.
The REW is constructed from high grade aluminium and steel components providing a very strong but also very light structure. The REW measures 11.1m span x 16m long x 4.8m sidewall height.
The Rubb Building includes an insulated PVC fabric package, a 300lux lighting and power distribution kit and a large opening (10m wide x 4.6m high) REW door system which is fully automatic. The REW also has the ability to be fitted with a 2 ton internal crane system. 2 REW’s are able to fit within one single 20’ ISO shipping container.
The REW is the third building from this particular range following the success of the 20.4m span and the 24.9m span, and is yet another military structure that Rubb has developed using over 30 years of design and manufacturing skills in this field.
Rubb Buildings and Protec, Inc. recently completed another shipboard project – This helicopter hangar was installed on the USNS Comfort, an 894′ Military Sealift Command hospital ship. The two companies manufactured and erected a 40′w x 56′ BVE range structure with 19.7′ sidewalls that will hangar two (2) Blackhawk helicopters. Rubb’s design included an I-beam foundation, cargo and personnel doors, and provisions for lifting by crane.
The Comfort is based out of Baltimore and has been in service since its commissioning in 1987. These aircraft recently supported a 4 month humanitarian mission to Latin America and the Caribbean Nations. For more information regarding the Mercy and its vital role, check out its website at www.comfort.navy.mil All of us at Rubb Buildings and Protec, Inc. are proud to support this fine ship and her wonderful crew.