Rubb Fabric Building News

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Rubb Inc. recently observed the lift and transport of a Rubb BVE range structure. East Coast construction firm, Cianbro Inc., needed to move the Rubb building from a site in South Portland to one in Portland, Maine. A mobile crane moved the 10-ton building across a construction yard and a floating crane lifted the building onto a barge platform. The barge and accompanying building then crossed the ½ mile wide Fore River to the Portland site. The lift and transport of the building finished in roughly four hours.

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The above NV 10X12 Rubbhall was recently delivered to Terje Haugland Entreprenør AS. This is a construction company and the building is supposed to house various construction equipment. The Rubbhall was supplied with a steel folding door, lighting, fans and dehumidifier.

One of Rubb Hall AS’ goals is to be able to supply customers in Norway a full turn-key service and we are finding that more and more customers with to have dehumidifiers installed as opposed to heating. This saves on energy costs and naturally prevents any condensation.

To those in the Dallas Cowboys community we express our heartfelt concern and sympathy after the tragic events which occurred at the team’s Irving, Texas practice facility on May 2nd. Such events, although extremely rare, are a sobering reminder as to how precious life is and how quickly a tragedy like this can unfold with devastating and lasting consequences.

Over the past days we have received a number of calls and other contacts from current and prospective Rubb customers and other Rubb stakeholders regarding this matter. This statement is intended to address the concerns of our customers and stakeholders:

First, despite various inaccurate reports in the media, the structure involved was a membrane-clad, steel frame supported structure. However the structure was not one of our products.

Second, it is too early to definitively know what caused this tragic collapse and no rush to judgment should be made.

What we do know is that there are significant differences in materials and methods between the various suppliers in the membrane-covered structures industry. We also know that while failures of this magnitude are virtually unprecedented, what we learn in the coming months will give us all the opportunity to learn how to prevent a recurrence.

For our many customers who have expressed concern regarding their existing Rubb structures and their ability to withstand a significant weather event, let us assure you of one thing: our building range products are properly engineered to code standards, they are structurally sound and they are constructed with properly certified and proven, quality materials.

In light of the tragedy, we have added a page describing the standards of quality that all Rubb building range products share. It also highlights the experience of our company and some of the features which we believe make the Rubb product one of the safest and best built structure products in the marketplace.

In closing, please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns.

Sincerely,
David C. Nickerson
President, Rubb, Inc.

1-800-289-7822

For the third year in a row, Rubb Inc. has hosted a group of students from the University of Virginia School of Architecture.  Professor Earl Mark arranges to have his Maine Coast Lightweight Structures Studio class visit the Rubb facility as one of the many stops during their trip to Maine.  Although the specific course details change from year to year, the general premise is to have the students develop concepts for portable structures that have a low ecological footprint.

While at Rubb, they toured the PVC fabrication and steel welding shops, and looked at design details of large and small Rubb structures.  We also studied a myriad of fabric attachment methods and discussed ways to make buildings mobile.  The students asked a lot of great questions that were directly relevant to their project.  I wish them great success in their class, and look forward to seeing their final presentations.  I also can’t wait to see the next class in 2010!

Rubb Buildings will be an exhibitor at ProMat 2009 (Booth 105) sponsored by The Material Handling Industry of America at the McCormick Place South Convention Center in Chicago, Illinois, USA. The trade show runs from January 12-15. 2009.

ProMat 2009 focuses on the productivity solutions provided by material handling and logistics. The four-day event will be the most comprehensive showcase of material handling and logistics equipment, systems and technologies in the United States in 2009. The show is designed to offer productivity solutions and information by showcasing the products and services of over 800 material handling and logistics providers.

The U.S. Department of Commerce has selected ProMat® 2009 for the ninth time for its prestigious International Buyer Program. The Program provides Matchmaker services for interested buyers and sellers though an International Business Center located at the event. International trade specialist will be on hand to provide expert counseling.

Rubb Buildings will be an exhibitor at the 97th Annual Convention of the American Association of Port Authorities (Booth 17) in Anchorage, Alaska. The convention runs from September 21-25, 2008.

The week-long convention includes technical and policy committee meetings, business sessions and social events allowing port professionals and others in the marine transportation industry to exchange views.

The Rubb Group has more building area under roof in ports throughout the world than in any other market, and this is a chance to show the unique attributes of these structures to port authorities in the western hemisphere.

With the fabric sheets laced together, the next step is to heat seal the PVC over the seams. This effectively turns the building membrane into a continuous, watertight shell enclosing the entire structure. This week’s video shows the crew working up and down the seams, sealing them shut with a hot-air gun. They also start sealing the flap down the ridge of the building.

At this point, the bulk of the work is taking place inside the structure, as they prepare the floor for the radiant heat pipes and install the steel in the gable ends. With the membrane in place, we won’t be able to see much activity on the time-lapse camera for a while. I will still post weekly updates as construction progresses.
 
 
 

Now that all the main sheets have been pulled down over the framework, the next step is to lace the sheets together. There are two seams that connect two adjacent sheets together; one on the inside and one on the outside. Working from the top of the building down, the rope is threaded through the inside seam in a zig-zag pattern, and then pulled tight. Slack is pulled out of the rope in short sections, again working from the peak of the building down to the base. When the inside seam is tight, the process is repeated with the outside seam.

In Friday’s video, you can see Chris, Justin & Al working their way up and down the seams pulling them tight. Mid-afternoon a passing shower cuts work short.

The bulk of the PVC sheets were unrolled and pulled over the framework this week. As of Friday, only one sheet remained to be installed. This puts the building 90% under cover, and once the sheets have been laced and heat-sealed together they can work inside installing the concrete floor and mezzanine.

In Thursday’s time-lapse video, two sheets are unrolled on the north side of the building and one on the south side in the morning. I went up on the roof for the south sheet to videotape the operation. Later that afternoon another sheet was hoisted up and placed on the roof to be unrolled on Friday.

This week the construction crew dropped five sheets of the building’s PVC membrane cladding. The process is fairly straightforward, although not for those with fear of heights! First, the rolls of PVC are unrolled down the length of the building, then attached with hardware to a tube that runs along the ridge. This secures the sheet in place at the top. A tube is inserted in a pocket at the base of the sheet, and ropes are run down the outside of the structure and pulled with a forklift from below. This pulls the sheet down over the outside of the building in one quick operation. The base of the sheet is then attached to the foundation with tensioning hardware and pulled tight.

In Tuesday’s video, you can see that two sheets on the far side of the building are already in place from Monday. An additional sheet is pulled down on the far side in the morning, and two more on the near side are tensioned in the afternoon. The camera lens is also visited by a bee in the middle of the day. Later on we see a passing shower after work hours, and finally a sunset finishes the day.