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Williams Steel Erection Co., Inc. won Project of the Year for the third time in four years, with the latest award recognizing their work on the Atlantic Union Bank Center at James Madison University in the Class III category.

The Project of the Year award, given by the Steel Erectors Association of America (SEAA), recognizes steel erection projects that “demonstrate complexity, unusual conditions, issues, and barriers requiring special management team action or performance.” Williams Steel previously won the Class III Project of the Year for its work on the Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project – Phase 2 in 2018, and the Class II Project of the Year for the Ballston Quarter Pedestrian Walkway in 2019.

The company’s work on this project required problem solving to overcome extremely challenging site conditions. Because of tight site boundaries, the building’s trusses had to be erected using cranes positioned inside of the bowl’s footprint. Erection of the final truss required for the truss to be vertically assembled in a thirty-foot gap left in the superstructure steel for this purpose, and then lifted into place by three cranes that also had to fit into this narrow gap. The space was so tight that once the lift was complete the cranes had to be disassembled to be removed from the bowl’s footprint.

The awards ceremony was held at the Annual SEAA National Convention and Trade Show in Charleston, SC in April, and the project will be featured in SEAA’s Connector trade magazine later this year.

On April 20th, 2022, the team at Williams Construction Services and Williams Steel Erection Co., Inc. performed the largest girder lift of the Transform 66 Outside the Beltway Project to date. Using three cranes and a Goldhofer SPMT Trailer, the 250 ton girder was moved into the highway and lifted into position during a five-hour full closure of I-66 East at the Route 28 interchange.

The carefully planned and coordinated operation presented many unique challenges, first and foremost the size of the girder. At 13 feet tall and 139 feet long, it is the tallest box girder of the project and the second longest. Because three cranes were required for the pick, keeping it level through constant communication between the operators was critical. The final location of the girder was also directly under a power line, which had to be shut down for the lift.

After the box girder was assembled next to the highway over the course of weeks, one end of the girder was placed on Williams Steel Erection Co., Inc.’s Goldhofer heavy haul trailer, while the other was lifted by a Link-Belt 200 ton crawler crane so the trailer could rotate it into the closed roadway. Once in position, the 200 ton was joined by a Link-Belt 300 ton truck crane and Liebherr 300 ton hydraulic crane. Working together, the three Williams Construction Services cranes lifted the girder into position above the highway to be secured by erector Webber before the highway reopened.

“Transform 66 Outside the Beltway” is a design-build project with VDOT, I-66 Express Mobility Partners, and general contractor FAM Construction. Construction began in 2017 to add express lanes to a 22.5-mile stretch of I-66 from I-495 in Falls Church to Route 29 in Gainesville. The project is scheduled to be completed in 2022.

Williams Steel Erection Co., Inc. was recently highlighted on Link-Belt.com for their work on the new Atlantic Bank James Madison University Convocation Center in Harrisonburg, VA.

The feature showcases Williams Construction Services new 100-ton Link-Belt HTC-86100 hydraulic truck crane alongside their existing 200-ton Link-Belt LS-248H II lattice crawler crane and 200-ton Link-Belt HC-248H lattice boom truck crane.

Williams Steel erected the steel for the new 8,500 seat arena including eight 250 ft-long trusses weighing 60 tons each. The article features the erection of the final truss which had to be erected in extremely tight quarters from the bowl of the arena. The company successfully completed the pick in October.

For more information you can check out the article here:

Williams Steel Erection Co., Inc. provides structural steel erection services for all sizes of projects in the Mid-Atlantic region. Williams Construction Services rents cranes up to 330-ton capacity, performs heavy haul operations, and provides rigging services in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern Regions. Visit wmsi.com for more information on the services that these and other Williams Industries, Inc. subsidiaries can provide for your next project.