Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Henderson High partners with Berlin Steel in valuable learning lesson
WEST CHESTER » Technology Education students from Henderson High School recently got a firsthand look into the world of steel design and fabrication. Twelve students from Joel Cummings’ Engineering and Design class, 10th-12th grades, were given the opportunity to spend part of their school day at Berlin Steel Construction Company in West Chester learning about the complex process of designing and creating the skeletal structures that make up many buildings throughout the Philadelphia area and New Jersey. Notable projects include The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, East Market Residential and Retail Complex (Philadelphia) and the Rowan University expansion project. Upcoming projects include The Philadelphia Museum of Art.
The presentation began with an overview of the company where students learned that Berlin Steel Construction Company is the oldest ironworking company in the United States. They also learned how extensive and involved the planning process is prior to construction.
“What we do is similar to building a piece of IKEA furniture,” Estimating Manager Ryan Parsons told the students. “We’re going to build a dresser, but first we need to design the dresser, design each part to exact specifications, create the parts, deliver them, and finally assemble them. Everything is built on paper before it is built out in the field.”
The process begins with an architectural and engineering design. Subcontractors, like Berlin Steel Construction Company, then bid on the project. Once awarded the contract, the team gets to work on a plan called “take-off.”
As estimating manager, Parsons is responsible for preparing “take-off,” which includes an exact count of all necessary materials. The plan accounts for things like the number of steel beams needed, the exact number of bolts and shear studs, and how much galvanized material is required to protect the steel. The team also has to calculate the time necessary to fabricate the steel, arrange logistics to move materials and equipment to the worksite, and estimate manpower hours. According to Parsons, this planning process took a minimum of three weeks to complete for the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia project.
Students also learned about the roles of other team members including Chief Draftsman Dan Hyson. Hyson is responsible for drawing sketches of the design layout to specification, or as he put it “I draw pictures for a living.”
After learning about the design process, the students went inside the plant and got a taste of what it would be like to be an ironworker. A few brave souls were outfitted with personal safety equipment and tools, weighing nearly 90 pounds and then walked across a steel beam 12 inches off the floor.
All the volunteers made it across without falling.
“Now, imagine doing that 12 stories up in the air, not 12 inches off the ground,” Parsons told the students.
“It was really tough to balance,” said senior Owen Downing. “I felt like I was going to fall the whole time. I couldn’t imagine doing that 12 stories up! That’s definitely not a job I would want to do.”
Berlin Steel Construction Company, which is headquartered in Kensington, Connecticut, has two other offices in addition to the West Chester location – Glen Burnie, Maryland, and Oxford, Massachusetts.
Pennsylvania Division Manager Dennis Bachman oversees the West Chester office, which includes the design team, nearly 150 ironworkers and is responsible for sales efforts that so far this year total 70 million dollars.
“Having the Henderson students visit the plant presented a great opportunity to connect with possible future employees,” said Bachman. “It can be tough to recruit people to our world sometimes, but there really are some great opportunities available. We received great feedback from the kids and plan to host more students from the West Chester Area School District.”
West Chester Area School District Supervisor of Technology Education, Dr. Paul Joyce said it was inspiring to see the professionals of Berlin Steel Construction Company engage students in an understanding of how their design work fits into real-world applications.
“Connections were made to potential careers including estimation, detail design, construction, iron working, and safety,” said Joyce. “The students benefited tremendously from the visit to Berlin Steel.”
“This has been a really interesting day. I never realized how much planning goes into projects like these before you start building,” added Downing. “There are a lot of details. I would consider this as a career.”