| OTIA III State Bridge Delivery |
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| Web Brief (May 06) |
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Farwest Steel supplies more than half the rebar used by ODOT
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Bridge program forges ahead on strength of steel
The Oregon Department of Transportation is committed to working with Oregon-based companies to spark economic growth throughout the state. As a result, Oregon steel mills are bustling with work, even in the face of out-of-state sources of imported steel.
Oregon’s steel industry plays an integral role in construction and is especially important to ODOT’s OTIA III State Bridge Delivery Program. Steel is used for foundational support—such as beams, girders and decks—and for reinforcing concrete so bridges can carry the weight of commercial, commuter and tourist traffic.
Eugene-based Farwest Steel Corp. specializes in structural steel, which it warehouses and sells, and in the steel rebar used to reinforce concrete, which it fabricates and installs. Farwest supplies more than half the rebar for all ODOT projects in the state.
“The steel industry in Oregon is robust and healthy,” said Paul Harestad, estimating manager at Farwest Steel. “Work on the bridge program has allowed us to hire eight additional shop workers to meet the demand for steel.”
The company’s rebar was used to reinforce massive concrete beams installed last summer on the Alder Creek Bridge on U.S. 26 near Sandy. Each 163-foot beam required 1.2 miles of rebar. The company also has developed historically-oriented steel design work and is involved in the preservation and replacement of steel structures on many of the state’s historic coastal bridges.
West Side Iron in Springfield is another Oregon-based company reaping benefits from its work on the bridge program.
“Steady work on projects like the bridge program is our meat and potatoes,” said Pete Cobarrubia, who founded West Side Iron in 1997. “We are proud to be a part of a program that is improving bridges and increasing safety throughout the state.”
The company erects the steel structures that support or hold concrete decks and foundations. It also supplies shear-stud welding services, sets steel girders and pours concrete, particularly on the sections of highways that transition from roadway to bridge deck. The company has provided steel to two prime contractors on the bridge program, Hamilton Construction Co. and Wildish Standard Paving Co.
West Side has already hired two additional workers to join the four existing staff members, and Cobarrubia expects to hire more people as significant work gets under way this summer.
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