We sit today, just over two weeks away from the annual turnover from one year to another. Naturally, this time of year is a time of reflection and, like never before, we have a lot to reflect on.
It’s definitely been quite the year, hasn’t it, Winnipeg? We’ve seen so many new improvements to our city. Look all around and there’s a feeling of freshness in the air. 2011 brought us at Carlson and the city of Winnipeg as a whole a variety of new and exciting opportunities.
As a company, Carlson is incredibly proud of the work we have done throughout Manitoba, including major projects like Wuskwatim and the Southwest Rapid Transit Corridor as well as the variety of commercial jobs we do on a regular basis here in Winnipeg and beyond city limits.
2012 looks to be just as promising as 2012 was. Obviously there is a lot still to look forward to, one that should equal the impact we felt in 2011. There are all new projects that lie ahead of us in the River City, some which have been announced and others that are still to come.
We thank you greatly for your business over the past 12 months and we look forward to speaking with you again early in the new year.
On behalf of our families and friends, we would like to wish you all the best this holiday season.
Winnipeg has been very fortunate to have many construction projects taking place in recent years, including the new terminal at our airport, the new Bombers stadium and the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.
One project that has really captured a lot of interest is the Osborne Underpass. This new construct is a major part of the forthcoming Rapid Transit Project that the city of Winnipeg has undertaken.
As part of the team working on the Osborne Underpass, Carlson has been proud of what has been accomplished. We will soon be updating our website with additional information on this exciting project, so stay tuned for more information.
Carlson was once again a sponsoring partner of the The University of Manitoba’s chapter of SAE International this past year.
Each year, Carlson has worked with the Formula Team, building molds from their patter, as well as a couple bodies for trials and final usage.
“We encourage the Formula Team to participate in all aspects of our work so that they gain some knowledge of the process,” explains Arnie Milne, VP Sales for Carlson Engineered Composites Inc.
The Carlson and UMSAE teams at Carlson Group Co. headquarters in Winnipeg.
The UMSAE is the largest student technical society on the U of M campus and the second largest of SAE International’s 108 chapters. Teams include Aero, Baja, Electric and Formula.
Earlier this fall, UMSAE dropped by Carlson to display their vehicles and meet with the entire Carlson crew.
The Wuskwatim Project from Carlson Commercial Services. Our commercial painters in Winnipeg, Manitoba were hired for this 200-megawatt generating station. To learn more about the Wuskwatim Project, click here.
Carlson Group Co. in Winnipeg is pleased to announce that Tera Zaluski has joined our team as the new Human Resources Coordinator.
Tera is a Red River College graduate, who completed the Human Resource Management program with an Honours certificate.
Prior to joining Carlson, Tera worked at Blockbuster Canada for 15 years. She spent 14 years working in the Store Operations department, working as a Store Manager before becoming a Recruitment Specialist. In the latter role, Tera would source, screen and shortlist candidates for field management positions throughout Canada. She would also work with store and district managers, analyzing their needs and presenting effective recruitment strategies.
Outside the office, Tera has served as an Executive Member of the Romanetz Ukrainian Dance Ensemble for the past 10 years. I have held the positions of President, Vice-President, and Fundraising Chair, and is the current Past President. Â Tera is also one of the dancers and perform at various events across Manitoba, including weddings, festivals and Folklorama, where she has been Entertainment Chair for the past three years.
She also enjoys spending time with her 14 month old husky pup “Meeka” J
We are proud to welcome Tera aboard and we know she will fit right in with the Carlson team.
The city of Winnipeg’s latest addition to Southwest Rapid Transit Corridor project is the Osborne Station, which will rest upon a new bridge spanning the street below. The interior is covered entirely by two tiers of canopies clad in glass and a polycarbonate roof. This striking envelope is supported by steel structural sections fastened to custom made arched columns set to concrete base spans.
Carlson Commercial & Industrial Services has been entrusted by PCL Constructors to ensure that the structure’s protective coating performs for decades to come and maintains it visual appeal. Hundreds of galvanized steel structural fabrications are carefully brush blasted, primed and painted with high performance urethane coatings at Carlson’s Winnipeg painting shop.
Some structural members in excess of fifty feet in length and several tons in weight create logistical and safety challenges. Careful handling and loading ensures all materials arrive at site safely and in optimal condition. Providing additional support service, Carlson field crews sandblast portions of the of the concrete grade structures as a fast and effective way to make sure new built-up concrete adheres properly. These are just a few of the commercial and industrial services Carlson provides that are vital to the construction industry.
In June 2010, we announced the installation of their first Water Jet Robotic Cell.
Now in August 2011, we excited to announce the upcoming installation of two more robots! We will be installing a second water jet robotic cell in the Winnipeg facility in September, 2011. It’s unfortunate, the original installation date was affected due to the delays in manufacturer parts acquisition from the devastating Tsunami disaster in Japan a few months ago. Our thoughts go to those who were affected by this natural disaster.
After the Winnipeg installation, we will installing the 3rd robot in our St. Cloud, Minneapolis facility. This will be the first Water Jet Robotic Cell installed at this location.
Carlson Engineered Composites Inc. developed the robot cell for trimming fibreglass parts using high-pressure water-jet cutting. The equipment was developed, in part, as the result of an Industrial Research Assistance Program investment and is one of only several such robots used in North America for cutting composites. This robot cell was discussed in Marketwire in April of 2011. The Water Jet Robotic Cell is capable of achieving +/- 60 thou tolerances and 10 thou repeatability ensuring that each part produced is now identical. This will ensure higher value and quality to our customers.
To see the Water Jet Robotic cell in action, watch our video – Carlson Introduces Their Water Jet Robotic Cell.
Fiber-reinforced thermoset resins have earned a place in the “industrial” applications sector, that catch-all descriptor that encompasses applications in which toughness and corrosion-, fire- and fatigue-resistance eclipse aesthetics.
Another solution is a new generation of halogen-free and CMR-free unsaturated polyesters from Cray Valley called FireBlock, targeted specifically to mass-transportation applications. The FireBlock technology, which won the 2011 JEC Innovation Award for “Materials,” is charged without halogenous compounds and antimony trioxide. It uses intumescence to create a resin that is not only fire retardant, but also fire resistant — meaning the structural properties of the resin remain during a fire. Under thermal stress, the surface of the resin chars, forming a carbon layer that effectively shields the laminate from flame. The technology reportedly offers better fire resistance than steel at flame temperatures of 2000°C/3632°F.
FireBlock resins boast low density — approximately 1.39 kg/L compared to 1.6 kg/L for heavily filled unsaturated polyester resins — which makes them suitable for weight-sensitive applications, including parts for railcars and buses.
Carlson Engineered Composites Inc. (Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada) is using FireBlock Norsodyne H 81269 TF for several parts on Winnepeg-based New Flyer’s Xcelsior intercity bus. In all, Carlson manufactures more than 50 interior and exterior FRP parts for the Xcelsior, and all of the interior components meet Docket-90-A fire safety standards recommended by the Federal Transit Admin., a branch of the U.S. Department of Transportation. Many states now require the passenger areas of mass-transit buses to meet Docket-90 standards.
“The Norsodyne resin offered improved fire retardancy and production efficiency compared to our previous FR resin,” says Rob Haller, Carlson’s engineering manager. “Although the cost per kilogram was higher for the Norsodyne resin, the increase was offset by the elimination of processes and materials required for filling with ATH because Norsodyne is prefilled,” he adds.
FireBlock resins also are available for pultrusion, and Carlson is testing Norsodyne I 81268F, a FireBlock resin formulated for resin transfer molding.
As leaders in the commercial and industrial painting industry, we continue to build upon a long tradition of integrity, excellence, and profitable growth. We maintain our competitive advantage by developing innovative solutions to unique problems.
It is becoming much more common for concrete floors to be painted, rather than being simply sealing the bare concrete floor. Homeowners are requesting it for their garages and business owners are requesting the application in their warehouses.
One of the reasons why these floors were traditionally left without a paint finish was the amount of wear and tear they receive. It was difficult to find a paint that would stand up to the traffic that could be expected. The other reason was that some people had applied painted finishes to these concrete floors and found it difficult to find a paint that would adhere and not begin to peal off of the surface.
Although both of these issues can remain a problem when it comes to painting concrete floors, they don’t need to be. The key to preventing these problems are the proper preparation of the concrete prior to painting and the use of the correct paint for the situation.
At Carlson we have experience in concrete floor paint applications for both the residential and industrial applications. We also have the equipment necessary to clean and prepare those surfaces so that the paint is able to adhere to the concrete. Paint can provide a great finish, even to these high traffic situations, when it is done professionally by a company with the kind of experience that we can provide.
