Schemmer and Boyd Jones Construction designed and constructed Paxton and Vierling Steel’s new PVS Metals facility in Carter Lake, IA. The new 189,225 sf facility is an open bay steel fabrication facility designed to increase efficiency and expand production. The facility is truck and rail served with a coil storage area accommodating steel coils up to 80,000 lbs, stacked three high. Two overhead bridge cranes (35T & 45T) serve the coil storage area and feed the stretcher leveler. The stretcher leveler weighs in excess of 1,000,000 lbs and can handle coils of steel up to one inch thick. Steel coming off the stretcher leveler is automatically fed into a TRUMPF tower storage system which, in turn, automatically supplies three laser cutting machines. Additional lasers and press brakes were integrated to allow for addition steel processing and fabrication. Product handling is provided by four 20T overhead bridge cranes that move product through fabrication and load finished product at the two lane drive thru shipping area of the building which includes an in-floor truck scale.
Shipping, receiving and quality assurance offices are located on the production floor and a separate office building is attached to the production building. The office building has offices and a conference room used by production support staff along with a break room, locker room and restrooms used by the production employees.
Site challenges included poor soil conditions, ground water and the construction of a rail spur. Due to the site’s location within the flood plain, the building site elevation was raised approximately four feet.
