FAIRFAX, Minn., December 8, 2022 – CAID Industries called on Fast Fab Erectors Inc. to do the design and building work for the new Tucson, Ariz., facility, featuring metal products from Mid-West Steel Building Company.
CAID’s 54,800-square-foot structure is a modular rigid frame, 160 feet by 240 feet, with a 40-foot eave height. Since it is located in an air corridor at Tucson International Airport, the peak height is restricted. Designers used a ½:12 roof slope to obtain the maximum eave height possible, given the restraints. Ultra Dek was used for the roofing, while endwall and sidewall panels are Shadowrib.
Fab Erectors, also of Tucson, served as the builder, erector, and roofing contractor on the project, and Division II was the general contractor.
Part of the construction called for two large Schweiss Doors hydraulic crane doors. A 30-ton crane has a lot of lifting power, but in many cases, it needs a door system to effectively operate. The center interior modular rigid frame supports two 30-ton, 60-foot bridge cranes and an outside south bay has two 20-ton, 43-foot bridge cranes. They are located in partition walls with bayonet doors and when the hydraulic single-leaf doors are open, there is unrestricted crane movement through the partition walls.
The Schweiss crane door setup looks clean and practical. The entry to the warehouse room has a larger sliding door at the bottom and one Schweiss hydraulic crane door, measuring 61-feet, 6-inches wide by 8-feet, 10-3/4-inches tall, that sits above it. The other crane door from Schweiss is 44-feet, 10-3/4 inches wide by 6-feet, 11-1/2-inches tall. The doors were engineered for a 115-mph wind rating and 360-volt, 3-phase electrical with remote openers. All roll-up doors in the building are up to 30 feet wide and 22 feet tall.
The reason for this setup is quite practical – you don’t have to open the larger sliding door in order to move the crane where it’s needed from one location to another. It can save on air conditioning and heating costs and is just plain faster and more efficient. If the crane has a large load, moving from one location to another, then the sliding door at the bottom can be opened.
Crane door configurations can vary, it’s a matter of choice. Some use a bifold door instead of a hydraulic door. Some industrial companies use vertically split doors at the bottom that swing outward and some prefer a sliding door below the hydraulic or bifold crane door.
“Fast Fab has built every building, addition or modification to the CAID Industries campus for 25 years,” says Michael Kreppel of Fast Fab Erectors. “The owner contacts me, waves his arms around about what he wants and the process begins.”
The facility also features 72 skylights, LED light fixtures, brightness-activated T-5 fluorescent fixtures and 5-foot wall lights that extend down from the eaves on both sides. The facility includes 20 acres of fenced-in yard, office and production facilities. CAID manufactured its own custom gates for the project. They are one-piece metal with the CAID logo cut into the gate design.
Construction took less than 5 months. The new CAID facility was named the Mid-West Steel Structure of the Year by Mid-West Steel Building Company.
Schweiss Doors is the premier manufacturer of hydraulic and bifold liftstrap doors. Doors are custom made to any size for any type of new or existing building for architects and builders determined to do amazing things with their buildings, including the doors. Schweiss also offers a cable to liftstrap conversion package.
For more information, visit www.bifold.com.
