Seems like a good time to ignite the ring????

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https://www.baytoday.ca/local-news/local-welding-company-secures-big-funding-from-the-province-453441?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Local Welding company secures big funding from the province

David Zimmer, Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation, was at Central Welding and Iron Works to make a huge funding announcement for the local business. Photo by Chris Dawson.

A North Bay based welding company is getting a large cash injection from the province to aid in its development of a new innovative way to maintain and repair bridges in the province.

David Zimmer, Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation, was at Central Welding to make the funding announcement of $480,000 through the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation’s Northern Innovation Program to support the project by Central Welding and Iron Works.

Central Welding has been around for 50 years and is the one of the largest steel bridge fabricators in Canada.

The North Bay facility that employs 80 people will use the funding to weld stainless steel on bridge girders, which is a new material experts believe will increase the life of a bridge by 25 to 30 percent.

“Bridge fabrication has essentially been the same for many, many years and this is the first new thing to come and we are always hearing in the news that our bridges need work, this new type of material is going to extend the service life of any new work we do now so it’s going to help,” said Erik Thomsen, Vice President, Operations, Central Welding & Iron Works.

"This new concept, this new type of steel, it’s the first one that anybody has built in Canada so we are really starting from scratch, we are starting on the ground level so the funding helps us buy equipment, it’s a different type of equipment we need to actually work with this stuff."

Thomsen, whose family has operated the business since 1955, adds that bridge fabrication is a competitive business.

However, he is optimistic this will set a new standard for bridge fabrication in Ontario.

“The steel that the ministry may want to change to, it’s got more nickel and chromium in it, so it will last longer, you get a longer service life which reduces costs over the life of the bridge,” said Thomsen.

Zimmer believes that will lead to more business for the North Bay company which is expected to add four more jobs through this project and the new funding.

“Everybody is going to want to beat a path to North Bay to find out how to do this,” said Zimmer

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http://www.nugget.ca/2016/11/01/building-canadas-first-stainless-steel-bridge

Erick Thomson, left, of Central Welding and Iron Works, and provincial Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation David Zimmer, watch as Thomas Arbuckle of Central Welding countersinks holes in a girder, Tuesday. The provincial government through the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund invested $480,000 in the North Bay-based company to help develop new methods of bridge building involving the use of stainless steel. PJ Wilson/The Nugget

A North Bay company has received provincial funding to create a new process for bridge construction involving the use of stainless steel.
The new process under development by Central Welding and Iron Works in North Bay is expected to improve design quality and extend the life of the structures.
The first such bridge will be built on Highway 401 over the Speed River in Cambridge, Ont. It will be the first in Canada and the third in North America.
Central Welding will receive $480,000 through the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corp. to develop the process. It is expected to create six new jobs in the city.
The process “is still being tested,” Erik Thomson, vice-president of operations for Central Welding, said Tuesday afternoon at the Seymour Street operation, but is expected to extend the life of bridges by 25 to 35 per cent.
Provincial Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation David Zimmer said the project is an “amazing opportunity” for the company and the community.
“This is an innovative process involving the welding of stainless steel in an entirely new way,” Zimmer said.
“Everyone is going to be calling North Bay” for information on the process. “Everyone is going to want to beat a path to North Bay.”
About 80 people are now employed at the company.