the sleeve down onto the splice. Te Tway employee opens the machine and spins the rope and the sleeve incrementally, crimping it over and over around its entire circumference. For the guys at the shop this is surely just another day at work, but for the rest of us, watching a skilled American worker using an impressive American machine to transform raw American components into an American-manufactured product in the heart of the American Midwest is like seeing a species of plant or animal that was thought to be long extinct. Tway’s premiere sling product is the Gold Seal Sling
(Trademark pending). With an assurance of the highest quality, Tway’s slings boast precision swaging tolerance, and matched length every time. Gold Seal Slings are manufactured exclusively by Tway Lifting Products and every swage fitting is painted gold with their final quality check. Another video features another worker in a long apron and safety glasses, using Tway’s testing equipment to pull a hook past the point of failure, putting both safety and expertise on display. Tway has a nice website that offers lots of information about their products and services, but these videos tell more about Tway, its amazing equipment and its expert workers than just reading the pages on a website ever could. “We’re making products that carry a high liability. Te
workers are trained directly by the suppliers of the products we buy,” says Hansen. “Tey’re all card-carrying, qualified riggers. Tey understand what these products are being used for. Te guys in the chain department are certified welders. Tey’ve been trained by the chain company. Tese guys understand what they’re making, why they’re making it, and the consequences involved. We have 260 years of rigging experience in our staff and we rely on all of them with every job we produce.” While Hansen is quick to compliment his workers, his
high retention of these trained employees also speaks to his successful management. “I make it clear that I know the job. I can do what they do. I can build those slings. I can make those welds,” says Hansen. “But these guys are experts. Tey’re very good at what they do. Tey understand the product and we have such low employee turnover so we don’t have to continually retrain people.” American manufacturing and distribution is alive and
well at this rigging house in Indianapolis that meets its production via the skilled labor of energetic, expert American workers. Tese have been hard times for the American Dream, but at Tway Lifting Products, its never been stronger or safer. y
> TWAY LIFTING
PRODUCTS SUPPORTS
HISTORIC “SLIDE” BY PETER HILDEBRANDT
The Milton-Madison bridge, originally constructed in 1928 by J.G. White Engineering Corporation, carries US 421 across the Ohio River connecting the historic towns of Madison, Ind. and Milton, Ky. Over 80 years and millions of cars later the structure has passed its useful lifespan and deemed structurally unsound. The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC)
in joint effort with the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) determined a method called “superstructure replacement” offered the fastest and most cost-effective way to build a safe new bridge. Superstructure replacement involves building a new steel truss atop the existing piers, which will be brought up to modern standards. Walsh Construction Company of La Porte, Ind., the
project contractor, called on Tway Lifting Products to furnish much of the rigging for the project as well as hundreds of stainless wire rope assemblies installed as fall protection lines for the bridge inspection crews. Using a construction method called “truss sliding,”
a new 2,428-foot-long truss (nearly half a mile) will be moved along steel rails and plates and “slide” 55 feet into place atop the refurbished piers. No other bridge this long has been slid laterally into place in North America. The new 40-foot-wide bridge includes two 12-foot lanes and 8-foot shoulders — twice as wide as the original bridge. As of mid-March, the next major task was to lift the
southeast corner of the new Milton-Madison Bridge steel truss in order to replace a steel bridge bearing, which dislodged March 11. Four 250-ton jacks will be used for this operation. Following the jacking, crews will finish the installation of sliding harnesses in preparation for the main slide. y
WIRE ROPE EXCHANGE
MARCH-APRIL 2014
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