ATSSA Signal September October 2019

The Signal | September/October 2019 5 Member Company & Agency News ATSSA’s Senior Technical Advisor Eric Perry traveled to Ohio in early May to immerse himself into the guardrail industry through the ATSSA Employee Immersion Program. The program is geared toward building up staff knowl- edge of the roadway safety infrastruc- ture industry by visiting ATSSAmember companies. The program’s goal is to provide better service to members by understanding how member compa- nies operate, and what types of prod- ucts are on the market. With roadway departure crashes accounting for more than50percent of allmotor vehicle traffic fatalities, Perry went to get a first-hand look of how these life-saving devices are made to protect motorists from road- side hazards. Perry’s first visit was with Gregory Indus- tries, Inc. and Road Systems, Inc. in Canton, Ohio. Perry visited with Jeff Grover, Eric Smith, and Brian Lester of Gregory to take a tour of their manu- facturing facility and learn more about their company. Themanufacturing tour ATSSA staff visits guardrail industry member companies guided him through the continuous galvanizing process from rawmaterials (prime steel rolls) thenonto amulti-stage cleaning process that prepares themetal for galvanizing. From there, the steel is put through Gregory’s own Modified Sendzimer Continuous Galvanizing Line to galvanize. The steel is then rolled out and punched with holes and/or slots for guardrail bolts. Finally, the steel is roll- formed into the W-Beam profile in one continuous process. As part of the Gregory tour, John Durkos of Road Systems, Inc., provided informa- tion about products that his company offers. Road Systems (a Texas-based company) and Gregory have a working relationship as Gregory helps with distri- bution of Road Systems’ products. Road Systems provides Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware (MASH) 2016 compliant products including energy-absorbing terminals, such as the MASH-compliant Sequential Kinking Terminal (MSKT) and MASHFlared Energy-Absorbing Terminal (MFLEAT), that are designed to dissipate significant amounts of kinetic energy in a crash as the impact head slides along the rail element and lessens the impact of a vehicle. Depending on the product, Gregory distributes Road Systems, Inc. kits, whichmay include hardware (nuts, bolts, washers, etc.), steel posts, rail sections, and end treatments for ease of installation along the roadside. Perry’ssecondvisitwaswithSteveConway ofNucor SteelMarion, Inc. inMarion, Ohio. The facility tour included an overview of thesteelmakingprocess fromtakingscrap metal and turning it into steel through melting process and eventually to the formation of road safety products like various cable barrier products, guardrail products, and signpost products. Nucor is currently in themidst of an $85million upgrade to its rollingmill, which includes various technology updates to modern- ize its facilities to remain cost competi- tive in all markets, including the highway industry.  Gregory Industries, Inc.’s finished guardrail sections are stored at the company’s facility. (From left to right) Perry, Durkos, and Lester tour Gregory Industries, Inc.’s facility in Canton, Ohio.