YDC Tour: Superior Rail & Iron Works

This month, PAYETTE’s Young Designer Core (YDC) organized a tour to Superior Rail & Iron Works (SRI) — a shop that specializes in the fabrication and erection of custom-made iron stairs and railings and that was involved in the manufacturing of PAYETTE’s Boston University Center for Integrated Life Sciences and Engineering project. The tour was guided by Anthony Ferrara, a third generation owner of the company.

Left: Finished rails ready to be painted  Right: Looking into the paint room

We toured the warehouse that holds all of the machinery that streamlines the equipment and fabrication process. Beyond the steel building is a storage area for plates of raw materials to be cut, welded, painted and touched up on site prior to delivery. Anthony Ferrera led the young designers through the process in which each fabrication is prepared and delivered. First, during the pre-construction phase, SRI works closely with architects and engineers in detailing the project. A cost estimate is then drafted before time and labor is exerted to complete the job. Upon approval, the design is detailed a second time and construction begins. Once completed, the fabrications are taken to a large space to be painted with a red primer and then taken outside for shipment and delivery. Each finished piece is entirely custom-made and welded accordingly to fit the conditions of the client and the project at hand.

Panoramic image of interior of warehouse where heavy machines are located

Walking around it was hard not to notice the massive equipment and tools required to deal with the production of such a heavy material. Anthony pointed out to the group a machine that is used for slicing the sheets of metal into the desirable dimensions for a project. The numbers are set on computer software and from there, the plates are grabbed using magnetic handles that help slide the sheets forward to be cut. The pieces are then stacked on the other end of the machine, bent into shape and ready for the concrete to be poured creating the top layer of the tread.
        

Anthony explains to YDC group the process of construction

Superior Rails & Irons Works pays particular attention to details. Within an individual tread, composed of three pieces, a hole is drilled to bolt the parts together. The welded bolts are then filled, ground and polished to achieve a smooth exterior finish to the final product.

Smoothed out hole used to bolt pieces together

The overall tour was a great opportunity for the young designers to be exposed to the process and to understand the significant amount of time and labor efforts involved with the fabrication of stairs and railings. The group was able to ask questions and get advice on project specifics. The tour was concluded with seeing the first draft of the stairs to be installed at Boston University. When asked what was going to be done with the study, Anthony simply told the designers, “you could have it.” If only it were possible to lift and load into two zipcars…