Cannistraro, Boston’s largest mechanical contractor, turned to Jay R. Smith Mfg. Co. when sourcing plumbing materials for their new fabrication facility in Boston’s Flynn Marine Park.
While the building is new to Cannistraro, it is not new to Boston. The structure at 25 Fid Kennedy Avenue, “Building 16,” was built in 1941 by the U.S. Navy as a metal fabricator and ship repair facility. The renovations will preserve the legacy of the industrial Art Deco architecture and its original utilitarian use, creating a 157,000 square foot manufacturing facility for Cannistraro’s plumbing, HVAC, fire protection, and sheet metal trades.
Courtney Carroll, project manager for Cannistraro’s plumbing division, said they do a great deal of modular construction. “We fabricate every aspect of what we do whenever we can. It makes the field more efficient, and it’s safer working at a table-level height rather than on-site where we’re sometimes working in precarious positions.”
This new facility will replace three separate shops spread out over the Boston area. Not only will each trade have its own space in one location, but there will also be collaborative space for multi-trade racks.
The extra space also allows Cannistraro to utilize flex space within the facility for innovative modular projects in collaboration with other industry partners.
“Our clients used to have to rent out space for this purpose. Now they can all just come to us,” said Carroll. “It’s more efficient to send fabrication from all of our trades from one site on one truck.”
Cannistraro selected Smith as their plumbing supplier after a trip to Montgomery, Ala., to tour our manufacturing facility.
Carroll said, “Having one source for our whole department or company is nice because you have the relationship and customer service. Getting all our products from one source is easier than a bunch of different suppliers.”
The new building required about 250 feet of trench drains in total, with the longest single span measuring 120 feet. Smith’s Enviro-Flo® II trench drain system is specifically designed to offer flexibility and ease of installation, saving contractors valuable time and money. Lightweight and easy to handle, it is available with two mounting options and the ability to make final adjustments in the field.
For the Cannistraro project, the trench drains were crated and shipped in batches to arrive in time for each of the four scheduled pours. Each section included a flow arrow and was numbered sequentially to match the drawings, which made for a smooth and efficient installation.
“It was nice to phase it onto the site,” said Carroll. “Often, things get stolen, damaged, misplaced, or just get in the way. Storing 120 feet of trench would cost money just to move it around. Shipping it right when it’s needed for the install saves on shifting it around the facility.”
One feature of the Enviro-Flo II that Carroll found especially beneficial was the removable factory-inserted board constructed from post-industrial recycled material, which functions as a stabilizer and a debris guard.
She said, “Having that insert board slide in to keep [the drain] as straight as possible is really good, especially on 120 feet of drain.
In the video below, you will notice that the entire installation is done with 1 meter (3.28 feet) sections. Typically, in situations like this, Smith would prefabricate the system in 10 foot sections for the customer. However, because changes to the drawings bumped up against the pour timeline, Cannistraro decided to go with the 1 meter sections instead of waiting on the prefabricated pieces.
Carroll felt it worthwhile to test the product out this way, as this was not a customer job and therefore the schedule was not as critical.
Read more about the Cannistraro renovation and their partnership with Smith in the MCAA Smart Solutions Magazine.
Watch the video below to see how fast and easy trench drain installation is with Enviro-Flo II. The first portion is a time-lapse, while the second half shows the full installation of one section of drain.