BENDING STEEL: NEW COMPANY FABRICATES STEEL FOR CONCRETE REINFORCEMENT

At right, David Grimes, an employee of Arrowhead Steel of Scott City, used a rotary fabmatic machine to bend a piece of re-enforcing steel bar to the customer's specifications.

SCOTT CITY -- During a recent seminar held at Arrowhead Steel Inc. facilities in Scott City, Phil Penzel demonstrated new reinforcement steel fabrication equipment by producing some steel rebar fabrications in the shapes of Christmas holiday images -- Santa Claus, snow men, Christmas trees.

Penzel, a registered engineer who has been in the construction business 19 years, and his wife, Sandy, recently opened Arrowhead Steel, to provide fabricated steel for concrete reinforcement.

"This new equipment is unbelievable," said Penzel, a graduate of the University of Missouri-Rolla. "You can do so much with it."

The equipment includes:

-- A "shear line," designed to automatically cut straight steel rods into lengths up to 59 feet.

-- Automatic Rotary Coil Bender, designed to bend coil cables into various designs for flat concrete work.

-- Cable Bender, used for bending coil cable or straight steel rods into certain designs.

"This is something this area has needed," said Penzel. "We are the only automatic rebar fabricators between St. Louis and Memphis."

In the past construction companies throughout the area have had problems getting good, quality reinforcement steel in quantity and on time, said Penzel.

The manufacturing facility was opened at 503 Main St. in Scott City, following a feasibility study that revealed its need.

"When we received the coil bender equipment, it was only the 20th such bender in the U.S." said Penzel. "It is really state-of-the-art equipment."

Much of the fabrication process is computerized.

"Plans can be entered into the computer up front," he said. "The computer, in turn, relays the plans into a radio receiver, which transfers the order to one of the three machines in the warehouse."

The new company uses about 20,000 square feet of a giant warehouse in Scott City.

The remaining 80,000 square feet in the warehouse is occupied by G&B Warehouse.

Penzel said the new steel fabricating business was born out of a need.

"We had trouble getting good quality reinforcement steel in quantity and on time," said Penzel.

The new manufacturer was incorporated July 15, and by Sept. 8, was producing reinforced steel.

"We can produce bar steel in lengths up to 59 feet," said Penzel. "Coil steel can be prepared in a number of lengths and designs."

Penzel said the new company was already receiving a good response from Southeast Missouri companies. Arrowhead has already provided reinforcement steel for a number of area projects, including schools in the Jackson and Perryville areas.

It is also being used in the construction of a new power plant, under construction in the Bootheel and for work on the Atlas Cold Storage Plant at Sikeston.

The new, $100 million, 250-megawatt power generation plant, developed jointly by Associated Electric Cooperative Inc. and Duke Energy Corp., is being built near AECI's existing transmission lines west of Glennonville in Dunklin County, on the east side of the St. Francis River.

The new Atlas facility is being constructed in the new Sikeston Industrial Park. The Atlas warehouse will be built adjacent to the new Good Humor/Breyer ice cream products facility.

Lone Star Industries, Mac Con Co., Gregory Construction, Penzel Construction and BOH Brothers of New Orleans, the contractor working on the new electrical power plant, have used steel fabrications from Arrowhead.

The new company is fabricating about 10 tons of steel a day.

"Our equipment is designed to fabricate up to 1,000 tons a day," said Penzel. "All we have to do is add more employees."

Currently, three employees produce the 10 tons a day.

Phil Penzel's brother, Chris Penzel, also a graduate of UM-Rolla, lends a hand on occasions and serves as a troubleshooter for the machinery.

"Right now, it looks as if we'll be busy through the winter," said Phil Penzel.

"We keep about 500 tons of steel on hand," he said. "That includes both coil and straight steel, and we can always add to the steel supply in a hurry.

The coil steel is reinforced on two of the machines in the building -- the "Fab Matic" (Rotary Coil Bender), and the Cable Bender. Most of the fabricated steel from these two machines are used in foundation concrete.