Rochester’s Seneca Park Zoo is a popular recreational destination. It also seems like the last place where Boulter Industrial Contractors, Inc would be contracted for a rigging job, right?
Unveiled in May 2012, the Step Into Africa attraction boasted a state-of-the art exhibit featuring three African lions. One of the features of the exhibit includes a stationary safari bus where visitors can view the lions.
To install the safari bus, the Zoo needed someone who specializes in rigging and custom installation projects. That’s where Boulter comes into play.
The zoo purchased the two-story double decker bus and had it delivered to the site. At that point, Boulter’s field workers assessed the task and they fabricated steel on site to cradle the bus for safe hoisting with a crane. With the use of rigging slings and chain falls for adjustment, the bus was raised and swung into place. Once the bus was aligned and landed, ironworkers welded it to steel embedment plates in the concrete piers at the buses final location.
“This job was a lot of fun,” says Jeffrey Smith, Project Manager. “I remember it drawing a crowd of people curious to see what we were doing.”
Four years later, the exhibit is still a patron favorite. “As a local business, I am proud to see what a positive impact a job like this makes on our community,” says William S. Boulter, President and CEO of Boulter.
While many of Boulter’s projects are behind the scenes or out of public view, Jeffrey mentions “It’s neat when my kids say, ‘my dad put that bus there’ whenever we go to the zoo.”
To learn more about Boulter and its services, visit our website.
*Project photos courtesy of Seneca Park Zoo