An introductory speech was given by Business Consultant Michel Langelier, of Alliance Gestalt Strategic Consulting of Montréal, and a key advisor to MAADI Group during the company’s beginnings as an aluminum bridge design and build business. Mr. Langelier’s speech was followed by an address by Alex de la Chevrotière, P. Eng., president and CEO of MAADI Group, Inc., thanking his supporters, business collaborators and partners, and outlining the process of establishing MAADI Group’s new production facilities for MAADI Group’s premier weld-free MakeABridge product.
“The Grand Opening of our MakeABridge manufacturing facilities was a great success,” said de la Chevrotière, “We are very pleased to be celebrating this achievement and more than ten years in business with our colleagues and partners, family, friends and neighbors, and to show everyone what we do here. We believe strongly in the aluminum industry in Québec, and in the quality and dedication that goes into every aluminum bridge structure that we design and build. We are proud to be manufacturing our product here in Boucherville for the global marketplace!”
In June, MAADI Group launched the first mass-production of quick-ship MakeABridge units at the new manufacturing operations. The facility’s automated production line handles manufacturing, pre-assembly, packing, and shipping of the MAB pedestrian bridges and marina gangways 8 to 12 times faster than for conventional welded structures, in span lengths from 3.0 to 18.0 meters (10’ to 60’), and clear widths from 1.0 to 1.8 meters (3’ to 6’).
MAADI Group is ISO9001:2008 accredited and certified to the highest quality standards. MakeABridge units produced in Boucherville are quick-shipped and transported on standard-size semi-trailers, or to be packed into containers for overseas shipment and installed in just hours by a few workers with no specialized labor or tools in any land, coastal, marina or dock location.
The MakeABridge “Meccano-style” modular bridge system can be temporary or permanent, according to the application. MakeABridge is used for golf courses, parks, recreational trails, campuses, office complexes, factory and plant floors, and marine gangways. MAB can be easily cantilevered onto existing roadway or causeway bridges to provide dedicated walking/biking lanes, and MAB is also used for gangways in waterfront areas at marinas and docks. MakeABridge structures have a dead load of 44 to 73kg/m2 (9 to 15 pounds per square foot) that accommodates up to 1.5-metric-ton vehicles (i.e., maintenance carts, etc.), with a deflection between L/500 and L/240.
