December 2009

We have worked with glulam manufacturers from all over the world, but at the end of the day, its Western Structures of Eugene, Oregon that has stood out as our main supplier.  Most of the projects featured here on our website have some Western product on display.  So, as of December 7, 2009 we are happy to announce our new relationship.  

As of this week’s transaction, Walsh Industries will now be one of 8 shareholders of Western Structures and be a part of its management team.  We are excited to be even closer to our best supplier and together, we hope to keep marketing our beams all over the world. 

We will keep Walsh Industries as a separate entity and continue to serve our customers as we have in the past.  As part of the Western management team, we’ll be in charge of marketing and new market development.  It’s a great fit and we think both companies--and our customers--will benefit.

October 2009

Just received some photos of a nice project we shipped out this past spring. The jobsite was in Taiwan--a girls volleyball court. We shipped these beams from Western and our partner on the ground in Taiwan provided all of the fabrication, erection and steel connectors. A very beautiful wood structure and unique design. We look forward to more projects in this rapidly emerging market.

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October 2009  

One of our Korean customers was recently awarded the contract for a section of building at the Seoul City University.  We manufactured these elaborate trusses, fabricated here in Portland, provided steel connectors and shipped off to Korea.  Then, last week, we sent Derek our erection supervisor to the jobsite to help with assembly and erection.  Derek spent a week getting a taste of Seoul’s early winter and had a great experience at this exotic jobsite.  More pics coming soon.

High Wire Act:  Even though we sent our supervisor to assist with this project, Derek decided to let one of the local contractors show him how to “ride the basket” and secure the truss.  We do not recommend using this technique at home.

May 2009

One word..... WOW! This structure is located in Hakone, Japan--a very cool resort area about an hour or so out of Tokyo--think Sun Valley or Vail--a playground for the city’s elites. Walsh Industries provided ALL of the wood for this amazing structure; a playground composed of over 500 individual pieces of massive Doug Fir glulam. ALL made in the USA! Because the members were so big, we had to edge glue every piece before laying up--quite a process but the results were spectacular. This project shipped in 7 containers at a value of almost $300,000! We also supplied over 1,000 liters of special teak oil that was applied to each beam before the install. From a New Jersey factory to the jobsite in Japan we airlifted the teak oil and delivered in 5 days. A great project and we think that the visitors to Hakone will enjoy this for years to come.

April 2009

We just welcomed back our two salesmen Tom and Tom after a long week in Dubai.  Tom Westbrook attended CityScape Abu Dhabi while Tom Swinehart was at the Dubai Wood Show.   While in Dubai, they met with Mr. Singh our long time customer since 2001 and he showed us the nearly completed business school project.  Below are the first pics back from that project.  We finished shipping this last summer--a total of almost 260 M3 of Douglas Fir glulam--1850 individual pieces.  Our product adorns the balconies of this massive, pastel hued building.  The business school will open soon and is located in a very high profile Dubai neighborhood; near the Deira Tower on Al Maktoum Road. 

APRIL 2009

Early this year our customer in Korea came to us with a challenging project.  A pedestrian bridge to span a small reservoir in Pangyo New Town, near Seoul.  The job required pressure treated Douglas Fir glulam; and the delivery period was extremely short.  We moved fast and shipped the entire project in record time.  Several glulams required a 2” square slot running down the center the entire length of the beam.  Furthermore, these light poles were radically curved.  The main glulam structure came from the US after applying Hi Clear II pressure treatment.  We chose our Japanese partner to make the curved light poles; these took a lot of time to fabricate and the short ship time from Japan to Korea made this the best option.  Our partner in Korea Mr. Choi did an amazing job putting this bridge together in a record short time.  More pictures coming soon! 

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JANUARY 2009

A Buddhist Temple in the outskirts of Shanghai rises from of an empty field... What started as a chance meeting in Shanghai in the winter of 2006, has become one of China’s most beautiful, modern wood structures. Our partners in Japan, Chuto Co., Ltd. provided engineering, beams, meticulous wood fabrication and on- site erection. Walsh Industries provided Douglas Fir glulams manufactured at the Western Structures plant and a lot of coordination between three companies and three countries. In total, we shipped over 500 cubic meters of custom glulam, clear lumber and specialty lamina for this project. Thats about 15 truckloads!

DECEMBER 2008

Makuhari International School, Chiba Japan. Starting in June of ’08, we started shipping Douglas Fir glulams for this project; an amazing amount of material left the plant every week. When the last container left the Port of Portland and arrived in Japan, we had delivered a total of 3,233 individual pieces of glulam! Of course that was just the main frame. The school is set to open in early 2009. We like the fact that the Japanese are using a lot of wood in their new school construction. Who could imagine so much Douglas Fir in the middle of Tokyo’s concrete jungle?

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JANUARY 2008

Our Largest project to date, the Lake Hills Country Club in Suncheon, South Korea. Completed in the Fall of 2007, the building comprised 450 cubic meters of custom Douglas Fir glulam. We provided a turnkey package--including structural engineering, fabrication, steel connectors and erection.

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