Sumitomo Rubber USA—AB West Curing Row

BCC provided design-build services for a new curing press trench and manufacturing space at the Sumitomo Rubber USA tire manufacturing campus in Tonawanda, NY. The curing press trench is located in the middle of the existing factory floor and is providing twenty-five (25) new tire curing presses adjacent to the existing AB East press line. Sumitomo Rubber Industries is the fourth largest tire manufacturing company in the world, with approximately $8 billion in annual revenue from their three business divisions: Sports, Tire and Industrial. The campus is undergoing a $128 million expansion, including major projects that upgrade all industrial processes: tire building, rubber mixing and tire curing, all being overseen by the BCC team.

Construction includes two (2), 200’ long 36” deep concrete tire press benches connected to a new sub grade mechanical room. Structural modifications were required to remove existing alternate columns, and reinforce existing framing spans in order to provide access for material handling to the new press line. The project also includes a new 5,500 square foot space by infilling an existing exterior courtyard adjacent to the press line to expand storage space adjacent to tire press line expansion. The existing courtyard was surrounded on four sides by existing structures, landlocked deep within the footprint of the facility. BCC worked extensively with the Sumitomo team to engineer and plan a logistics and construction strategy that allowed safe implementation of work without impacting manufacturing operations.