The warmer temperatures of March, combined with the appearance of more construction workers on site, quickened the pace of the project as The Courier-Journal’s new downtown Louisville, Ky., production facility began to take shape.

The lower portion of the press bay’s structural steel was completed, with the high-bay portion scheduled after all of the lower areas were complete and detailed.

The press bay is at half its finished height. 
This view is from the south, 
at the site of a public plaza.
Photo: The Courier-Journal

With the completion of the foundation system, concrete crews moved from grade beams to slabs, beginning in the automatic storage and retrieval system area and paper storage.

The first upper-level slab was the third-floor mechanical room, which will allow the air-handling units to be set with the steel erection crane. Pouring slabs is also a morale booster, as it allows crews to get out of the mud that has covered the site since shortly after groundbreaking.

First ink storage installed

The first elements of the ink system, the five steel tanks, were placed in their containment area so the steel could be erected above them.

The ink system was designed by US Ink and is being installed by B.G. Industrial Inc. of Deer Park, Texas. Coincidentally, the ink tanks were manufactured in Louisville, which made coordinating delivery easy.

Brick masons began working on stairwells and the firewall that separates the new facility from a portion of the existing building. Because the existing facility was built in several stages, the fire code restrictions vary depending upon the size and function of each area.

Suppliers tapped

Equipment designs and layouts that had been in the works for years began to get finalized this month.

In the mailroom, Heidelberg will provide a new NP632 inserter and a remanufactured NP1472 to supplement the existing NP632 that was installed in 1999. Heidelberg’s NP125 gripper conveyor will connect the inserters with the new tie lines.

Ferag Americas’ SCC grippers were selected as the press delivery system from the three primary folders, going to eight Quipp Systems Inc. 501 stackers. The Alvey Systems bundle distribution system that was mentioned in last month’s update will convey bundles to the Cannon cart loaders.

In prepress, an agreement was reached with ProImage America, of Princeton, N.J., for the purchase of its NewsWay digital workflow application. NewsWay’s proven track record within Gannett Co. Inc. was a major factor in The Courier-Journal’s selection.

What’s next?