Local 9 members complete mid-air spiral duct install  

L–R: GMMI Owner Greg Martin, SMART Local 9 members Brandon McPherson, Eric Biermann, Larry Hall, Derek Costa, Brandon Inskeep, Jason Ramon, Mitchell Pinnell and Jesse Redeye

In the fall of 2021, the craftsmanship and skill that defines union labor was on full display, as members of SM Local 9 (Denver, Colo.) completed the installation of an eight-foot spiral duct system at CoorsTek in Grand Junction, Colo. After six weeks of planning, Greg Martin, owner of Grand Mesa Mechanical Inc. (GMMI), and Local 9 members Brandon McPherson, Eric Biermann, Larry Hall, Derek Costa, Brandon Inskeep, Jason Ramon, Mitchell Pinnell and Jesse Redeye — with the assistance of Girardi Crane Service — first built a 150-foot-long trolley system 35 feet above the finished floor of the building, using three articulating boom lifts to put together the trolley system before installing the spiral duct.

“The run consisted of 40 feet of 60-inch round, 45 feet of 84-inch round and 50 feet of 96-inch round,” said Hall, Local 9 sheet metal worker at GMMI, who pointed out that installation took one week. “It took us longer to engineer and install the trolley system than it did to get the spiral installed.”

“We hoisted all the large spiral to the roof and then positioned it so it could be maneuvered through the side of the building. Once it was in position and connected to the trolley system, we began moving it down the trolly track,” Hall explained. “We then put it in its hangers, and then we made all the connections.”

To finish the job, the eight-foot round was secured to the edge of the building and later attached to an air handler on the roof, with all the taps installed after the spiral was fully secured. “All the work was done above live equipment and 35 feet in the air; this made it exceptionally challenging,” Hall added.

The mechanical unit that serves this area is a UMP model #CELODO- 197 and was purchased from Western Mechanical Solutions in Denver. The unit provides 98,000 cfm of air and is conditioned with a series of Celdek materials for summer use. The general contractor, FCI Constructors, fabricated a raised deck above the roof for this unit to sit on, and it was ducted from that point into the building and converted to spiral piping above the operations area.