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Jim Austin - 715-323-3588
Managing Director, Targeted Content Inc.
Mike Schweiss - 507-426-8273
Owner, Schweiss Doors
SEI Construction goes big with three Schweiss Doors bifold hangar doors
FAIRFAX, Minn., September 6, 2023 – There’s a saying – Go big, or go home.
SEI Construction of Morristown, Tenn., decided to go BIG with three large Schweiss Doors bifold hangar doors where they store aircraft at Morristown Regional Airport. The largest of the three bifold liftstrap doors measures 80 feet wide and 28 feet tall. Two others measure 60 feet wide and 24 feet tall.
The newly built SEI hangar, with the 80-foot wide bifold door, is 100 feet by 120 feet and holds the corporate Cessna Citation 10 Elite 750 jet. Adjoining side-by-side 80-foot by 80-foot lease hangars sport the 60-foot Schweiss doors. All three bifold doors are equipped with automatic strap latch systems and engineered for 115 mph windspeed. The largest door has an external truss, while the 60-foot doors have internal trusses.
Bill Staton, SEI corporate project manager, says this was his first time working with Schweiss Doors and he was pleased with the outcome.
“The large hangar is still in the process of furnishing it with a huge conference room on the mezzanine level along with a breakroom, showers, laundry room and kitchenette,” Staton says. “It’s going to be really nice. This was our first venture into the hangar business. Ninety-plus percent of what we do out of Morristown is building and remodeling Costco’s across the country.”
Staton says the civil engineer hired by the city and the SEI corporate pilot encouraged the placement of Schweiss bifold doors on the hangars. From there, Staton contacted Jeremy Rieke in sales and decided to proceed with Schweiss.
“Jeremy was cool, calm and collected, with answers to our questions,” Staton says. “He knew what he was doing and made the job a lot easier. Overall, the doors look very nice and we like how the bifold door, when open, provides somewhat of a canopy. We put our corporate logo on the front of the door.”
Camco Commercial Door Company of Knoxville, Tenn., oversaw the installation on the largest hangar and assisted A-Plus Door & Glass of Morristown on the installation of the two adjacent hangar doors.
“I did my homework and followed the Schweiss installation instructions which are awesome and helpful,” says Cameron Williams, president of Camco. “The people at Schweiss Doors were also very helpful. We had questions on the installation and some electrical issues – they know their stuff.
“I think the Schweiss door design is great. It’s simple, durable and long-lasting. It’s not like a standard garage door where you have to worry about the spring breaking. The liftstraps are made to last forever and the construction of the doorframes is extremely strong. I like the endless size of the doors, where you can go as big as you want. I would install these doors all year long if I could.”
About Schweiss Doors
Schweiss Doors is the premier manufacturer of hydraulic and bifold liftstrap doors. Doors are custom made to any size for any type of new or existing building for architects and builders determined to do amazing things with their buildings, including the doors. Schweiss also offers a cable to liftstrap conversion package. For more information, visit www.bifold.com.
Photo Captions:
SEI1: Southeast Industrial (SEI) hangars at the Morristown Regional Airport in Tennessee are outfitted with three bifold doors from Schweiss Doors. Each bifold is equipped with lift straps and strap auto latches. The largest of the three Schweiss bifold liftstrap doors measures 80 feet by 28 feet. Two other lease hangar doors measure 60 feet by 24 feet.
SEI2: The SEI Cessna Citation 10 Elite 750 jet fits nicely inside the new 100-foot by 120-foot hangar with room to spare. The first-class hangar has offices with a huge conference room on the mezzanine level along with a breakroom, showers, laundry room, kitchenette and more.
SEI3: The Citation X curved winglet design stands out, as does this 80-foot wide Schweiss Doors bifold door on SEI’s Hangar A. It can cruise higher and faster with its graceful new blended winglet as well as having improved fuel economy.
SEI4: A large and prominent SEI logo is displayed midway between the exterior truss and exterior cladding. Three additional interior trusses give the door added strength.
SEI5: SEI appreciates the fact that when the door is open it provides a nice, shaded canopy. All the steel framework on the door was painted to match SEI blue.
SEI6: Camco Commercial Door Company and A-Plus Door & Glass synchronized telehandler lifting efforts to place the top half of the 60-foot-wide doors on SEI hangars B and C, which will be used as lease hangars.
SEI7: This SEI-owned JCB 510 telescopic handler teams up with another telehandler and scissor-lift inside Hangar C to maneuver and attach the upper portion of the 60-foot bifold door in place.
SEI8: Two heavy-duty motors and eight liftstraps easily lift each of the 60-foot bifold hangar doors. All three hangar doors are well insulated and have automatic strap latching systems and remote openers. The 80-foot-wide hangar door weighed in at 19,976 pounds with exterior sheeting.
SEI9: Camco Commercial Door Company oversaw installing the large 80-foot-wide Schweiss Doors bifold and assisted A-Plus Door & Window Systems of Morristown with the install of the other two 60-foot hangar doors.
SEI10: SEI’s three hangars are located near the Morristown Regional Airport runways. Morristown is about 50 miles northeast of Knoxville, Tenn.
SEI11: Fifteen patented liftstraps raise and lower the 80-foot bifold door and operate the strap autolatch system. All doors were wind-rated at 115 mph. and have remote openers.
SEI12: The business end of the Cessna Citation 10 Elite 750 business jet currently makes it the fastest civilian airplane with Rolls-Royce engines pushing out a limit speed of Mach .92. or 700 mph.
Photos courtesy of SEI Construction and Camco Commercial Door Company
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Images (from top left): SEI1.jpg; SEI2.jpg; SEI3.jpg; SEI4.jpg; SEI5.jpg; SEI6.jpg; SEI7.jpg; SEI8.jpg; SEI9.jpg; SEI10.jpg; SEI11.jpg; SEI12.jpg (Photo captions and credit available at the end of the article.)
