A Lynchburg-based company will help build a new development in New York City and hire some 50 additional workers.
Banker Steel announced Thursday that it will be one of the construction partners on the Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn. The 32-story building will be the largest one of its kind in the world.
The tower will be a modular building, which means more than 60 percent of the structure will be built off-site. Banker will fabricate steel for the project, using a non-traditional type of beam construction.
The supports will be hollow tubes, which will make the building lighter and cut down on construction waste.
Banker officials believe this new type of beam will become popular in other construction projects. To prepare for that increased demand, the company is expanding its plant in Campbell County by 45,000 square-feet.
"We are hoping this becomes a new product line," said Emanuel Guerreiro, National Sales Manager for Banker Steel. "In addition to this project, other architects, engineers, and developers will look at this and say this is how we want to build our skyscrapers."
If their new product line takes off like they're expecting it to, the company hopes to hire more than the projected 50 new workers by the end of the year.
The new tower in Brooklyn is one of several big projects Banker is working on. They're also building steel for a new tunnel in Norfolk. Past projects include steel for the new World Trade Center in Manhattan and the Wards Road pedestrian bridge in Lynchburg.
