In the future, San Francisco Bay area rail passengers will move with ease from station to station using the eBART (extended Bay Area Rapid Transport) system, thanks in part to the work of West Bay Builders in conjunction with Metal Forms Corporation.
As part of the project, which included constructing rail transit facilities, West Bay Builders of 
Novato, CA, was in charge of building concrete barrier walls. To do so required the use of concrete forms. That’s when Paul Petri, Area Manager, began researching new ways to accomplish the task. In the past, forms had been constructed by hand from form plywood and discarded after use – a lengthy and wasteful process. He needed a reputable company with a durable, long-lasting product for his forming needs. Through an online search, he came upon Milwaukee, WI-based Metal Forms, and was impressed with what he found. Especially important, and what drew him to Metal Forms, besides their solid product, was their reputation as a trusted, well established company with a long, proven history.
Once Metal Forms was identified as the form supplier of choice for the much-anticipated BART Extension Project, work began immediately to determine the best form for the job. This job, however, could not use off-the-shelf product. The highway barrier walls for which the forms were needed were not static in height, and needed a custom solution.
Due to the many height variations, the job was not suitable for slip forming. Therefore, the forms created by Metal Forms were custom-fabricated to meet the specifications of the eBART project’s barriers walls along State Route 4 in Pittsburg. The 38 inch high barrier concrete paving forms made up the base, and risers of different heights were used to accomplish the adjustable wall heights.
Concrete Forms Expert Provides Paving Solution:
"Metal Forms stepped up to the plate to solve our forming issues," said Alex Diaz, Project Manager. In the initial phases of the approximately $26 million project, Metal Forms' "helpful and positive response" to the unique challenges presented got the relationship off on the right foot. Metal Forms also performed other key functions, such as securing stacked concrete forms, to help get the project up and running.
The metal forms were key to efficient construction, providing increased production rates. This, coupled with agreeable weather during construction, allowed the forming phase to be completed well ahead of schedule. The steel forms eliminated the lengthy process of hand-building wooden forms, expediting the entire process. According to Scott Murtaugh, West Bay Builders Project Engineer, the metal paving forms not only increased production time because of the limited setup, but were also without the material waste associated with the old, time-consuming way of creating concrete paving forms.
Concrete Paving Forms Ongoing Success:
The project, for the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District, is scheduled to be completed in January 2013. The phase that West Bay Builders is constructing is the first phase in extending BART to Antioch from the Pittsburg/Bay Point station.
West Bay Builders is a general contracting company specializing in large-scale commercial projects. The company was founded in 1989 and has been growing ever since their first $2 million contract, the Cadillac Hotel. This growth has been directly related to their willingness to tackle more advanced jobs, as well as different types of construction projects.
As demonstrated on the eBART project, a commitment to excellence through a formed partnership allowed Metal Forms and West Bay Builders to successfully beat the forming phase deadline and bring the project from form to finish.