Robb Engineering was a metals manufacturer that was located in

Amherst, Nova Scotia Amherst ( ) is a town in northwestern Nova Scotia, Canada, located at the northeast end of the Cumberland Basin (Canada), Cumberland Basin, an arm of the Bay of Fundy, and south of the Northumberland Strait. The town sits on a height of land a ...

, Canada in the early 1900s. Originally started as a tinsmithy, the factory eventually expanded to the manufacture of

boiler A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid (generally water) is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, centra ...

s, electric engines and small generator plants. Some evidence exists that attempts were also made by the company to design and manufacture locomotive engines as well as a small venture into shipwork. In 1964 Robb Engineering was acquired by the

Dominion Bridge Company The Dominion Bridge Company, Limited was a Canadian steel bridge constructor originally based in Lachine, Quebec. From the core business of steel bridge component fabrication, the company diversified into related areas such as the fabrication of ...

. Its assets were merged into Dominion's

Canada Car and Foundry The Canadian Car & Foundry Company, Limited, and from 1957 onwards the Canadian Car Company Limited, was a manufacturer of buses, railway rolling stock, forestry equipment, and later aircraft for the Canadian market. CC&F history goes back to 18 ...

subsidiary. These corporate changes saw the workforce at Dominion Bridge Company's operations in Amherst undergo major changes following the dissolution of Robb Engineering. Robb Engineering gained notoriety during the 1990s after being blamed as the maker of faulty open web steel joists. Poor welds weakened the joists. In some cases the roof joists have experienced catastrophic failure, resulting in at least 1 roof collapse. With the collapse of 3 joists in 3 separate buildings confirmed, an inspection of all governmental structures was conducted in

eastern Canada Eastern Canada (, also the Eastern provinces, Canadian East or the East) is generally considered to be the region of Canada south of Hudson Bay/ Hudson Strait and east of Manitoba, consisting of the following provinces (from east to west): Newf ...

surveying how many of Robb Engineering's joists were being used. Inspections costing into the millions of dollars, found that several thousand government buildings, in several provinces across eastern Canada, were involved. An unknown number of private buildings could also be involved, however no statistical information was recorded reflecting this data.

References

CBC coverage (references)

CBC News storyDozens of schools under repairPEI Government finishes building inspections

External links

Open Web Steel Joist Information Package from Province of Nova Scotia

THE OWSJ TASK REVIEW BOARD Warning

{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080513032252/http://www.lib.uwo.ca/business/ccc-robb.htm , date=2008-05-13 company profile (circa 1967) Foundries in Canada Amherst, Nova Scotia Roofs Construction and civil engineering companies of Canada Engineering failures Construction and civil engineering companies established in 1903 Canadian companies established in 1903 Defunct companies of Nova Scotia 1903 establishments in Nova Scotia 1964 disestablishments in Nova Scotia 1964 mergers and acquisitions