ULM Receives Structural Steel Teaching Sculpture

A group of alumni and local businesses donated a state-of-the-art structural steel teaching sculpture to the University of Louisiana at Monroe’s School of Construction Management with the hopes of advancing students’ knowledge about the engineering and construction applications required to build such pieces.
 
The structure was fabricated by John Hunter, Jane Brown, and Joe Tannehill of Steel Fabricators of Monroe. The foundation was constructed by Steve Traxler of Traxler Construction, and erected by Ranger Steel Erectors. The structure was designed by Bee Meadows, a local, retired engineer.
 
Hunter, Brown, Tannehill, and Traxler are ULM School of Construction alumni.
 
Hunter of Steel Fabricators said the structure was “created for the school to use as a teaching aid, and to let the public know, without having to read words on a sign, that this place has something to do with construction.” 
 
The 10-foot-tall structure greets guests near the front door of the ULM Construction Management building on Filhiol Ave.
 
The structure’s design was modeled after the first known 3D steel sculpture, which was placed on the University of Florida campus in 1986. The sculpture was created by a professor and civil engineer at the school as a way to provide engineering students with up-close, hands-on exposure to structural steel members and connections. 
 
To date, there are over 150 sculptures in place at various engineering schools around the world. 
 
“It is our hope that students for years to come can become more familiar with some of the steel member shapes and connections that are used in various construction applications,” said Hunter. 
 
The construction management program at ULM was established in 1966 and became the nation’s first accredited construction program by the American Council for Construction Education in 1976.