The historic Newport, Rhode Island is a famous luxury resort, attracting millions of tourists every year. During the colonial period, the port was a major hub for shipping and trade. The city’s latest commercial expansion will provide visitors with an eclectic blend of fine dining, first-class shopping and scenic coastal landscapes, while maintaining its timeless New England charm. This highly anticipated project is touted as transforming Newport's docklands into an oasis for residents and tourists.

The Hammetts Wharf Hotel is a three-story boutique hotel located along the historic America’s Cup Avenue in the area and will be the focal point of this ambitious mixed-use expansion project. The $29 million project includes 84 rooms and 4,000 square feet of space. Dining room, 3,000 square feet of dedicated retail space and 1,000 square feet of office space. In progress, the project has created nearly 200 construction jobs and is expected to create approximately 80 permanent jobs after opening.

Behan Bros. Inc. of Middletown, Rhode Island, coordinated multiple aspects of the expansion of Newport Wharf, including the construction of a 20,000-square-foot wharf. The tropical hardwood "Ipe" horseshoe deck attached to the hotel will provide guests and pedestrians with unobstructed views of the harbour. The elastic, low-maintenance floor is three times denser than cedar, which is ideal for continuous traffic and has a fire rating similar to concrete-but it is not the easiest material to handle.

As they tried to install a strong deck, Behan Bros. encountered some obstacles.

The staff at Behan were initially able to use the Camo Edge fastening system to secure the plank-the Camo Pro Guide tool guides the Camo Edge screws into the joists on the sides and sides of the plank. However, it is still difficult for workers to use pipe clamps and board straightening tools to align the Ipe board, which requires several workers. Traditional straightening tools are almost impossible to fix the deck at the same time.

"Camo has a complete tool and fastener system. When used in combination, it can help install hotel decoration items, 5 times faster than traditional fastening methods. It also uses a safer and more beautiful fastenerless surface in commercial environments Create a high-end look," said Dani Zizak, National Nail's vice president of marketing and branding (Camo is National Nail's decorative industry brand).

With only a few weeks left before the scheduled completion of Hammetts Wharf, Behan Bros. heard about a new innovation called Lever from Greg Hartmann of Camo, and before the official introduction, he obtained several tools that almost became popular in the media. .

Camo Lever is designed to save time and increase installation speed. It only needs one or two workers to straighten, bend and align without strain. Other wrenches and clamps are not allowed to be tightened at the same time. With almost no set-up time and one-lap operation, Lever easily locked the deck in place and was immediately welcomed at the work site of Hamitz Wharf.

“Camouflage products are great for maintaining social distancing because they usually only require one or two crew members,” Zizak explained. “For example, Camo Lever can align and straighten the deck with just one turn instead of a few crew members fighting the deck. Camo also uses the Camo Drive vertical deck fastening tool to protect the workers’ backs and keep them off their knees. There are end attachments for our proprietary edge screws for finishing square edge panels, edge clips for slot plates or EdgeX clips, as well as finishing wood and composite surface screws. Camo also recently introduced Edgex metal clips for mounting on The grooved plate on the metal frame deck solves the problem of the shortage of cork wood."

Camo's lever tools have the versatility to handle grooved composites and even tropical hardwood floors, and can quickly become a favorite of builders using any type of floor. It also spans single and double joists and metal. Camo's series of related fasteners and installation products are designed to save time and labor.

"The hotel chose an extremely dense tropical hardwood. This hardwood is difficult to drill through and the process is very slow. In fact, they used the handheld Marksman Pro tool and Camo Lever to choose Camo Edge Fastening to align and lock the board in place to make the work Progress faster. It can also make the appearance look better, without showing surface screws," Zizak said.

Equipped with Camo Pro Guide and Lever, Behan Bros. staff was able to speed up the deck installation and complete the deck in mid-April. Previously, additional hands were required to fix the straightening tool in place. The innovative design of the lever simplifies the board straightening process and reduces the labor required. As an added benefit, the product allows workers to limit physical contact on the job site.

When the product was launched, many states (including Rhode Island) were transitioning to health guidelines for construction workers. The State Department of Business Regulation considers the ongoing construction projects to be critical, so like all contractors, Behan Bros. will continue to adjust and implement safety precautions for the crew.

Zizak said: "In the era of pandemics, it is exciting to see a strong response to health and sustainable development initiatives." "Create more spacious outdoor spaces at Hamitz Wharf and public areas to gather customers in warm weather. Provides a safer way. Many outdoor hotel dining venues have also added heaters to increase comfort. In addition, protective measures such as partitions and disinfection stations are adopted in the design, combined with natural-looking materials inside and outside, As the industry recovers, hotel guests will feel safer and more at home."

Using tools like Camo Lever is just one way for companies such as Behan Bros. to avoid harm to their crews. New policies and practices brought about by the current health crisis require contractors to quickly adapt to the ever-changing environment. Fortunately, innovative thinking and collaborative industry partnerships send a clear message—though challenges will continue to exist—American ingenuity will prevail.

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