Dec 07, 2008 - 04:05:30 CST
JAMESTOWN (AP) - The Earth is a big place, but often represented by a globe of a foot or two in diameter.It's a bit different, though, if you are looking at the globe being created by Brad Bohl and Cory Bohl, co-owners of Bohl Iron Works in Jamestown. That globe will be 20 feet in diameter and stand nearly 25 feet tall upon its pedestal. The thing is, you will have to travel halfway around the globe, all the way to Pune, India, to see the completed project.
"It is our biggest project ever," said Brad Bohl, standing under the incomplete northern hemisphere of the globe being created in their shop. "The weight has been a challenge, but also to figure out how to make it break down so it can be shipped in a 40-foot cargo container. There has also been a learning curve because of the different metals we're using."
The total project will weigh in at about 12,000 pounds and break down into 21 pieces for shipping. Once the cargo container reaches India, the Bohls will travel there to assemble the globe.
Brad Bohl credits their Web site, www.bohlironworks.com, for the initial lead, but said they had to compete against an iron works company in Singapore for the final contract.
The skeleton of the open globe is constructed from stainless steel pipe, which will be sandblasted to a matte finish, Brad Bohl said. The continents are made of an iron that will rust and age to a uniform dark color. Stainless steel welding beads are being added to mark the international borders in a bright metal that will contrast that dark metal. Mountain ranges are created with a little, old-fashioned, brute strength.
"One of us works on one side of the metal with a torch to heat it, the other hammers on the other side to form the mountains," Brad Bohl said. "I think the neighbors on each side of the shop are about ready to put their houses up for sale."
The globe, which will be mounted at the proper angle and able to spin, will serve as a centerpiece of a new learning center for the wind energy company Suzlon Energy in Pune, India. Suzlon was started in 1995 by Tulsi Tanti.
Its Web site says Tanti operated a textile mill, but was plagued by unreliable electricity supplies. He erected two wind turbines to provide electricity to his plant, and also started Suzlon Energy to design, build and install more turbines. That company has doubled in size each year since it was founded and now has installed wind turbines on five continents and is the fifth largest supplier of wind energy equipment in the world.
"We're going to place logos on the globe wherever they have wind turbines based," Brad Bohl said. "I hope they'll let us put a little star for Jamestown, North Dakota, on the globe as well."
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