VANCOUVER, August 9, 2016 –Empire Industries Ltd. (TSXV:EIL) today announced that its Dynamic Structures division has been awarded a contract from Canadian Commercial Corporation for the final design and production readiness phases of the Thirty Meter Telescope enclosure. The contract is valued at approximately $10 million, and is expected to be completed over the next 20 months.
The Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) will be the most advanced and powerful optical telescope on Earth. When completed, TMT will enable astronomers to study objects in our own solar system and stars throughout our Milky Way and its neighbouring galaxies, and forming galaxies at the very edge of the observable Universe. For more information about TMT, go to www.tmt.org.
The TMT project is being undertaken by a consortium of universities, institutions and governments from the United States, Canada, Japan, China, and India. The TMT enclosure is one of several key deliverables that Canada will be contributing to the TMT partnership under which Canada will provide up to $243.5 million over 10 years to support Canada’s participation in TMT.
Dynamic Structures has developed an innovative calotte shape for the TMT enclosure. The design significantly reduces the size and improves the speed of the enclosure, to effectively shield the telescope and instruments from temperature variations, unbalanced wind forces, snow and ice. The enclosure will rotate and track the telescope’s field of view. When completed, the enclosure will be 55 metres high and be assembled from over hundreds of thousands of parts.
The enclosure design is expected to be executed between 2016 and Q1 2018. Subsequent phases of the Canadian enclosure project, including fabrication, shipping the enclosure to the project site, supervision of the enclosure’s installation, and commissioning of the structure, have not yet been awarded.
“It is an honour to be selected to design one of the most sophisticated moving structures on the planet, said Guy Nelson, Chief Executive Officer of Empire Industries Ltd. “Dynamic Structures has been actively working on TMT since it was first conceived over ten years ago. We are looking forward to seeing it through to completion.”
About Dynamic Structures
Dynamic Structures has been in operation since 1926 and was acquired by Empire Industries in 2007 and is a wholly owned division. It is one of the world’s premier providers of movable (dynamic) structures. DynamicStructures develops effective integration strategies to cover all aspects of complex structural, mechanical and electrical system projects right through design, manufacturing and on-site construction. They have an enviable reputation of providing these services to the global amusement ride industry and the global telescope observatory market. Dynamic Structures has designed and manufactured approximately half the world’s large telescope enclosures. Dynamic Structures is located in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia. More can be learned about the company by visiting www.empireds.com.
