ASC & Partners Team Up to Bring an Underwater Adventure to Historic Downtown St. Louis

As with most construction projects, National Sales Company and Rock Hill Mechanical had a strict deadline to hit, however, theirs was particularly noteworthy: Christmas Day 2019. The new Aquarium at Union Square was a much anticipated addition to downtown St. Louis and expected to open to a large holiday crowd. The planned mechanical room consisted of air handling units, condensed water, chilled water, as well as heated water systems.

National Sales Company (NSC) and ASC have a long-standing strategic partnership that allowed NSC to provide competitive pricing and quick deliveries of material to Rock Hill Mechanical to keep the project on track.

Jamison Bloebaum, VP – Design Build Services from Rock Hill Mechanical, said despite the fact the specs for the mechanical room were originally for PVC/CPVC, they quoted the job for carbon steel Gruvlok® with confidence, having used Gruvlok products successfully in past projects. In the non-corrosive environment of the mechanical room, Rock Hill Mechanical knew carbon steel Gruvlok products would provide the customer with a long-term solution by holding up far better than PVC joints to the rigorous vibrations of the nearby pumps.

ASC's complete Gruvlok system was utilized in the Mechanical room; fittings, couplings and valves. Gruvlok Slidelok® couplings were used on fittings 8" or smaller and Gruvlok Rigidlok® couplings were used on fittings 10" or larger.

The combination of the selected products, ease of install and a solid collaboration between ASC, Rock Hill Mechanical and NSC, made the project a complete success. The 120,000 square foot aquarium featuring more than 13,000 animals from more than 250 species and a 250,000 gallon shark tank with over 80 sharks and rays opened as scheduled before a large crowd on Christmas Day 2019.