Cortland opens Houston area facility

Cortland Company is opening a new synthetic fiber testing and fabrication facility in Sugar Land, Texas.

Cortland's Houston area testing facility. From Cortland.

Services from this Houston area facility will focus on destructive testing and recertification of synthetic fiber ropes and slings up to 1.3 million pounds. New test equipment offers a 14-foot stroke to accommodate testing of a broad range of products. In conjunction with tensile testing, Cortland will have the capability to conduct tension-tension fatigue testing up to full machine capacity thanks to high fatigue rated components.  Two 100hp pumps will allow testing at high cycle rates not typically found in high capacity test equipment.

Cortland says that its capabilities in the Gulf of Mexico have been limited to storage and fabrication from a Deer Park facility shared with sister company Hydratight. A larger facility was needed and the 13,000sq ft Sugar Land facility will house its complete testing and fabrication services with room to expand when necessary.

“The offshore heavy lift industry, in particular, has been driving hard to improve the inspection and retirement criteria for synthetic rope and round slings to reduce risk,” says Luis Padilla, Cortland global engineering and technology leader.  “This increased testing capability in Houston will expand on the work we’ve been doing to better serve customers through enhanced inspections, training, tensile testing and R&D; ultimately leading to better lifecycle management and increased safety.”