Train to Design Rebar

Ever heard of rebar?

Those are the thin steel rods inside the concrete that makes up many of the buildings, parking garages, and industrial plants around the world.

The word “rebar” is short for “reinforcing bar.”

Kind of like the bones within your body, pieces of rebar are framed together within concrete to give it strength and support. They’re cut, bent and tied into “cages” and other shapes in order to give a structure the strength it needs.

While a structural engineer decides how much rebar a building needs, somebody else makes up the rebar “instructions” for ironworkers to follow at the jobsite.

Who makes up those instructions? People called rebar “detailers”.

Rebar detailers work closely with structural engineers, architects and concrete contractors, and they play a key role in the construction of reinforced concrete structures. A rebar detailer is trained to use computer-aided design (CAD) technology to prepare drawings showing how the rebar should be placed.

Did you know there are people right here in Central Virginia who detail rebar for skyscrapers, stadiums, bridges, and other concrete structures?

It’s true.

CMC Rebar is a part of Commercial Metals Company (CMC), one of the world’s largest makers of reinforcing bars, structural steel, steel joist and other steel products. And CMC Rebar has a rebar detailing center in Madison Heights.

If you entered and successfully completed CMC Rebar’s training program, by the time you graduated from high school, you’d already have 12 to 18 class credits toward an associate’s degree at CVCC.

You’d have a full-time job waiting for you at CMC Rebar right out of high school. And while you’re working, the company would even pay for you to continue your college education on the side.

And get this: If you want to be a rebar detailer, not only will CMC Rebar teach you how to do it, they’ll pay you as you get trained. And you can start while you’re still in high school!

Robbie Hall heads up CMC Rebar’s local “Tech Center,” as it’scalled. “About fifteen years ago,” Hall said, “the American rebar industry started outsourcing detailing work to India and other countries, because of an apparent opportunity to address the shortage of trained detailers here in the U.S.”

That didn’t work so well, he said.

“Today, we’re partnering with CVCC (Central Virginia Community College) and local high schools to allow high-school seniors to train here while they’re still in school,” Hall said.