Shirley company helps protect New Orleans

A local hydraulics manufacturer has a role in protecting New Orleans from another devastating hurricane.

More than five years after Hurricane Katrina swamped neighborhoods in the Louisiana city, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is making extensive improvements to dams and channels. The hydraulic equipment and computer systems used to raise and lower dam gates on five projects is being supplied by Atlantic Industrial Technologies Inc. of Shirley.

The second-generation family business recently won more than $4.5 million in contracts for the New Orleans work, which is intended to prevent flooding in Jefferson, St. Bernard, Plaquemines and St. Charles parishes. The dam or levee gates also create harbors for fishing and shipping vessels during storm surges.

"We're dedicated to providing safe and reliable hydraulic systems that will help defend against future hurricanes," Atlantic president Robert C. Ferrara said Tuesday. "The project should be done by the end of the year."

Atlantic produces the machinery at its 18,000-square-foot office and factory complex at 90 Precision Dr. It opened 18 months ago and is double the size of the company's former home in Islandia. The workforce also has increased to 32 people from about 15.

Atlantic officials aren't strangers to New Orleans. Previously, they provided hydraulics for temporary levee gates installed about a year after the 2005 Katrina tempest.

Ferrara predicted the recent contracts, along with other infrastructure projects, would likely represent about half of Atlantic's sales this year, estimated at $12 million.

The company also does substantial work for the military. The largest order in its 28-year history came from the U.S. Navy for $12.2-million worth of wave-producing machinery used in a pool where ship models demonstrate how hulls respond to ocean currents.

Ferrara's parents, Charles and Eleanor, founded the small business in their Syosset home. "The warehouse was in the garage, and my mother used to do the accounts in the den," recalled Robert. He and his brother, Thomas, vice president of engineering, have managed the business since their parents' retirement.

Besides being used in dams and military research, Atlantic's hydraulic systems can be found on drawbridges and swing bridges throughout New York City. They also are backstage at Broadway shows such as "The Lion King," "Wicked" and "Jersey Boys."

In 2005 Atlantic garnered national attention with equipment capable of moving a 150-ton stage used by Cirque du Soleil's "KÀ" show in Las Vegas.

"Over the years we've grown from a primarily industrial machinery house to a diversified custom manufacturer and engineering firm," said Robert Ferrara. "We always keep reinventing . . . Our engineers . . . adapt to the needs of the market."