Military Contracts, Community College and Retail Keeping Builders Busy

From Fort Worth to El Paso, military contracts add medical facilities; also, Baker Concrete coordinates massive mat pour; community college starts satellite campus; retirement community selects team for Corpus Christi project

Mat Pour at Houston Medical Facility May Be State’s Largest

Baker Concrete Construction project manager Garrett Benson recently helped coordinate the biggest mat pour he has ever seen. For that matter, it was the biggest mat pour the Houston office of Baker Concrete had ever done.

Baker Concrete and Vaughn Construction recently completed the larger of two mat pours for M.D. Anderson Cancer Center’s Administrative Support Building in Houston.

If research holds true, it may be the biggest such project ever in Texas and only the second largest in the nation behind the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas.

Baker Concrete Construction, headquartered in Monroe, Ohio, together with Vaughn Construction of Houston, completed the larger of two mat pours for The University of Texas System, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center Administrative Support Building in Houston.

The size of the mat, itself, is more than 21,000 cu yds,” Benson told Texas Construction.

Baker completed the first pour - 4,000 cu yds - at a rate of 570 cu yds per hour. The larger second pour, completed totaled 17,500 cu yds, and 100 Baker co-workers pitched in to complete the job in less than 24 hours, at a rate of 730 cu yds per hour.

The entire project involved seven pump trucks, 97 concrete trucks, 1,960 tons of installed rebar, and 2,400 man-hours.

The biggest challenge was a matter of coordination,” Benson says. “We were working 24 hours straight. We were trying to coordinate seven different pumps that have to move to different locations we were making the pour.”

Benson says it is bringing 92 trucks from five or six different batches and keep a consistent flow was no easy logistical feat.

He says he coordinated more than 100 workers.

You have to keep in mind that you can’t let concrete get too far out in front of you,” he says. “You can only pour one ft an hour and you have to make sure that concrete you have sitting 50 yds in front of you doesn’t get old before you get to it. You have to get the pump trucks going and not leave any one pump truck sitting without working. That was another logistical concern.”

We have to get all this done while still being safe,” Benson adds.

Although originally designed to be completed in three separate pours, the hurricane season amended that plan, and New Caney-based Jayco, the rebar subcontractor, worked overtime to complete the installation of steel. That efficiency enabled Baker to merge the second two pours and complete the job early.

The sheer scale of the second pour required detailed logistical planning by team members with Baker; Vaughn; Haynes Whaley of Houston, the engineer of record; WHR of Houston, the architect; and consultants Earth Engineering of East Norriton, Penn; Ulrich Engineers of Houston; and Carrasquillo Associates Ltd. of Austin.

For the job Baker managed a concrete temperature monitoring system that used thermo couplers to record the temperature of the material as it cured. The specifications called for the concrete mix to reach a temperature in the core no higher than 140 degrees Fahrenheit. No two points in the mat could have a temperature difference of more than 40 degrees.

The thermo couplers were located throughout the mat at various depths, and were monitored twice a day for 28 days. The monitoring system allowed Baker to better control the curing process utilizing winter blankets, and ultimately resulted in zero thermal cracks.

The M.D. Anderson Cancer Center Administrative Support Building is scheduled for completion in 2012. Baker has started the concrete work for the structure.

Walton Construction Lands Two Military Contracts at NAS Fort Worth, Fort Bliss

The Dallas division of Walton Construction Co. LLC was awarded the contract for the expansion of Hangar 1048 at Naval Air Station Fort Worth and the construction of the new Consolidated Family Care/Troop Medical Clinic at Fort Bliss in El Paso.

The Hangar 1048 project includes the expansion of the existing 20,000-sq-ft-hangar to a 40,000-sq-ft-hangar by adding a pre-engineered building. Also, this project includes the renovation of existing offices to accommodate the relocation of personnel and aircraft of the VR-46 Logistics Support Squadron out of Marietta, Ga. Construction on the hangar began in December, making it the fifth project for Walton that is running concurrently at NAS Fort Worth. The $7.5 million project will be completed in January 2010. The project team includes Chicago-based VOA Architects.

The Consolidated Family Care/Troop Medical Clinic at Fort Bliss is a $42 million design-build project including the new construction of an approximately 144,000-sq-ft, two-story medical clinic including family medical care, preventive medicine, aviation medicine, optometry, physical therapy, mental health, a pharmacy, medical records, and administration office. Construction began in February and is expected to be completed by May 2010. The project team includes Kansas City-based Hoefer Wysocki Architects.

Austin Community College Breaks Ground on Round Rock Campus

SpawGlass is serving as construction manager-at-risk on Austin Community College’s New Round Rock Campus

Austin Community College District broke ground on its new 598,000-sq-ft Round Rock campus, which represents a $119 million investment. It will be the college’s largest campus, eventually accommodating some 11,500 students.

Construction on the first phase of the campus began in late March and is scheduled to be complete in 2010. Austin-based SpawGlass is serving as construction manager-at-risk.

Phase one will total approximately 275,000 sq ft, including a central plant and three academic and administration buildings. The campus will offer traditional classrooms and science labs as well as specialized facilities for a wide range of workforce programs.

SQLC Announces Project Team for Mirador Retirement Community

Texas-based Senior Quality Lifestyles Corp. recently selected its project team for Mirador, a life-care retirement community in Corpus Christi.

Mirador will feature customized independent living apartment homes, resort-style services and amenities and lifetime access to on-site assisted living.

Designed by three Architecture of Dallas and developed by Irving-based Greystone Communities, Mirador will be on a 13-acre campus landscaped and designed by Gignac of Corpus Christi.

The interior design firm is Bridget Bohacz + Associates Inc. of Glen Burnie, Md. Andres Construction of Dallas will serve as the general contractor. The project team includes Urban Engineering, civil engineer, of Corpus Christi; Goodson Engineers, structural engineer, of Dallas; Basharkah Engineering, MEP engineer, of Dallas; and Daniel Brown Consulting LLC, kitchen/consultant of Dallas.

Ronald McDonald House of Dallas Dons New Beacon

The Ronald McDonald House of Dallas raised the beacon on its new $24 million 60,000-sq-ft house as a signature design element so that children staying in one of the nearby hospitals can see the light at night and know that their family is close.

The new 60-room house, scheduled to open later this year, will double the current capacity of the RMHD so that more families can benefit from a temporary home-away-from-home when children receive treatment in a Dallas hospital.

The house is being built in the Southwestern Medical District one-half mile from Children’s Medical Center and 1.5 miles from Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children. 

The project consists of 54 bedrooms with private bathrooms; six transplant suites for children receiving bone marrow transplants and organ transplants; a playroom; game room; living areas; library; chapel; meditation garden; outdoor play area and sport court; a day respite room for non-resident families; a study loft and technological resources to assist siblings in keeping up with schoolwork and parents in telecommuting with work.

Groundbreaking for the new facility took place in April 2008. Dallas-based HKS is the architect and Hill & Wilkinson of Plano is the contractor. The Morris Co. of Dallas serves as owner’s representatives.

Cadence McShane Selected to Build The Village at Allen

Dallas-based Cadence McShane Construction Co. received its fifth assignment from The MGHerring Group of Dallas for The Village at Allen, a mixed-use development. 

Cadence McShane will provide construction services for the 360,000-sq-ft, three-level north parking structure that will include 45,978-sq-ft of entertainment and retail located on the ground level. 

Cadence McShane will construct the new garage utilizing cast-in-place concrete and conventional stud masonry and stone. The MGHerring Group previously selected Cadence McShane for numerous projects at the development totaling more than 435,000 sq ft that have been completed in several phases over the past year. 

The Village at Allen, which opened in October, is one component of MGHerring’s 3 million-sq-ft mixed-use development located in Fairview and Allen. The Village at Allen is being developed in conjunction with The Village at Fairview. The  project will eventually span 400 acres and include 2 million sq ft of retail and 1 million sq ft of office, residential and hotel space.

Architecture + of Troy, N.Y. is providing architectural services with completion slated for September.

Skanska Completes Construction of Palmview High School

Skanska USA Building Inc. recently completed the $58 million La Joya High School in Mission.

The new Palmview High School in Mission opened to students in Janurary.  Skanska USA Building Inc. completed the $58 million project, built to accommodate population growth in the La Joya School District. The La Joya High School is the first four-year secondary education facility built in the district since 1987.

The 340,000-sq-ft high school includes four buildings that were completed as part of the district’s 2004 bond program. The main building holds administrative offices, science labs, classrooms and the library. The remaining buildings are one-story and contain a cafeteria, musical department practice studios, gymnasium and athletic training facilities as well as art, theatrical and career and technology departments. 

Skanksa will continue working on the project until 2009 to complete the construction of a 30,000-sq-ft science classroom addition.

Speed Fab-Crete Builds SIX & Mango Equipment, Christ Community Church

SIX & Mango Co., which specializes in sales, service and rental of construction equipment, opened a new retail outlet recently in Grand Prairie. Speed Fab-Crete Design-Build General Contractors used its precast concrete wall system to build the facility.

The 17,000-sq-ft building contains an equipment showroom, product display area, parts department, sales and administrative offices, service work bays and a mezzanine for pallet storage of products.

Designed by Fort Worth-based Callahan & Freeman Architects, the facility will replace SIX & Mango’s west Dallas building. The company is a factory dealer for small- to medium-size construction equipment, ranging from tractor loader-backhoes to electric tools.

Christ Community Church Southwest also selected Speed Fab-Crete as general contractor for a new community center to serve the congregation’s 150 families and accommodate 400 members.

The 11,000-sq-ft facility will contain a large multi-purpose area, kitchen, classrooms and offices in far southwest Fort Worth. Completion is expected in the fall. Speed Fab-Crete's precast concrete wall building system will be used to form the center's exterior.