Southwest Tech Bricklaying & Masonry

Don Borchert, the Southwest Tech Bricklaying & Masonry program instructor, submitted an entry for his crew, which recently donated time to the Grant Regional Health Center Foundation by laying and sealing engraved bricks within the hospital’s Memory Walk.  The Memory Walk was designed to form a sidewalk and patio area surrounding the Healing Garden, an outdoor space for patients, family, and friends to reflect, relax, and enjoy a quiet conversation.  The Memory Walk was also created to provide a tribute to someone through the purchase of an engraved brick or paver.  The proceeds are used to provide scholarship support for nursing students and professional development training for current nurses.  To date, approximately 300 bricks have been sold and over $30,000 has been raised. 

Mr. Borchert’s crew routinely performs community service projects similar to this in our district comprising of five counties in Southwest Wisconsin.  It gives them the opportunity to learn about teamwork, problem solving, and the importance of community service.  These projects are perfect examples of how the masonry trade can provide a very special gift.  The Memory Walk project taught my crew that this is not just a brick sidewalk.  Every brick in the Memory Walk tells a story and represents an individual.  Mr. Borchert’s crew was able to meet the families that purchased engraved bricks and the hospital staff who cared for the individuals memorialized by the bricks. 

Mr. Borchert’s crew completed a masonry paver project and learned the masonry trade means so much more than a nice sidewalk. 
“Special thanks go to Southwest Tech for completing the second phase of this project. The class has culminated their technical program by providing community service work and laying the bricks and pavers that form this walkway,” said Sandy Leibfried, Grant Regional Health Center Foundation Director.

Stark Excavating Inc. WINNER: SECOND PLACE
 

Stark Excavating Inc. has nominated their “CCFL” - Concrete Crew for Life. This team name came about after a merger of companies. Mark Aberle of Stark Excavating says he was trying to blend both companies, crews, loyalties, personalities and pouring techniques and finishing methods. The crews had triple the workload and no time to take sides.  At the end of the road was a group of men who saw guys come and go and the best were left standing.

The Stark Concrete Crew led by Chris Ryan cover the central Illinois region in a wide variety of work from paving, building, bridges, vertical and decorative concrete for both public and private sectors. The workload has been action-packed with a variety of projects and challenges, which has helped the group grow to a be one crew. 

Impressions Concrete WINNER: THIRD PLACE

Due to the dedication of Impressions Concrete’s crew, the company grew its business despite the recession and six weeks of record-setting rainy weather. What made this year unique were the positive impressions left in the community.

Impressions Concrete recently helped three families who were scammed by a con artist out of thousands of dollars and then walked away from their projects.  Impressions Concrete helped these victims by completing their projects at a discounted rate and helped them to file reports with the police to pursue criminal charges for fraud.  In addition, Impressions Concrete has helped connect others who have been scammed by the same company.

This story was featured on the local news with the owner of Impressions Concrete, Earl Spinks, speaking about how his crew assisted those who have been cheated.

Fraudsters undermine confidence in products and tarnish the good name of concrete contractors in every community.  The crew at Impressions Concrete believes that it is important for contractors to give back to their neighbors and show that fraud and theft will not be tolerated in our communities. For the crew's dedication, the company was a finalist for its local Better Business Bureau Awards.

The whole team at Impressions Concrete is dedicated to improving the image of good contractors in Ottawa, Canada, helping those who have been victims of fraud and helping the police bring a known criminal to justice.

Team Pain   HONORABLE MENTION 

Team Pain is a skate park design-build company with more than 30 years of experience working worldwide in creating custom skateboard parks and skate structures for municipal parks systems, the private sector and professional skateboarders and BMX riders.

We believe in order to create the best skate parks; you have to be an experienced skateboarder. Each crew and staff member has a minimum of 12 years skateboarding experience under their belt.

Team Pain Skate Parks was awarded the city of Arvada, Colorado’s skate park project in March of 2011. Located a few miles northwest of Denver, the city of Arvada wanted a 42,000-square-foot destination skateboard park for their community, in addition to holding professional level competitions.

Denver-based Ready Mixed Concrete Co. provided the concrete & shotcrete for the project. The skate park consists of 1,238 yards of smooth concrete. Team Pain utilized their own mix design consisting of a 4,000 psi mix with integrated colorant throughout various sections of the park. This 42,000-square-foot skate park consists of various sections and elements to accommodate all disciplines and levels of skateboarding.  The street section emulates urban streets and includes skateable handrails, stairs, banks, ledges and grass gaps as well as skateable sculptural pieces.  The snake run section, which is reminiscent of 1970s skate parks with a modern twist, is massive in size. Rolling in with continuous momentum leads to its deepest end at 13½ feet.  The intermediate bowl ranges in depth from 3½ to 7 feet tall and includes extensions, escalators and banks built into it to perform various technical tricks. The advanced bowl replicates a gigantic swimming pool at 11 feet deep with various hips and even includes tile and pool coping for that genuine feel of skating an empty pool. There is also a beginner section where users can learn the basics within a safer area and ultimately transition to other areas of the park. 

Concrete Mystique Engraving   HONORABLE MENTION 

Concrete Mystique Engraving’s team is definitely a team that rocks, especially since they are from Nashville, TN - aka Music City, USA. Concrete Mystique likes to think of its team as a really great band - one that performs well, is solid and reliable through the years and has a unique creative edge.  Company owners Rick Lobdell believes it takes a team of talented individuals working together to accomplish a high caliber of work.

By the time the Nashville Dinner Theater project was completed, the Concrete Mystique Engraving team was a group of skilled installers of H&C, Elite Crete, Skimstone, and Surfkoat product lines. This growth originated with accomplishing the many designs in the short amount of time given. It made this the challenge of a lifetime and brought the team closer together. Usually the team works on separate jobs sites, so they don’t spend a lot of time together. This project required the team to spend two and a half weeks of long hours in the same building, challenging them to see if they could do a better design as we moved on to the next room and the next material.

The aesthetic of this historic Printer’s Alley building remained in place with elements of Art Deco inspiration and a Nashville-based feel to match some of the existing architecture. Concrete Mystique’s goal was to show how far decorative concrete design can go while maintaining fluidity within the building as a whole and between all the rooms. Once a textured overlay was removed, the team treated each area of the project with a different product and theme based on the architecture and utilization of the space.  The bi-leveled Randolph Room and Main Theater, Lobby and Lower Lobby comprised the majority of the working space. Concrete Mystique created a flashy Art Deco feel both in color and design for The Randolph Room, including the countertop. The Main Theatre floor incorporated some of the existing architectural elements, while the countertop incorporated new elements with a dancing female that glows in the dark with a vine-like design. The Lobby had an Art Deco design using warm tones of tan and brown to compliment the historic brick walls. The Lower Lobby depicts a concrete mural of the Phantom of the Opera and a trompe-l’oeil staircase to visually extend the existing staircase as if there was another level to walk down.

Sawcutters NW     HONORABLE MENTION 

Sawcutters NW was contracted by the city of Tacoma, WA to core a 30-inch diameter hole 20-feet deep at a 1% angle up through the side of the Cowlits Dam in Morton, WA. This job was needed for an experimental new fish ladder.

The objective was to core through a dam that the engineers said had no reinforcement and was to be around 3000 psi. The city said it builds dams with their size (20-feet thick) not with rebar and high density concrete. Engineers had no idea of how long this should take. Sawcutters NW has lots of coring experience but nothing of this length, so they could only estimate the rate of production. Engineers estimated that they should allow five full working days. After the first day of coring, all plans went out the window.

Sawcutters NW encountered rebar and lots of it. 1" & 1.25" even stainless steel all thread every 12" to 16" every direction. Also, the concrete was extremely hard, in the range of 5000 psi. They used a diamond products 30-inch-by-36-inch bit and a custom-made in their own shop 30-inch-by-6-foot-long bit. Sawcutters NW also did their own onsite reseging of segments (diamond products) and used a 10-foot-long M-6 stand with hydraulic auto feed. They used an ICS hydraulic 24-inch chainsaw to help with demo and removal of the concrete slugs and a 50-ton energy pak hydraulic press to help with cracking the slug for removal.

This project took longer than everyone expected because of the rebar and the strength of concrete. Also, the length was wrong; it was 23 feet because the first design was to have the hole a little higher up but changed later and was lowered just days before Sawcutters NW was to start. The overall time to finish was 10 days with four operators. The extra guys were used for the very removal of the concrete slugs. The guys had to crawl into the hole and chainsaw a hole into the slug and then insert the 50-ton ram into the concrete to crack the slug. They then attached a cable to the broken pieces and winch them out.

Dynamic Concrete Pumping Inc.
 
Dynamic Concrete Pumping Inc. submitted highlighted their amazing project - the base of The Bow Tower in Calgary, Alberta. It is the tallest tower west of the CN tower in Toronto in Canada.

The project set a record for the longest continual concrete pour in the history of Canada, as well the third longest in the world.

Interesting facts about the project:
To fill the 2,787-square-metre base, more than 1,000 truckloads of concrete were used, pouring more than 14,000 cubic metres of concrete into the six-story hole.
The 36-hour continuous run of concrete, involving more than 500 workers, shatters previous Calgary records, including pours for the Calgary Tower and Stampede Corral. With 12 concrete pumps working 36 hours straight, there were no major mechanical setbacks.
This project was truly a defining moment for the crews and machines of Dynamic Concrete, proving they are an industry leader in Canada.

ChemPoint.com

Andrew Tookey, a market developer for ChemPoint.com (a leading e-distributer for fine and specialty chemicals), submitted a fascinating trial by the company.  ChemPoint is the marketing extension and distribution arm for Momentive Specialty Chemical’s HexiCrete product lines.  The HexiCrete product line contains an internal cure for pervious concrete; an internal cure additive for RCC, water-based curing compounds and a penetrating sealer.  Allan Kramer, technical director for ACI/Lehigh Cement, explains a local pervious trial placed at Cadman, a leading northwest concrete producer, in Redmond, WA. This trial was installed by Concreteman Inc.

“These rather impressive photos are of pervious concrete containing Momentive Hexicrete PC 350 admixture that was not covered with any plastic sheeting for seven days after initial placement vs. conventional pervious concrete without Momentive Hexicrete PC 350 admixture that was covered with plastic sheeting for seven days after initial placement.  The Momentive pervious concrete is on the right side of the tooled control joint in all the photos,” says Mr. Kramer. 

The pervious test site was located in the storage yard behind Cadman's construction supply store.  Both pervious concrete test slabs were placed during the mid-afternoon on Sept. 7, 2011.  The weather at the time of placement of both pervious concrete slabs was sunny with ambient air temperatures of 80 degrees F to 83 degrees F and a slight wind of approximately five to ten MPH.  

A quart of water was poured on top of each pervious test slab approximately ten minutes before these photos were taken to demonstrate the difference in appearance of the Momentive treated pervious concrete vs. the conventional pervious concrete.

URETEK is a design build geotechnical contractor, with the capability of doing specialty grouting projects, soil nails, micro piles and mini piles. URETEK prides itself in finding new and better ways to complete projects better, faster, and more cost effective. URETEK is “innovations in geotechnical contracting!”

Chauncey Kila of Tulsa Tech submitted a story about his crew of students who created a design for the Sept. 11 tribute wall. This year, the students had only three weeks to come up with a design and then build it by Sept. 9. With such a short time frame, Mr. Kila almost decided not to do one this year. After he showed his students a few videos and documentaries about the tragic event, a decision to not to build a wall seemed selfish.

“Even though 10 years have passed, one cannot help but feel something for those over 2,700 lives that were lost on Sept. 11, 2011,” he says.

Mr. Kila decided to combine the two classes to build one tribute wall. The students participated willingly and completed the project ahead of time. This year’s wall is constructed with bricks, block and tile. In order to make the tile design, the students had to cut the tiles to form the pentagon shape because the Pentagon was one of the buildings hit. The eleven in the tile design represents the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers. The wall in which the tile design is embedded has water that cascades over its face and falls onto a mirror that appears to be floating on water. The fireman’s Maltese cross was a piece that was saved from last year and incorporated into this project.

“The students did an excellent job and they are very proud of their wall,” Mr. Kila says.

820th RED HORSE SQUADRON

From May 2011 to September 2011, 35 members of the 820th RED HORSE Squadron from Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, led US Southern Command-sponsored Exercise NEW HORIZONS—an annual humanitarian and civil assistance exercise conducted in Central and South America—into Suriname. This year’s exercise tasked 603 active, Guard and Reserve Air Force, Army, Navy and Marine Corps service members with the mission to provide the people of Suriname with needed civic assistance. Through quality construction and medical services, the 820th Expeditionary RED HORSE Squadron strengthened bilateral partnerships with the country of Suriname. They showcased their talent as one of the Air Force’s premier heavy construction combat engineering units as they led five construction teams through severe tropical weather to construct two vocational school buildings, two medical clinics, and three community parks and playgrounds in only eight weeks. In addition to providing the host country first-class facilities, the team also taught local students and military engineers sustainable construction techniques to continue to better the lives of the Surinamese people.

The facilities were largely built with local materials. Master Sergeant Chris Belknap, Construction Superintendent, weighed constructability, maintainability, and quality performance in the selection of approximately $650,000 in construction materials. Each facility was outfitted with air conditioning units, new electrical distribution transformers, 110V and 220V electrical circuits, metal security doors and windows, drop ceilings and indoor plumbing. The schools gained hand wash stations and the medical clinics received full restroom and shower facilities. The team also worked with non-governmental organizations to furnish the facilities with furniture and equipment. These new buildings surpass current standards and are far superior to any other schools or clinics in the country.

The new community parks and playgrounds were equally as impressive. Working in thick mud and torrential rain, American and Surinamese military engineers and mechanics constructed three massive 7,500-square-foot covered playgrounds that parallel the finest facilities in the United States. Centralized common areas helped boost the local government’s plan to revitalize their community.

Exercise NEW HORIZONS was a life changing experience for all involved and continued to solidify the historic relations between the United States and Suriname.

The Two Rivers Steak and Fish House is a high-end restaurant in Pasadena, MD. Hyde Concrete is submitting an entry for their project of a cast-in-place concrete bar top in the main bar of the restaurant and for the elaborate and extensive effort put in by the company’s all-star crew.

The restaurant is the seventh restaurant built by the owner, who hired Hyde Concrete after seeing their work at Tilted Kilt.  After a preliminary meeting, Greg Hyde invited the owner to visit some other restaurants where Hyde has done cast-in-place bars.  When the owner returned, he was sold on the merits of a cast-in-place and he wanted his new bar to be the focal point of his restaurant’s bar.  Another important factor was the ability for the bar to be able to support a minimum of eight women dancing on the bar at one time! 

Armed with that knowledge, Hyde Concrete set about making multiple samples that were going to provide the desired look and finish.  The final outcome is a continuous rectangular bar that is 33-feet long by 10-feet wide.  On the outside, the bar has a custom 2 ½-inch half-round bull nose that extends the full 86-foot perimeter.  The inside edge has 24 feet of custom fabricated 1-inch-by-4-inch stainless drink rails embedded into the concrete. 

After two days of forming, Hyde Concrete’s team placed their own custom mix design, which uses BASF Melflux, and finished the bar with a very hard trowel.  After curing the concrete, they went back and stained the surface with various colors and techniques to give it the final finish. The sealer is epoxy with a urethane topcoat.

The bar has been in place for several months.  Even though it is over 86 feet long without a single joint and has four re-entrant corners, it has not developed a single crack anywhere in the concrete.  Customers are continuously astounded when they are told it is a concrete countertop. This is the largest single cast-in-place bar done by the Hyde Concrete Crew to date and, if the owner has his way, it will not be the last.

The Age of Steam Roundhouse project, located in Sugarcreek, OH, presented a unique opportunity for Lang Masonry Contractors to showcase its skill working with brick.

The $1.3 million masonry project, privately funded and the result of one man’s passion for steam locomotives, is the first full-size, working roundhouse built in the U.S. since 1951.  The structures were all erected in the same architectural appearance as railroad buildings of the 1920s era, but with some modern-day modifications for safety, comfort and economy of construction and operation.  The Roundhouse and Maintenance Shop will both be used to maintain the current and future rosters of steamers, as well as to teach future generations of steam locomotive repairmen these fast-disappearing job skills. 

The masonry scope consisted of 269,825 jumbo bricks, 10,717 rowlock/soldier bricks, 15,377 projected headers, 25,761 blocks and 286 clay coping tiles. 

A particular challenge was the precast lintels used over the window openings in the Roundhouse.  Lang set 64000 pounds of precast sills and water tables as well as 29 lintels weighing 7200 pounds each.  Lang worked with the structural engineer to redesign the piers to support the massive weight of the precast lintels and the Amish timber beams used for the roof framing.  Instead of the typical detail of laying CMU with vertical rebar and grouting, rebar cages were constructed and then poured solid and installed using no CMUs, resulting in both time and cost savings to the owner. 

The design of the Roundhouse allowed Lang Masonry to lay brick both inside and outside the building at the same time, making for a dramatic impact on the site. Instead of using concrete blocks as the basis for the Roundhouse’s walls and then facing the blocks with a veneer of red bricks, the walls were formed by separated red bricks that were filled with grout. 

Clay coping tiles were from an original mold that hadn’t been ordered in 50 years. Specially cast and fired bull-nose red bricks were manufactured for use along the edges of the doorway and window openings.

The Age of Steam Roundhouse project brought together skilled craftsman and artisan with an attention to detail seldom seen in modern day construction.

Erik Garcia, Vice President of Sonoma Materials, Inc. submitted a unique project that involved the enclosure of a private courtyard at the Ramekin’s Culinary School and Events Center. The project started as a sound wall that includes a 14-foot-tall fireplace, pizza oven, water feature and wedding altar. The first picture was taken after the walls were poured. The concrete pour finished around 10 p.m. The crew celebrated the concrete pour and the ICF specialist’s birthday with a cake.

Additional Concrete Services Inc.

Additional Concrete Services Inc. submitted a remodel project for a Northern Tool in Wichita, KS. Additional Concrete Services Inc. traveled from Minneapolis, MN to complete the project. The 16,000-square-foot floor was previously covered with mastic (carpet glue, and VCT glue). Also, some areas contained a quarry tile mud base. The crew extensively ground, repaired, and polished this floor around the clock in one week to meet the customer’s schedule.

Lloyd Concrete Services, Inc. 
 

Lloyd Concrete Services, Inc. submitted a job that was super flat in Florida. The building was already up and in place. The crew had to form and pour 14 panels of 12x190. The floor tolerance was F MIN 75. All floors were measured at over F MIN 100 by Allen Face with the highest at F MIN 165. Because the building was already up, the crew could not use a laser screed or ride on trowels. The project was completed via hand screeds, bump cuts and walk behinds. Sometimes a job can still be achieved the old fashion way. These crews are ACI industrial floor finisher certified.

Lloyd Concrete Services, Inc. submitted a job that was 250,000 square feet. The crew took #9 rebar out of the floor and replaced them with steel fibers. The building floors were 16 inches thick. The crew extended joint spacings to 100 by 100 feet with 75 pounds of steel fiber. George Garber with the Face Company tested and inspected all the floors, which had no cracks, no steel fibers on the surface and no measurable curl. The workers on this crew are ACI Industrial Floor Finisher Certified.

An 8-meter-high sculpture, placed in the heart of the old Toronto, depicts a perspectively distorted, anthropomorphic figure made of bricks of ever-diminishing size. The perspectival distortion with an extreme vanishing point, makes the figure seem expressive and dynamic and simultaneously larger than it actually is.

Brickman is an abstract “urban figure” that quotes the smokestacks and dynamic of the big city and the grid of the streets surrounding it. It takes up the plunging lines of the rows of high-rises and the vanishing points of the streets that run perfectly straight for miles.

It relates to the masonry buildings of the neighborhood and takes people’s thoughts back to the period of Toronto’s early development.”

Along with an artist’ drawing, the above text was the only description Wyevale Precast Ltd. was given to price and ultimately create “Brickman.” Wyevale Precast Ltd. Settled on foam-filled precast sections, split at mortar lines to hide the seams. He was made in nine sections - one base, four legs, two torsos, a neck and a head. To give the brick look, the crew used rubber mats fastened to rolled steel wraps. Each mat was custom made for the reducing brick size.

Somero Brothers Concrete Construction 

Somero Brothers Concrete Construction submitted the project of Siemens Gas Turbine Facility located in Charlotte, NC. The 490,000-square-foot facility with 30-plus machinery pits within the footprint. One of the pits was 50-by-40 feet and nearly 20 feet deep.

The crew started on April 11 and had a drop dead date of Aug. 15. They poured 27,632 yards of concrete with 8,976 tons of steel. There were 490 total workers on the job and the Somero crew consisted of 80 workers.

The slabs had two mats of rebar that they used a bridging system to run the laser screed over the top of the mats.

Restore Masonry, LLC 

 
Located on Chicago’s Northwest side in the Logan Square neighborhood stands the structure formerly known as the Morris B. Sachs building.  This 48,000-square-foot building was originally designed as a mixed-use building with offices on the upper five floors and retail space at the street-level. It was last occupied in the 1980s. Towering 80 feet above street level, this building is the crown jewel of the Logan Square area and is the tallest structure for miles.  In an effort to revitalize the community, this historical landmark was to be converted into retail spaces, a community art center and 28 loft-style residences.    

The restoration of the building began in the spring of 2010.  Restore Masonry, LLC was hired to complete the masonry restoration portion, which involved completely removing and cataloging the entire limestone façade, repairing the back-up brick and concrete structure, grinding and tuckpointing all brick mortar joints on the rear elevation and reinstalling all of the existing limestone façade.  Throughout the years, the building had undergone several cosmetic changes to the façade.  The current design plan was to recreate the way the building looked when it was originally constructed in 1929.  With no blue prints or original documents to use as a reference, old photos were gathered and used as a guide to replicate the missing stone elements and profiles that had long since been removed from the façade.  The old photos and artist sketches were used to create molds and new decorative façade elements were created out of cast stone.  All of the existing limestone and new cast stone was installed with stainless steel and hot-dipped galvanized anchors with rubberized flashing to ensure longevity and the ability to withstand Chicago’s freeze and thaw cycle.

The façade restoration work was being performed on two elevations that were directly over two of Chicago’s busiest streets at a 6-way intersection with heavy pedestrian and vehicular traffic.  This is where the crew, lead by seasoned general superintendent Eric Ziemann, really exceled.  All of the work listed above was performed by skilled union laborers, tuckpointers and bricklayers over crowded streets and sidewalks without incident.  Safety was a top priority and Eric’s crew completed all of the stone removal, brick repairs and stone installation while maintaining our company’s strict safety measures.  The finished product is a revitalized building that the Logan Square neighborhood can once again be proud of.

Harbour Construction

Robert Yannizze of Harbour Construction submitted their project. The scope of the project was to raise the elevation at the top of a 48-story tower, structurally build in additional support, provide a perfectly level surface while allowing water channels for proper drainage, waterproof below the pool area, helicopter lift 5EA pool sections, build in poured-in place planters, structural supports and ipe wood deck to complete the finishing touches. This was a challenging endeavor for Harbour Construction. They thank Tom Richardson and Pete Walsh (BASF) for their support.

Mid-Continental Restoration
 

Led by General Manager Barry Bourne, the crew from Mid-Continental Restoration in Murfreesboro, TN, has made a lasting impression on the facilities management team at LP Field in Nashville, TN. Mid-Continental Restoration began the task of repairing concrete, replacing joint sealant, and applying deck coating to the 14-year-old venue in the summer of 2010. From the beginning, the crew from Mid-Continental Restoration set a standard of quality workmanship and attention to detail that caught the eye of the LP Field facilities management team. The ability of the Mid-Continental crew to coordinate with the facilities maintenance team at LP Field has been a key factor in making the project a success. LP Field is a working venue that is constantly being used for concerts, trade shows, and various sporting events. Because of this, the logistical challenges have played a large role in the project. At times, it has been necessary for the Mid-Continental crew to stage and then clear their work areas multiple times per week, depending on the event schedule at LP Field. Football season is a particularly challenging time as up to three games per week are played at the stadium.

“When we are preparing for an event, we literally have a list of 100 things we have to do to get the facility ready. Knowing that I never have to worry about the crew from Mid-Continental having their work areas cleared and ready for the public allows me to focus on other aspects of our preparation,” says LP Field Facilities Coordinator Mark Brant.

The project has had other challenges as well. In the spring, Project Foreman Jason Allemang suffered a serious injury while helping on another project. While Jason was recovering from his injuries, Miguel Garcia took over without missing at beat.

“We were concerned that the quality of work would suffer without Jason onsite, but Miguel stepped in and did a terrific job while Jason was recovering,” Mr. Bryant says.

To date, the Mid-Continental Restoration crew has applied approximately 300,000 square feet of deck coating to the steps, ramps, and end zone plaza along with thousands of linear feet of joint sealants. Because of their professionalism, flexibility, efficiency, and quality of work, the management team at LP Field has rewarded the crew from Mid-Continental Restoration with several increases to the original scope of work.

These increases have included more deck coating, joint sealant replacement, and concrete repair, as well as the replacement of numerous expansion joints throughout the stadium.

P.E.R. LLC

P.E.R. LLC submitted one of their favorite projects of the year. Providing material placing service to Procon, Inc. on this project utilized every piece of equipment in their fleet.

This building consisted one level of slab on grade and four levels of slabs on deck. P.E.R. LLC’s 46 and 38 meter Putzmeister Boom Pumps provided the reach and versatility needed to pour mud mats, foundations, and slabs, while the TK-40 and TK-50 Trailer Pumps pumped the stair towers.

The Putzmeister 110 and 130 Telebelts gave the site contractor a solution to placing several thousand tons of stone backfill that was inaccessible with heavy equipment.

P.E.R. LLC’s Bay-Lynx Stone Slinger hauled and placed the under-slab stone as there was not room to stockpile stone due to a very constricted jobsite.

This project was not the biggest of the year but it upholds the company’s reputation of being a full-service material placement company. Best of all, there were no safety incidents or breakdowns.

Schuepbach Custom Builders
         

Schuepbach Custom Builders, Inc., based in Hood River, OR, is a general contractor specializing in all phases of concrete. Schuepbach Builders was founded in 1976 by Charles “Chuck” Schuepbach, known to many as “anything for a buck Chuck.” In January 2004 Chuck passed the company to 3 long-time employees; Randy Baker, Ross Brown and Gary Fisher. In February following that decision Chuck passed away from a hard-fought battle with ALS. Since 2004, the three owners have continued to grow and take on larger projects. In 2007 with a poor economy looming, Schuepbach Custom Builders was bidding on Waste Water Facilities and landed a $3.5 million contract for the concrete work at Reedsport, OR WWTP. We started the project in March of 2008 with the influent pump station, followed by aeration basin headworks, two clarifiers, two digesters, chlorine contact chamber, blower building and office foundations, curbs and sidewalks. The project was completed in September of 2010. There was a total of 3,834 yards of concrete, 300 tons of rebar, 27,458 man hours, 8,700 square feet of Straight Universal Alisply forms and 2,700 square feet of Alisply Circular forms from Spain-based Alsina.

Schuepbach Custom Builders was the first to use the circular forms in the western U.S. and the second to use them in the U.S. This gained the company acknowledgement in a newsletter from Spain for civil works projects.

Schuepbach Custom Builders 
 

Schuepbach Custom Builders, Inc., based in Hood River, OR, is a general contractor specializing in all phases of concrete. Schuepbach Builders was founded in 1976 by Charles “Chuck” Schuepbach, known to many as “anything for a buck Chuck.” In January 2004 Chuck passed the company to 3 long time employees; Randy Baker, Ross Brown and Gary Fisher. In February following that decision Chuck passed away from a hard-fought battle with ALS.  In August 2010, the company started a new intake screen structure for Farmer’s Irrigation District’s Plant 3 Power Generation Plant in Hood River, OR. The shut down of the existing intake was critical, as without water there would not be any power generated, costing the district tens of thousands of dollars. The shut down was scheduled for the first two weeks of October 2010. Schuepbach Custom Builders was able to maintain water to the plant with a diversion ditch. The company constructed the final 40 feet of screen and the overflow in the final two weeks during shut down. They used 502 total yards of 4000 psi concrete with 2 percent accelerator to make breaks in time to open the water flow. The project was completed on time with 1,530 hours, without any overtime. This was also a special project as the crew had a moment of silence as the district president sent some of founder Chuck’s ashes through the pump into the structure.

Advanced Masonry
Advanced Masonry constructed a unique building under conditions that can only be described as difficult for today’s fast-paced and competitive market. Imagine being asked to provide craftsmanship not seen in the past century to replicate exacting masonry details from European cathedrals of the past; and do it 40 miles from the nearest town, and with no conventional running water supply. Additionally, they had to do all of this while respecting the daily worship services and routines of the monks.

Our Lady of the Annunciation of Clear Creek Monastery was founded by a Benedictine order from France.  They started in 2003 with a plan for a large cathedral and living quarters for the Monks.  Construction began with the living quarters and the basement of the cathedral.  Advanced Masonry was contracted in September of 2010 to begin bringing the great cathedral up from ground level. The task was to build this building perfectly without cutting a brick, keeping every course exactly as designed by Architect, Thomas Gordon Smith, dean of architecture at Notre Dame University.

This job held many challenges aside from the numerous brick over structural concrete arches, to include difficult cast in place and precast concrete structures, 20 kinds of special shape bricks, and traditional limestone and granite elements as well. The site had no available potable water and the nearest ready mix plant was 11/2 hours away over small back roads.

Much of the planning and form building took place off site at Advanced Masonry’s precast concrete plant in Oklahoma City.  All work was laid out in AutoCAD and printed showing each individual brick. Full scale plywood arch templates were built for over 40 different conditions, numbered, and shipped to the jobsite.  The field conferred daily with our in house engineer on how each area was to be started to determine perfect bonding and coursing as the work joined up with the numerous arches, columns, pilasters and cornices. Remember no cutting of the bricks, so starting a wall with the incorrect full or half stretcher would lead to disaster later.

This crew formed arches and round columns, pumped concrete, set precast, laid brick and limestone and all in the backwoods of eastern Oklahoma without the use of running water. They were supported by equipment supplied by Hydro-mobile and E-Z Scaffolds, Simon Forms, Reed Concrete Pumps, Skytrack and Genie lifts, Mud-Hog mixers, Quickcrete Mortars and Grout and others.

By the end of this project they not only gained the respect of the General Contractor, Manhattan Construction, the Architect, the monks, but most importantly each other.

Kiewit

The Kiewit crew built a Toshiba Steam Turbine pedestal in a 3x1 Combined Cycle Power Plant.  This mega-structure consists of 3,200 cubic yards concrete built with 29,550 square feet of formwork and 13,050 square feet of wet finish. Kiewit aligned 330 anchor bolts within .0625 inches and installed 23.25 tons of embedded steel plates, including two that weighed 1.7 tons each. The Toshiba quality team confirmed the anchor bolt and embedded steel locations.

“I have done 50+ checkouts like this and I have never seen anything this well prepared.  Templates were the greatest we have ever seen.  Never before have we done all of our cross checks and been within two milimeters. The Kiewit folks (including the craft) involved were professional, kind, and most importantly their work was accurate,” according to the Toshiba team.

The final quality check was setting the equipment onto the bolts, which fit like a ring on a finger.

This structure, from the bottom of the mat foundation to top of pedestal, spans 49 feet 11 inches and its footprint dimensions are 117 feet by 53 feet. Because of the complex design, including multiple facets, Kiewit had to pour this structure in eight different lifts.  The pedestal section was an 8-foot thick mass concrete pour that had to be kept at specific temperatures to stay in specifications of concrete cooling rates. The outside temperatures were so cold they could potentially cool the outside of the concrete at a quicker rate than the inside. To prevent this, Kiewit built a reinforced visqueen skirt around the soffit that draped down to the ground floor. They installed and ran electric heaters before and during the two-week temperature curing period, allowing the mass concrete to cool at a controlled rate.

To build this massive concrete structure, the union crew consisted of 15 hardworking carpenters, five time-pressed finishers, and 5 cold-weather bearing laborers.  The supervision included one Superintendent, Austin Lackey, and one Field Engineer, Jenna Barton.

Safety was top notch on this project with the goal of “Nobody Gets Hurt.” It took six months to build this massive turbine pedestal, and Kiewit reached the goal by building this structure without a single first aid or OSHA recordable injury. 

Stake Consulting Ltd.

On September 4, 2010, a magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck Christchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand, the hometown of Stake Consulting Ltd. The earthquake left extensive damage and many fatalities. Stake Consulting Ltd. entered the Crews That Rock competition in part to acknowledge the bravery and stamina of its team of concrete repair technicians. The impact from the Canterbury earthquakes on the construction sector has come in waves since September 2010, when the sequence of devastating earthquakes began.   Stake Consulting Ltd.’s core business is in the area of concrete restrengthening. It is a challenging environment when working on platforms and scissor lifts at heights of up to 12m. The Christchurch area has had as many as 9,008 aftershocks since September 2010. A recent large aftershock that hit in June at a magnitude 6.4 caused a concrete tilt slab to flex so much that it actually hit an employee in the head. Working in an earthquake zone comes with its own unique challenges. When starting a job, the first thing a crew will do is to look at the possibilities of what if an aftershock hits. A vital part of keeping the team safe is the implementation of earthquake evacuation procedures. Many of the Stake Consulting Ltd. staff have remained at the job sites to ensure the building site is safe first and then gone to find and check on family. Many men have been running for their lives as warehouse shelving has been crashing down behind them. Thousands have fled Christchurch, but the crew at Stake Consulting will stay, rebuilding and making it a better place. The team at Stake Consulting may have repaired more cracks in one year than most would do in a lifetime.  

Salem Concrete Construction

Already voted one of America’s top three cleanest beaches by www.msnbc.com, the recently completed Hampton Beach State Park Redevelopment Project has established Hampton Beach as the premier vacation spot on New Hampshire’s seacoast. When John Tucarella, president and owner of Salem Concrete Construction of Salem, NH, was presented with the opportunity to work on the redevelopment project, he jumped at the chance, especially since many of his crew members frequently visit the area during the summer months. The $14.5 million multi-phase project was comprised of five new buildings at four beachside sites, including new bathhouses, a visitor’s information center and souvenir shop, lifeguard headquarters, a first aid post and the three-story “Seashell Complex” that houses an open-air performing stage with room for more than 2,000 seats.

The construction was highlighted by a visit from New Hampshire Governor John Lynch who participated in the ribbon cutting ceremony alongside state and Hampton officials.

 Salem Concrete completed nearly 100,000 square feet of exterior flatwork consisting of:

·  70,000 square feet of broom finish concrete patios/plazas
·  14,000 square feet of broom finish concrete walks
·  10,500 square feet of exposed aggregate 
·  2,000 square feet of 1-foot colored bands and borders 

Six new sets of cast-in-place steps, the largest being 30 feet wide in a curved configuration, and seven ramps were added for easy access to the beach for both the public and emergency personnel. 

With these new additions, Hampton Beach successfully created a fun, family friendly atmosphere.  Future visitors will enjoy and appreciate the culmination of two years of hard work on behalf of the crew of Salem Concrete Construction. 

United Restoration & Preservation, Inc.

Sticks and Stones Furniture
 

Sticks and Stones Furniture was hired by Down to Earth Landscape company to build and install a firebowl at a beautiful home in West Vancouver, BC in August 2010. I've included 5 pictures to tell the story which supports the entire process from concept to installation. And after the competition if you interested I can share a funny story regarding the fire.

Working with a tight deadline while taking on a uniquely creative project, Yves St. Hilaire, owner of Sticks + Stones Furniture, created this sculpture with a little help and a lot of determination.

The designer of the firebowl, Marcyn Ward of Down to Earth Landscapes, wanted to create an extraordinary sculptural centerpiece for her clients’ contemporary West Coast home. The firebowl needed to be fabricated and installed in an exterior atrium, wrapped on three sides by windows, in time for a wedding scheduled at the home.

Due to the complex nature of the firebowl design, the project needed a material that could take any form and could be created in the deep and saturated orange-umber color envisioned by the designer. Concrete, a malleable medium that cures into a solid, offered the perfect solution.

The fabrication challenges in building the firebowl’s form—sloping multiple curves with a thin edge on one end—pushed St. Hilaire out of his comfort zone. The piece was extremely challenging to create, especially given a tight timeline, and it enabled Sticks + Stones an opportunity to produce something extraordinary.

The firebowl installation took place only three weeks after the pour and, with a crew of ten assisting with the delivery and installation, everything went without a hitch and just in time to be a showstopper, second only to the bride of the wedding event held at the home.

Reyes Construction, Inc.

The Reyes Construction, Inc. crew has constructed one of the longest self-anchored suspension pedestrian bridges in the world. The $22.5 million pedestrian bridge spans 550 feet across the railroad right-of-way and Harbor Drive in the East Village section of downtown San Diego, CA. The bridge connects directly to the third-level parking structure adjacent to the Hilton San Diego Convention Center Hotel. It provides a safe crossing over heavily traveled Harbor Drive and existing train and trolley tracks, facilitating the completion of the vehicular intersection at Park Boulevard and Harbor Drive. The bridge improves vehicular and pedestrian traffic, and completes a 100-year old vision of a Park-to-Bay Link, connecting two important regional assets: Balboa Park and San Diego Bay.

What makes this bridge unique from all other bridges is the complex geometric shape and a deck surface constructed with a polymer modified concrete overlay with a design to mimic that of a piano keyboard. With the integration of stainless steel pipes and cable suspenders structurally attached to a 130-foot-high Pylon, it evokes that of a sail and the nautical theme of San Diego. Approximately 1,470 cubic yards of concrete were used on the bridge. On the east, an elevator tower encased in glass was erected allowing pedestrians to see inside the shaft and view the mechanical moving components lit up with LED strips.

Spohn Ranch, Inc.

When you think skateboarding it’s not a stretch to think concrete bowl, but until now it was a stretch to think portable concrete bowl, especially when talking about more than 6,000 square feet of shreddable terrain.
 
Before now, a fully portable concrete bowl being sessioned on the beautiful beaches of Ocean City, Maryland by day and transported across the country by night, wasn’t even imagined to be possible.  Pushing the boundaries of construction even further, the Dew Tour presented the Spohn Ranch crew with a daunting 30-day timeline for completion.
 
Step one was taking the conceptual design and creating a detailed 3D model. The design team engineered more than 30 transportable sections ranging in size and complexity.
 
After design, the next step was selecting a gauge of galvanized steel that was both durable and moldable enough to hold over 500,000 pounds of concrete, while maintaining the flexibility necessary for the design’s complex curves.
 
As the crew forged ahead fabricating the steel skeleton in 100-plus-degree temperatures, the laser cutter was also working around the clock.  Thousands of feet of reinforcement were rolled and welded in place to create a solid base structure.  The steel sections were completed and loaded onto flatbed trucks for the long journey to Maryland.
 
Upon arriving in Ocean City, the first step in assembling the steel skeleton was assembling a scaffold base structure.  With the scaffolding in place, a 110-ton crane was then used to place the steel sections in preparation for shotcrete. The unique circumstances of the project demanded a “perfect” concrete mix that would leave no room for error.
 
Working in long shifts, the shotcrete was then blown, shaped and finished to precision tolerances.  The concrete masterpiece was finally coming to life as the Dew Tour’s professional skateboarders began to arrive in Ocean City.  
Crew:
Mark Bradford            Wally Hollyday            Aaron Spohn
Eddie Osgood              Jason Mclane          Damon Spohn
Jared Bowman            Kyle Gallagher         Steve Kessler
Mike Villalvazo            Josh Mattock            Donnie Penzotti
Gil Villalvazo                Willy Emfinger            Burke Morris
Anthony Zavala            James Razman    Justin Demmon
Joe Mendes                  Patrick Smith           Andrew Doke
Chris Mastandrea        Seth Peterson          Mike Marrone
Rick Escobar                 Mark Rich                 Luke Strub
Roger Williamson        Michael Eggleston

Interstate Sealant & Concrete, Inc.

Interstate Sealant & Concrete, Inc. submitted the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport - Airfield PCC Joint Sealant Rehabilitation Project. The project scope included 1.3 million lineal feet of joint rehabilitation and 1,100 square feet of PCC spall repairs on varying ages of concrete, sealant types, and conditions. The project was to be completed in 330 calendar days.  The finished totals were 1,175 square feet of spalls in 287 different areas of the airport and 1,307,000 lineal feet of resealing all completed in 65 days.

Austin-Bergstrom wanted air passenger interruptions kept at a minimum, so runway closures required careful scheduling and work coordination. Supervisors held daily meetings to communicate with the airport operations staff. 

This ISC 23-man crew, under the direction of Operations Manager Dana Gillespie and Supervisor Dan Hathaway, began the project in September 2010, working in temperatures that climbed above 100 degrees. Led by sawman John Detweiler and Manuel Salas, sawers kept ahead of sealers to keep the work moving. Workers rotated off the job to reduce their exposure to the sun and heat, but it was still grueling. Like others on the crew Kam Fenstemaker, a one-year rookie, helped with anything that needed doing; from counting materials to sealing to finishing. Despite rotating schedules, extreme heat and the need to change work areas daily, the team completed 20,000 feet per day. 

Dale Thompson, project manager for Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, was pleased with results. “The ISC team scheduled and performed their work in great fashion.  We allotted 60 calendar days for one work area on the east runway and the crews finished in 10 days.  Needless to say, with that kind of production rate we worked to accommodate ISC’s requests as we were confident in the work being produced,” he said.

Interstate Sealant & Concrete, Inc. has been in business for 14 years and is based in Waukesha, Wisconsin with a support operation in Lansing, Michigan.

Sierra Stone 

Sierra Stone installs decorative stone and epoxy or rubber stone and polyurethane overlays. This year Sierra Stone had the opportunity to work with the Peninsula Home Builders Association.  The PHBA are working on a rundown neighborhood along a historic beach named Buckroe Beach. The project involved redoing parks, housing, streets, beach access and more. 

Sierra Stone was fortunate enough to participate and installed the company’s stone and epoxy system. The unique aspect of this install is that the crew used "Glow Stone."  It is a photo-luminescent product that is essentially a glow in the dark stone. The crew created a starfish design, since it was located at the beach, and made the star fish glow in the dark. 

Sierra Stone has since done other porches, patios, house numbers and other installations with the Glow Stone. 

The Sierra Stone crew is a hardworking, dedicated, honest group of guys who are excited about coming to work each day.

Stephens & Smith Construction 

Roger Andersson, Decorative Project Manager of Stephens & Smith Construction in Lincoln, Nebraska, praised his hardworking crew in the Decorative Department at the company.

“Over the last year, I have had the privilege to have worked with these hard working guys,” he said.

The crew worked on the Haymarket Improvement Project, which was the first of many to follow. Many people viewed the project, which was the first for the new arena that is planned for downtown Lincoln. The project also was located outside Memorial Stadium where the University of Nebraska plays football.

In this project, the crew poured and stenciled more than 15,000 square feet with a running bond stencil from Decorative Concrete Impressions and broadcasted a heavy duty color hardener from Bomanite.

“The project took only about four weeks to complete, so they were really rocking and worked long hours,” Mr. Andersson said.

The crew supervisor is Kent Baker (who is pictured in the red shirt). He has been with the company for 12 years. The other crew members are, from left, Efrain Vargas, Haidar Kazem, Drew Svendsen, Mike Siems and Paulino Iraheta.

Western Waterproofing 
 

Western Waterproofing submitted their project on a high-end grocery store that required many BASF products. The scope of work included concrete repair, concrete crack repair, rebar corrosion inhibitors, wing type expansion joint, expansion joint cover plates, and Conipur 2 deck coating system.

This job had an extremely high level of difficulty in that the store remained open the entire time by phasing the project in five phases. The store customers do not appreciate change or inconvenience, so it was very important that Western Waterproofing had their “A Team” in place. Phasing the project included temporary fencing, mobilization of equipment and BASF products to each area, working day and night crews.