May 2014
CALIFORNIA
ACP
BUILDER & ENGINEER
C.W. Driver ACP 1028 Shelby Street Indianapolis, Indiana 46203 ELECTRONIC SERVICE REQUESTED
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Achieves LEED Silver Certification on Cal Poly BRIC Project 11/04/15 10:34
C.W. Driver Overcomes Env on $45.9M Cal Poly BRIC P C.W. Driver is one of the oldest construction contractors in California, having been founded in Los Angeles in 1919. The firm employs about 300 people working out of its Pasadena headquarters and four regional offices, and did $550 million of construction business in 2014.
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Environmental Challenges C Project Peter Eisenhower
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s students at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona enter the new Bronco Recreation and Intramural Complex (BRIC), they are treated to a view of a unique feature of the facility — a lofty indoor atrium which houses a 53-foot rock climbing wall. The three-story recreation center also includes a three-court gymnasium, multipurpose activity court, elevated jogging track, weight and fitness area, racquetball courts, a recreational swimming pool with deck area, five multi-purpose rooms, wellness center, social lounge and administration space.
Building the BRIC, a $45.9 million, 126,000-square-foot project presented a number of challenges for construction contractor C.W. Driver. These included some site-specific issues along with some stringent environmental requirements. C.W. Driver is one of the oldest construction contractors in California, having been founded in Los Angeles in 1919. The firm employs about 300 people working out of its Pasadena headquarters and four regional offices, and did $550 million of construction business in 2014.
The Importance of Timing Timing of construction was an important aspect to this project. Project Executive Gregg Riddle, who heads C.W. Driver’s Rancho Cucamonga office, explains that
the project was phased in order to minimize the disruption to student aquatic activities. The Cal Poly BRIC project was constructed on the site of an existing pool, with construction occurring in two phases. The first phase of the project included the construction of the new pool, and the second phase demolished two buildings and the existing pool to allow for the completion of the recreation center itself. This delivery schedule ensured university’s aquatic facilities experienced a lesser impact during both phases of construction. One on-site factor that presented some difficulties for project managers was the existence of municipal water mains in the construction zone. “The Metropolitan Water Department and Walnut Water Department each have 38- and 40-inch main water lines that route through the middle of the new pool patio deck and the new BRIC facility,”
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said Riddle. “Due to weight and vibration constraints over the water lines, all demolition, excavation and construction had to be performed with light weight, non-vibratory equipment. Riddle noted that this hampered productivity and required additional barricading to protect the integrity of the over 30-yearold water lines.
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The structural steel fabrication and erection along with the CIDH pile process are two things that Riddle says he will remember about this project along with the completion of that spectacular rock wall atrium.
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Underground Problems While C.W Driver was carefully reducing project impact on the environment, the environment wasn’t always returning the favor. A high underground water table required additional fabric-gravel bridging at the bottom of the demolished swimming pool in the BRIC footprint. The foundation cast in drilled hole (CIDH) pile installation was also challenged due to the high water table, and the proximity to the 38- and 40-inch water lines. Installation of the pilings was demanding — over 400 piles were required, each between 30 to 40 feet deep. All were installed with two 3-inch PVC test pipes, to allow access for gamma-gamma probe testing.
“CIDH pile gamma-gamma testing revealed low density concrete in some piles,” said Riddle. “Remediation was performed and signed off by the SEOR and Geotechnical engineer but the overall schedule impact was a two month delay.” When the gamma-gamma probes detected structural imperfections, these were corrected by going in the same test pipes with a water jetting system that delivered 5,000 psi of pressure to break through the test pipe and then the insertion of high pressure grout to fill the gaps. Providing the abundance of natural light inside the building and the attractive exterior with cantilevered sections on three sides also entailed unusually large steel trusses for that scale of building. To erect structural steel members with weights up to 89 tons, Riddle’s crew needed to use an especially large crane — a Liebherr LR1300 Crawler Crane with a 154-foot Luffing Jib that could provide the reach radius, having those long articulating arms, to handle the massive beams.
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Sustainability was a major goal of the project, which has earned the targeted LEED Silver certification. Cal Poly is carrying out additional work targeting a Gold certification. “The building was designed to not only be a focal point of the university, but to provide a sustainable environment for students,” said Brett Curry, Vice President of Operations with C.W. Driver. “The abundance of natural lighting is one of the more prominent sustainable features which contributed greatly to the LEED Silver certification of this project.” The recreation center was designed with many environmentally friendly features in order to meet LEED Silver criteria. These included installation of Solatube skylights to illuminate the gymnasium area, using concentrated light from the sun to brighten interiors naturally, and large skylights atop the atrium roof to allow for additional natural lighting to enter the facility.
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Riddle notes that those design features went a long way toward earning the certification. Additionally, points needed to be earned during construction by use of recycled materials and materials originating within 500 miles of the construction site. Sourcing these materials, and tracking and documenting all of this, ‘capturing the information,’ was an important part of the job for Riddle and his team. Not that this was the first time around the block for C.W. Driver and LEED certification. The Cal Poly Pomona Recreation Center is just one of C.W. Driver’s academic construction projects with this distinction. They include student recreation centers at California State University Fullerton; California State University Long Beach; and California State University Northridge, which achieved LEED Gold certification; and San Francisco State University Recreation and Wellness Center, targeting LEED Gold certification; as well as multiple upgrades, renovations and new construction to educational institutions throughout the state of California. The company had also previously constructed the Cal Poly Center for Business Administration, a $35 million project completed in 2009.
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