COVER STORY- FALL 2024

Journey to the Unknown

Erectors exhibit integrity and flexibility

Sometimes erecting steel requires venturing into the unknown and solving problems that aren’t faced on typical projects. Two of the five winning Projects of the Year, presented by SEAA in April 2024, required extreme patience, integrity, and fortitude to bring them to fruition. In both cases, these projects maxed out labor supply.

On the campus of High Point University in North Carolina, D.S. Duggins Welding, Inc., Winston-Salem, faced the usual challenges of a tight job site and even tighter delivery schedule. But the real conundrum was solving problems with columns pulling out of tolerance after being set.

Although the columns were within AISC tolerance before turning the section over, they later moved out of tolerance when concrete was poured. No root cause was determined, but the Duggins Welding team did what they had to make the building right—spending many hours and six figures in labor and equipment to resolve the problem. The new five-story Panther Commons now serves as residence hall, retail, dining, and study space for students.

Pete Gum, SEAA Executive Director, commended the company for their work. “Not all jobs stay on budget, as was the case for Duggins Welding, but a commitment to doing the right thing demonstrates this first-time Project of the Year award winner’s values.”

Cape Canaveral Space Force Base, Launch Complex 36 is home to Blue Origin’s new Glenn rocket, which marks a pivotal milestone for U.S. space exploration. This is the first new construction there in more than 50 years.

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania-based S&R Enterprises is no rookie when it comes to government projects. The project included two 633 ft tall towers and assembly of a massive hydraulic pit. In all, 14 modules were constructed and stacked on top of each other. One module was lifted more than 600 feet high. The heaviest module, weighing 1 million pounds, had to be crawled about 100 feet into position using a unique crane configuration.

“This is the fourth time S&R Enterprises has won a Project of the Year award,” said Gum. “The company is known for taking on the complex, big jobs and delivering as promised.”

The scale of this project required crew coordination and modular construction so that all trades were used as efficiently as possible to meet strict launch deadlines.

SEAA’s Project of the Year award is open to members performing Miscellaneous Metals or Structural Steel work. Projects are judged against others of similar steel erection contract value. (See Part One in the Summer 2024 issue.) Submissions for the 2025 Project of the Year Award are due December 31, 2024.

High Point University Panther Commons, High Point, North Carolina

Structural Class III

($1 Million to $2.5 Million)

Erector: D.S Duggins Welding, Inc.

Fabricator: SteelFab

Architect: Mercer Architecture, Inc.

Structural Engineer: Morrison Engineering

GC: Samet Corp.

Contract Value: $1,330,000

Tons of Steel: 1,150

Topped Out: November 2022

Blue Origin Launch Complex 36, Cape Canaveral Space Force Base, Florida

Structural Class IV (Over $2.5 Million)

Erector: S&R Enterprises, LLC

Fabricator: Cives Steel, Steel Fab Inc.

Detailer: Patriot Detailing

Architect: BRPH

Structural Engineer: BRPH

GC: Turner Construction Company

Contract Value: $46,227,373

Tons of Steel: 9,450

Topped Out: November 2023

Guided by Core Values

A tight job site and delivery schedule were the least of the challenges D.S. Duggins Welding, Inc., faced on the campus of North Carolina’s High Point University (HPU). Between labor, equipment rentals, and purchases, the company spent six figures on extra work when columns moved outside of allowed AISC tolerance after being turned over.

“While I will never feel like it was anything we did to cause the issue, we stuck to our core values and did what we had to do to make the building right, all while maintaining our relationships with our customers,” said Zach Burick, President/Owner of Duggins Welding. HPU’s Panther Commons ultimately finished on time.

Precise Sequencing

Built in the heart of campus, “This job site was tight from the word go, so as we went vertical, it only became tighter — not to mention the limited space once other trades mobilized,” Burick said.

Crews used a 150-ton Link-Belt LS-238 Crawler Crane rented from W.O. Grubb in Greensboro, North Carolina.

“That was the biggest piece of equipment we had onsite, but we also used three or four boom lifts and at least one telehandler,” Burick said. “When space got tighter at the end of the job, we had to move our office trailer and minimize all the equipment we could.”

Space wasn’t the only constraint. Because of the project’s tight schedule, “We exhausted all our resources as far as equipment and the crews we had available in-house, so we subcontracted parts of the project such as decking and studs to finish in a safe, timely manner,” Burick said.

A precise sequencing plan and delivery schedule for the steel was necessary. The company divided the project into three areas, and later had to split one of those areas in two, so that all work was in reach of the crane. Burick noted that the fabricator, SteelFab, was flexible in accommodating that change.”

Making it Right

Once Duggins Welding finished the steel work, they made sure everything was within tolerances. But then, “They started to pour the concrete and some columns started to come in; some of them went out,” Burick said. “We couldn’t adjust the columns at that point because the concrete locked everything in place.”

Meetings with the design team, GC, and fabricator over several weeks revealed no cause. To solve the problem, the engineering team provided their input, the fabricator sent more material, and Burick’s crews mobilized again.

“All the additional work was on the perimeter steel,” he explained. “The bent plate that catches the concrete pour on the back side of that was a relief angle for the brick to lay on. Because the columns moved, it was either too far in or too far out. If it was too far in, we had to add bottom plate to extend it to where it needed to be for the masons. If it was too far out, we had to pop a stringline and cut it so it was where it needed to be on the face.”

This required buying a plasma cutter and renting a 110-ft boom lift, expenses not accounted for in the original bid. Finishing the extra work took over four weeks. “It hurt our margins, but we showed good faith and put in the effort to make it right,” Burick said. Although

Lessons Learned

Since that project, Duggins Welding implemented new forms they now use on every project. When they finish their work, they walk the job with the general contractor, who then signs the form to acknowledge that everything is within tolerance.

Going forward, those forms will help prevent the company from being on the hook for something they didn’t cause. But no matter what, “Building and nurturing relationships is very important to me,” Burick said.

This article was originally published by Construction magazine at constructionmagazine.news.

Precision Modular Construction

At Florida’s new Launch Complex 36, S&R Enterprises LLC used modules to speed construction and allow mechanical installation while close to the ground, with a unique crane configuration for the heaviest lifts.

Located at Cape Canaveral Space Force Base, Launch Complex 36 is home to Blue Origin’s reusable New Glenn rocket. Standing more than 320 feet tall, the rocket is named after John Glenn, the first American to orbit earth. Blue Origin’s website says the advanced heavy-lift vehicle will support customer missions and Blue Origin programs, including a return to the moon as part of NASA’s Artemis program.

S&R Enterprises, based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, handled erection of 9,450 tons of steel, with Cives Steel, headquartered in Alpharetta, Georgia, as their steel fabricator. The erector started work in September 2019 and topped out in November 2023.

Accelerated Access

“We had worked for over a year with the contractor during the budget phases of the project — before being awarded the job — to identify the best way to erect the towers,” said Stephen Burkholder, President/COO of S&R Enterprises.

With modular construction, “It enabled the MEP [mechanical, electrical, and plumbing] trades to start installing at an earlier date,” said Patrick Macisso, Engineering Manager for S&R Enterprises. “They didn’t need to wait for us to be topped out and then build scaffolding from the ground up. It alleviated a lot of the long lead times waiting for them to get in there.”

Crews built the modules on site next to the towers and hydraulic pit before cranes lifted them into place.

The square Vehicle Access Tower (VAT), outfitted with stairs and an elevator shaft to provide crews access to the rocket, included seven core blocks. The triangular Lightning Protection Tower (LPT) with ladder access to the top will help protect the rocket from lightning strikes. The LPT consisted of five core blocks.

After crews stacked those modules one at a time, both towers were topped off with a 100-foot-tall, fiberglass candlestick. One module was lifted more than 600 feet high.

“The modular construction of this project required precise layout and multiple checks at every connection prior to stacking to ensure proper fit,” Macisso said.

Choreographed Production

Between the two towers, S&R Enterprises built the steel launch platform that will divert rocket exhaust and house critical MEP launch components. The platform will lift and support the rocket during launch, from horizontal assembly position to the vertical launch position.

Although the towers were specified as modular construction in the bid documents, modularization of the launch platform came after bidding.

“It was all to be stick-built, but as the design intensified it was clear the precursor work would have prevented the piping contractors the time they needed to install piping before the post installation occurred,” Burkholder explained. “We suggested modularization as an option because we already had the larger crawler crane on site.”

S&R Enterprises stick-built the base, starting 50 feet below ground. The upper section with 36 columns was built in a module then lifted and placed in its final position.

contractors to get in sooner, but they could work from scissor lifts to install the miles of piping safely from an easy access position,” Macisso said.

The upper module required a complex rigging design, provided by Reeb Rigging of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. To ensure correct weight and center of gravity for the lift, each leg of the rigging was fitted with a loadcell featuring a radio link that gave engineers real-time load dynamics of the lift procedure.

At a weight of 1 million pounds, the upper module had to be crawled over 100 feet with a Liebherr LR 11350 Crane to place it on top of 36 fixed column ends that were precisely aligned prior to making the connections.

“It was a well-choreographed event,” Macisso said. “We had our Lift Engineer Jacob Cole and Erection Engineer Adam Friedman watching the lift from an elevated point with the 24 load cells attached to the rigging so they could monitor the load and advise of any adjustments needed. I was set up with a total station, monitoring the columns the module would sit down on. Chris Welch was our Erection Foreman and led the crew of riggers that ensured a smooth lift off the ground jig. Another crew helped guide the module down and connected it to the structure. It was a large production that took all day, but everyone knew their part and we got it done in a 10-hour shift.”

Complex Coordination

The scale and complexity of the project required constant coordination of multiple crews, cranes, and tasks to keep the work moving safely and efficiently.

With the first launch of the New Glenn rocket scheduled for later this year, “Blue Origin had critical dates we needed to make,” Macisso said. “We worked days and nights, along with many weekends, to reach our goal and keep the customer happy and on schedule.”

Burkholder credited the teamwork among all the stakeholders. “The project was a huge success because all team members — the owner, general contractor, fabricator, and S&R — worked together as a team,” he said. “Money was tabled, then discussed after the best plans were identified, and the risk was shared by all.” •

This article was originally published by Dixie Contractor magazine at www.dxc.news.

Mega Size Crane

Throughout the project, S&R Enterprises utilized Liebherr crawler cranes — two LR 11350 cranes and two LR 1300 SX cranes with tip heights over 650 feet tall. Three of the cranes were provided by Buckner HeavyLift and one of the cranes was provided by Beyel Bros.

To lift the heaviest steel modules into position, the team selected Buckner HeavyLift’s Liebherr LR11350, a crane rated at more than 1,200 tons, and configured with the PowerBoom (P-boom) system. P-boom increases load capacity by up to 50 percent and provides more stability in the direction of the load and to the side.

“It’s extremely rare for us to need a crane with the mega capacity of the LR 11350,” said Stephen Burkholder. “We had a full-time engineer on the job working closely with Buckner HeavyLift, which provided all of the lift plans for the project,” he said. “I also want to give a shout out to Reeb Rigging, which provided the engineered heavy lift rigging.”

❶ Both towers were topped off with a 100-foot-tall, fiberglass candlestick. One module was lifted more than 600 feet high. ❷ Crews built the modules on site next to the towers and hydraulic pit before cranes lifted them into place. The upper module required a complex rigging design. ❸ The project included two 633 ft tall towers and assembly of a massive hydraulic pit. ❹ The modular construction of this project required precise layout and multiple checks at every connection prior to stacking to ensure proper fit.