Winter 2015 Built for Good Newsletter by Walbridge

FCA Fast-tracked

Winter 2015

BUILT FOR GOOD

David Whitney Building

Concept to Construction

BUILT FOR GOOD FROM ‘A’ TO ‘ZF’ DURING THE PAST CENTURY, FEW COMPANIES have constructed as many auto manufacturing facilities as Walbridge. BMW, Chrysler, Ford, GM, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Toyota and Volkswagen design, test and/or craft their newest motorized creations in facilities we built. Our latest achievement is a new plant and supplier park for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles in Pernambuco, Brazil. When car makers and tier-one suppliers demand quality construction and on-time delivery, the choice is as simple as a, b, c.

WE ARE WALBRIDGE

AND WHAT WE BUILD STANDS FOR SOMETHING.

ZF Group’s transmission plant in Gray Court, S.C.

walbridge.com

BUILT FOR GOOD SM

builtforgood.com

10 12

This Issue

From our leadership

Adi Dalvi talks oil and gas

Project of a lifetime

Ron Hausmann says goodbye

Awards

The ‘genesys’ of new ideas

11 People 11

What we’re up to

David Whitney historic renovation

Concept to Construction

Concrete placement in the twenties

Cover: An aerial view of the new Fiat Chrysler Automobiles plant in Brazil Built For Good is a publication of the Walbridge Group, Inc. Forward any comments or questions to Erin Hooper at ehooper@walbridge.com © 2015 SM

Built For Good I 3

From our

leadership

albridge has never shied away from tough assignments. The largest and most difficult projects test our mettle. And when we tackle them with excellence, they strengthen our reputation and solidify our relationships with clients. Some great examples of our success in meeting the biggest and sometimes most unusual challenges have come during our nearly 90-year history with Chrysler. Back in 1978 Walbridge was selected to work on a large facility for Chrysler in Kokomo, Indiana. At that time Chrysler’s CEO was Lee Iacocca, and my father, John, Sr., was CEO of our company. With Chrysler in the throes of one of the biggest corporate financial collapses in American history at the time, the issue facing Walbridge was, how were we going to be paid? That’s when Chrysler offered an unusual solution: Walbridge would be paid, in part, with Chrysler “K” cars. Talk about risk! We had a payroll to meet and subcontractors to pay. How were we going to do that with dozens of automobiles? My father, in a bold demonstration of trust and pragmatism, accepted the offer. I know that Chrysler didn’t forget our commitment to making things work when it selected Walbridge in 1986 to build its 6-million-squarefoot Chrysler Technology Center and World Headquarters in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It would be the largest project we’d ever built. We welcomed the prestige associated with constructing this behemoth design, engineering, testing and administrative village, but we also assumed considerable risk. From start to finish it took 16 years to complete, making it the longest-running single project in our history. Delivering a project of this size and complexity took Walbridge to a new level, and gave us considerable confidence and national recognition. Now, fast-forward to 2012 when conversations ensued with the combined Fiat and Chrysler organizations about constructing a new auto manufacturing and assembly complex in Brazil. Of course we came to these discussions with decades of experience building assembly plants, paint shops, body shops, facilities for suppliers; you name it, and we’ve built it. But never before had we built 6 million square feet of all those uses 6,000 miles from home. The schedule called for starting construction of the 3.5 million-square-foot, greenfield assembly complex in December 2012, and completing it in 24 months. Construction of the adjacent 2.7 million-square-foot supplier park was to start in September 2013, and needed to be finished by summer 2015. As you’ll read in this issue’s feature on the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles project in Brazil, we accepted the challenge and constructed the largest auto complex in the shortest period of time in our history. And we did it at the other end of the globe. I’m very proud of the huge effort Mike Haller and our employees made and the great contribution from our Brazilian partner, Construcap. Throughout our history we’ve grasped the importance of these moments, managed the risk, and delivered world-class quality to valued clients -- even when it meant having a few dozen “K” cars in our parking lot. And through it all, we’ve grown and matured as a company. I’ve never been more confident that Walbridge will continue to do so for many years to come. John Rakolta, Jr. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Walbridge | Detroit, Michigan

4 I Built For Good

Adi Dalvi talks oil and gas A

di Dalvi joined Walbridge Industrial Process in the summer of 2014 after a three-year stint in the Middle East, where he immersed himself in learning the construction needs of major energy companies. His petrochemical experience is helping Walbridge position itself in the midstream market for oil and gas as demand for relative infrastructure increases in the United States. He knows a lot about an industry that many of us want to know more about. What is your role here at Walbridge? Walbridge has always been interested in the oil and gas market, but until recently, it has only pursued a handful of construction opportunities within that sector. Now that there’s a growing demand for oil and gas transportation and storage in the United States, Walbridge has envisioned a more defined place for itself in the industry. My role is to be a bridge between the oil and gas industry and Walbridge.

Where in the United States do you see us heading for oil and gas work? There are many regions we’re currently exploring. But we’ve determined the best place for Walbridge to focus right now is the Midwest, East and Northeast region. We’re using our Pittsburgh office as a base; that area is a hub for energy business surrounding the Marcellus and Utica shale formations, which lie beneath large chunks of Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. This region is also directly in our sphere of construction industry influence. Considering Walbridge’s extensive industrial process experience and familiarity of the area, it made sense for me to take up in our Pittsburgh office. What sub-market sector of the oil and gas industry do we identify with most? The oil and gas market is broken into three sectors: upstream, midstream and downstream. Upstream consists of exploration and production – everything from geological investigation and seismic surveys, to drilling. The midstream sector is where that product is put through a process for shipping and storing. The downstream sector is where the product is refined for consumers to use. We’ve determined Walbridge will be the most successful targeting work in the midstream sector. For more information, contact Adi Dalvi

What exactly would we build? Pipelines? No. Walbridge is not interested in building pipelines. While pipelines indeed make up a large part of the midstream market, our focus is on the infrastructure needed to conduct the early, sophisticated processes of the transportation and storage of these materials. Think compressor stations and cryogenic facilities, plants where engineers are working to reverse the flow of existing pipelines. Not enough infrastructure currently exists to support all of the hydraulic fracking and horizontal drilling methods that have surfaced over the last few years. Companies are drilling but don’t have much infrastructure to get it from point A-to-B, to process it, or to store it. How does Walbridge’s size and experience translate into getting work in oil and gas? We already have several pieces in place to not only win work but to execute work in this market based on our experience in the industrial sector. Walbridge has all the experience that oil and gas companies like to see and, most importantly, an excellent safety record. We’ve worked in areas that relate well to oil and gas. We’ve done a lot of piping related projects – don’t get that confused with pipelines – so we have a lot of ancillary experience. We’re also seeing a shift in contracting structures. Many energy clients have gone with smaller contractors in the past, but these smaller contractors have started to lack in quality and safety because they’re over worked and don’t have the labor force to keep up. So what we’re seeing now is an advantage for midsized general contractors in this area. Are dropping gas prices in any way indicative of civilizations becoming independent of oil and gas? Not at all. If it were, we wouldn’t be having this conversation right now. Even though crude oil prices have dropped, gas companies still have contracts in place with those that are refining the product and are spending money to build supporting infrastructure because they’re committed. There is just an overproduction of domestic gas and nowhere to put it.

Manager of Business Development, Walbridge Industrial Process adalvi@walbridge.com | ph 313.442.1229 Built For Good I 5

Project of a

lifetime

“

“This was the most complex project ever made in the history of the company considering the goal of building not only a large and modern automotive plant, but also a supplier park inside the complex. It was a big challenge met in record time.” Stefan Ketter, FIAT Chrysler Automobiles Chief Manufacturing Officer

FCA’s newest plant

xperience might be what makes Walbridge the fourthlargest automotive contractor in the world. But track record is what landed the Detroit-based construction firm and its Brazilian partner, Construcap, the job of building one of the world’s largest automotive manufacturing complexes in the shortest amount of time. It was the summer of 2011 when Walbridge Chairman and CEO John Rakolta, Jr. first heard Italian automaker FIAT, now Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA), wanted to build a 6 millionsquare-foot complex in northeastern Brazil. The goal was to have the facility producing vehicles by the first quarter of 2015. “It was just a rough description of the size and magnitude – and it was hard to believe,” he said. Walbridge and Brazilian partner, Construcap, formed Consortium Construcap Walbridge (CCW). Using their combined expertise in automotive construction, infrastructure and the region, the team developed a hybrid design-build approach to meet the fast-track schedule. A little more than a year later, a deal was struck. Construction began in January 2013.

6 I Built For Good

3.5 MILLION Square feet built for main plant

Pernambuco

BRAZIL

Sao Paulo

Rio de Janeiro

FCA is located in the city of Goiana, in the state of Pernambuco, which is roughly 2,300 kilometers from Rio De Janeiro and 2,600 kilometers from Sao Paulo, Brazilâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s two largest metropolises

Part of the supplier park

CCW worked together on another large manufacturing project in Brazil a few years prior, so a synergy between the two already existed. For the FCA project, Construcap brought an invaluable familiarity of the region and its resources. Walbridge brought unmatched automotive construction experience. The end result was 6 million square feet in new construction completed in less than 26 months. The main plant alone is 2.3 million square feet, consisting of an assembly plant, body shop, stamping facility, paint

shop and a communications center. An employee training center, research and development facilities and a 1.5 kilometer test track were also built as part of the main plant. Its support buildings occupy an additional 1 million square feet. A unique component of FCAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new complex is its 2.7 million-square-foot tier-1 supplier park, made up of 12 major buildings. Continued on pg. 8

Built For Good I 7

We were a team that functioned very, very well together; and without that kind of closeness and unanimous decision making, we could’ve never accomplished that in such a short period of time ... The owner trusted us and our decision making. That in turn shortened the timeframe.

“

John Rakolta, Jr., Walbridge Chairman and CEO

The FCA complex in Brazil was a massive undertaking to plan, let alone build. For starters, the site was extremely remote. Located roughly two hours from the closest metropolis, it made more sense to produce certain construction materials onsite, as opposed to having them transported in. In fact, more than 45 percent of work at the site was self-performed by CCW – making it the largest self-perform design-build job for Walbridge in its nearly 100-year history. The same went for food and emergency services. Temporary kitchens and dining facilities, along with municipal services like water treatment and medical response were built onsite, too. And because it was a greenfield development, all the necessary utility infrastructure had to be constructed as well, which involved placing almost 40,000 meters of underground storm pipe – some of which were 2 meters in diameter. Roughly 392,000 square meters of roadway and parking lots were also constructed around the property. It was CCW’s responsibility to transport, feed, house and accommodate the incredible amount of people working to build the new facility. A total of 5,000 workers were present onsite at the peak of the job, many of which were transported to the site each day from 50 kilometers away. This put CCW in the catering business as well: more than 5,000 meals were prepared and served to workers each day in a massive cafeteria, built to seat 1,500 at a time. CCW also built locker rooms onsite, which accommodate 2,400 workers. Such facilities were built to support the construction crew during long days on the job, but FCA may use them for future expansions at the new complex. “The whole idea of this being a one-of-a-kind project is that it caused us to draw upon every single expertise our company has, in addition to following the lead of Construcap, who knew how to deal with these large infrastructure projects situated far away from large metropolitan areas,” said Rakolta.

8 I Built For Good

The bonds that were created between members of the CCW team during this experience will last a lifetime. I’m honored to have been a part of it. Mike Haller, President of Walbridge’s Industrial Group

The first challenge at the new FCA complex was transforming a barren piece of remote land into a world-class automotive manufacturing center, and doing so in an unprecedentedly short amount of time. Adding to the challenge, multiple languages were spoken on the project; primarily Italian, Portuguese and English. Highly-skilled translators and visual communication became crucial to the project’s success. “My number one take away from being part of the construction of this incredible facility is what people of three different cultures, sometimes speaking three different languages, were able to accomplish through commitment, focus and relentless effort,” said Mike Haller, President of Walbridge’s Industrial Group. After 80 percent of the project was complete, FCA announced intentions to expand the complex. Today, CCW is working to bring roughly 325,000 square feet of additions to the facility. The expanded effort will increase production capacity from 30 jobs an hour to 45, exceeding the automaker’s commitment of 200,000 vehicles a year at the new complex. FCA’s Jeep Renegade will be produced at the new complex, which sprawls across 12 million square meters of land in Goiana, located in the State of Pernambuco. It’s the auto group’s most technologically-advanced and sustainable plant, and its presence in Brazil supports a global strategy for FCA to make its popular Jeep vehicles more accessible. Tariffs and shipping fees associated with importing Jeeps has been attributed to pricing many of drivers out of the market. Production of the Jeep in Pernambuco not only allows FCA to make the Jeep more affordable to South Americans; it also sets a benchmark for the construction of future Jeep plants across the globe. Completion of the new complex plays an important role in FCA’s anticipation of increasing the Jeep’s production capacity by more than 590,000 in a span of just 18 months.

There’s not a person in this organization that can raise their hand and say, ‘I did this.’ The whole enterprise participated in getting this project completed successfully. Mark McClelland, Walbridge Vice President of New Business Development

250,000 1,000 3,000 employees working at the plant at the start of operations

employees working at the main plant by 2016

Working out of the country has a unique set of challenges; the remote location, being away from your family. This project required a committed Walbridge project team. To relocate from your family for a year to two years took a lot of dedicated people. John Linenberg, Walbridge Assistant Vice President of Engineering

Jeep Renegades produced each year

vehicleS built per hour

Built For Good I 9

Ron Hausmann says goodbye I

t’s hard to ignore the longevity of a person’s professional career when all of it has been dedicated to one company. Ronald L. Hausmann, P.E. came on board at Walbridge in 1971. More than 43 years and hundreds of construction projects later, he’s announced his retirement.

projects. He also helped make a name for Walbridge in the aviation, federal and military markets, overseeing dozens of jobs for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Naval Facilities Engineering Command and the Army and Air Force Exchange Service. Hausmann also served for many years on Walbridge’s Board of Directors.

Walbridge Chairman and CEO Some of his most notable John Rakolta, Jr. projects with Walbridge were the and Hausmann Northwest Airlines Terminal at graduated from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, the Marquette Detroit Institute of Arts Master University the Plan and, most recently, the same year. new terminal at Wichita MidHausmann was Continent Airport. the highest-ranked civil engineering Hausmann has held numerous student to leadership positions with graduate from the industry organizations, including school’s program Chairman of the Associated in 36 years. General Contractors of Michigan During his final (2007), and was a member of undergraduate both the Michigan Board of years at Marquette, The late Walbridge Chairman and CEO John Rakolta, Sr. (left) with Ron Hausmann in 1998 Professional Engineers and the Hausmann got Michigan Board of Architects his boots dirty as a common laborer for Joseph P. Jansen (both from 2003-2008.) His involvement contributed Construction Company through the university’s co-op significantly to building and maintaining strong relationships program for civil engineers. Upon graduation in 1971, he with many external stakeholders. joined Walbridge. “Ron’s drive was legendary and his commitment to the Over the years, Hausmann served the company in various enterprise was second-to-none,” said Rakolta, Jr. “We wish Ron capacities, starting out at an estimator, moving up to and his wife, Esther, the very best.” project manager, and eventually leading various teams as executive vice president and general manager. He served The role Hausmann played in shaping Walbridge into what four years as Walbridge’s president before heading up the it is today will go down as one of the most valued in the company’s Heavy Civil and Concrete divisions. Hausmann company’s nearly 100-year history. We’re thankful he’s agreed was Walbridge’s “Detroit guy,” overseeing nearly all of the to stay on as a consultant. company’s many Detroit Water and Sewerage Department

Awards

he Washtenaw Contractors Association presented a coveted Pyramid Awards to Walbridge for the role it played as construction manager on the Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine project March 6. The Best Project Team Award was accepted on behalf of project architect, the S/L/A/M Collaborative, and owner, Western Michigan University in the over $25 million Pyramid Awards category.

10 I Built For Good

On March 12, at its prestigious Construction Industry Night event, the Detroit Chapter of the National Association of Women in Construction NAWIC presented Walbridge with its annual Safety Excellence Award. Winning in the regional competition puts Walbridge in the running for NAWIC’s national Safety Excellence Award. Companies honored by the recognition are those that recognize safety as a corporate value and commitment; that have implemented excellent safety and loss prevention programs; and that show a means of achieving high marks in safety through employee training, management committee initiatives and program innovation. Also honored that evening was Walbridge Chairman and CEO John Rakolta, Jr. NAWIC recognized Rakolta with its Myrt Hagood Leadership Award, which is presented to an individual who has, over the course of his or her career, demonstrated outstanding achievements, contributions and accomplishments that benefit the construction industry.

The ‘genesys’ of new ideas Walbridge recently launched a new ideation site called genesys. It’s serving as an organizational tool for gathering innovative ideas for our company and the construction industry. Right now it’s open only to Walbridge employees, but our intention is to one day offer our clients, partners and suppliers the opportunity to submit ideas as well.

The Walbridge Innovation and Improvement Leadership team is encouraging construction professionals to consider incorporating an “innovation moment” into weekly meetings to discuss new ideas and innovative concepts. By making innovation a part of our routines, construction can only become smarter, safer and even more enjoyable.

genesys

People

recent promotions

e like to sing the praises of our employees at every chance we get.

Larry Filson, Walbridge Director of Preconstruction Services, has become an accredited facilitator of the Project Definition Rating Index methodology. When our employees become accredited PDRI facilitators, they can bring added value to our clients. For example, clients who have two capital improvement projects coming down the pike, often have to decide which should come first. PDRI facilitators like Filson can help show which is ahead of the other in terms of viability and readiness for construction.

Walbridge’s Joe Castellano was promoted to Group Vice President and General Manager of Walbridge Industrial Process. George Dobrowitsky was promoted to Vice President of Technical Estimating. John “JR” Rakolta III was promoted to Assistant Vice President of New Business Development and Corporate Strategy.

What we’re building Recently Awarded

Getting Started

MSU Spartan Village Redevelopment

Administration Building for Marathon Petroleum

Michigan State University has selected Walbridge to serve as construction manager on its Special Housing Needs/Spartan Village Redevelopment project, which includes roughly 400,000 square feet of new housing and a 100,000-square-foot office building, as well as event and resident parking and retail near the East Lansing, Mich., campus. The new facility will replace the apartments in the current Spartan Village complex. Project details are still being finalized. Construction is slated for completion before fall 2017.

Walbridge is serving as construction manager on a new two-story administration building for the Michigan Refining Division of Marathon Petroleum Company. The boomerang-shaped building is being constructed on a 17-acre piece of property directly adjacent to Marathon Petroleum’s complex in Detroit. In early March, the team, working under a 17-month contract, was almost finished driving structure piles. They’ll be placing concrete foundations next.

Underway

GM Flint Paint Shop Walbridge is working as a lump-sum subcontractor on a new paint shop at General Motors Flint Assembly for Gallagher-Kaiser, which is serving as general contractor on the project. Walbridge is responsible for constructing the building shell and site utilities, which includes structural steel and building envelope; five prefabricated team rooms; a three-story administrative building and trestle linking the new paint shop to the existing plant; fire protection and electrical infrastructure; and installing storm water systems. Walbridge’s work is on track for turnover in July.

Wrapping up

Gerdau Reheat Furnace and Roughing Mill Project Gerdau Long Steel North America contracted Walbridge Industrial Process to install an all new reheat furnace and roughing mill at its facility in Monroe, Mich. The scope of work included installation of all furnace and roughing mill equipment, fabrication and installation of required piping, the re-routing of piping in the furnace basement, and the precleaning of hydraulics, lubrication and grease piping prior to installation. WIP is also responsible for startup and commissioning of all the new equipment.

Built For Good I 11

Welcome back, David Whitney T

he David Whitney Building was a first of its kind in the city of Detroit, setting a benchmark for many of the architectural landmarks that followed in what would become one of the country’s finest metropolises. According to historical data, the Whitney cost $1 million to build when construction started in 1914. It opened as a premier office and retail center to a bustling Detroit business community a little more than a year later. In 1999, following a sharp decline in the city’s population and commerce, the Whitney’s last tenant moved out. It sat vacant until 2011, when Whitney Partners LLC began planning its comeback. Designed by the successor firm to legendary architect Daniel Burnham, the 19-story Whitney building offers a throwback to America’s Golden Age. Its stunning four-story atrium inside is the building’s signature feature and one that Whitney Partners sought to honor in its 18-month, $92 million renovation. Walbridge and Kraemer Design Group were hired to oversee the historical restoration and modernization of the 100-year-old Whitney as construction manager and designer, respectively. Whitney Partners is a venture of Detroit development firm The Roxbury Group and Trans Inns Management. More than a decade of vacancy took a toll on the Whitney’s interior, which created difficult circumstances for Walbridge and KDG. Like many historic renovation projects, the building did not fully reveal itself until demolition. Much of it was For more information, contact Pat Podges 12 I Built For Good

inaccessible for investigation during the design phase, which presented numerous unknowns to the construction team as portions of the interior started to come down. One example of this was the rough flooring conditions throughout the building. Floor elevations were inconsistent from floor to floor, even room to room in some cases; several showed a multitude of different layers while others were simply raised by several inches. In other instances, plumbing was different from one area of the building to the next. And while some of the variations were evident to the team during the design phase, much of it wasn’t discovered until demolition. Additionally, there were various levels of deterioration throughout the 253,000-square-foot building. Some areas were exposed to the elements throughout the vacancy; others were exposed to scavengers who stripped its copper infrastructure and left panels, ceilings and other structural members dangerously hanging around parts of the building. The team could barely walk through the basement upon arrival. Following demolition, Walbridge got to work restoring the building’s heartbeat. All new mechanical infrastructure was installed – including a state-of-the-art HVAC system, entirely new plumbing and electrical components, a powerful backup generator, and an intricate fire alarm and suppression system, which did not exist before. Stairways and elevators were given new life, spaces left by removed elevators were repurposed, and the building was finally given its own separate freight elevator. Executive Director, New Business Development ppodges@walbridge.com | ph 313.442.1267

Then came the fun stuff: creating modern residential units and a boutique hotel. The Aloft Detroit Hotel lobby and bar are located on the Whitney’s main floor, where additional spaces have been shelled-out and prepped for a future restaurant, Grand Cirque Brasserie, and retail space. The second floor consists of ballroom and convention space that overlook the sky-lit lobby. The third through ninth floors hold 136 Aloft guestrooms. Floors 10-18 hold 105 residential units, the majority being 625-square-foot onebedroom apartments. The 19th floor houses mechanical and electrical equipment, as does the basement, which also houses the building’s new laundry facilities, office space for maintenance personnel, and storage areas.

Let you in on a little secret? Walbridge worked closely with state and local agencies to make sure the Whitney’s renovation met stipulated historical guidelines; preserving the architectural integrity of its skylight played a big role in the building maintaining its honorable designation. With the majority of the skylight’s glass panels either missing or damaged, however, replacing them all would’ve been too costly. The team’s solution was to remove all existing glass, keep the original steel framing and build an entirely new skylight just above the existing historic frame. The result is an atrium inside today’s Whitney that looks as if the original was simply restored.

Some of the alluring components of the building’s original Neo-classical design – such as its ornate exterior cornice – were removed over the years. While the cornice, deemed hazardous to public safety, came down in the 1950s following a city-wide ordinance, other considerable changes to the building’s facade were brought about during a renovation in 1959. Restoring the building’s exterior played a large role in its comeback, making it a welcoming sight to the city’s hundreds of thousands of daily visitors.

When Walbridge took possession of the building, many of its interior walls and finishes had been torn apart by scavengers, which compromised many existing structural elements inside and spread asbestos around the site. Its vacancy and subsequent vandalism made the building a hazard in many respects. Restoring the Whitney not only brings much needed hotel and residential space to Detroit’s current stadium district; it also creates a safer corner for pedestrians and nearby residents. Learn more at www.walbridge.com/davidwhitney.

Residences

Aloft Hotel

Lobby & Skylight

Its exterior work included the restoration of the entire masonry facade, recreation and replication of nearly 300 ornate cornice pieces on four floors, and the creation and installation of a historically accurate David Whitney Building sign. A lightweight, reinforced fiberglass was used to recreate the cornices, which also provide function in keeping water off of the building’s skin.

The Whitney is a well-known and respected building in the City of Detroit. With its location at the gateway to Detroit’s financial district and being steps away from Comerica Park, Ford Field, the Detroit Opera House and the Fox Theater, many in the city were rooting for its comeback. Being a popular stop on the People Mover rail only heightened the project’s exposure.

Built For Good I 13

Concept to Construction It’s typically the finished product that gets the acclaim, and that’s what construction is all about. Striking facades. Impeccable lighting. Innovative furnishings and built-ins. While not much attention is given to the processes that bring them all to life, our main objective as a contractor is to build something just as its intended in the rendering. Or, as in many cases, build something that’s even better. It’s not uncommon for construction teams to encounter challenges in creating the look. Sometimes it’s because drawings are drafted, revised and sometimes even approved before a construction team is even selected, let alone consulted. In other cases, it’s the concept itself that poses a challenge. Modernizing historic spaces, integrating high-end architectural finishes, managing sensitivity to certain areas and concepts that are operationally high-risk are often the most challenging. In historical renovations, for example, it’s important to pay homage to a space or structure while modernizing it to meet the needs of today’s users. This could mean making new paneling to match existing paneling, or scheduling and budgeting the time and resources to refurbish existing assets. For unique furnishings and millwork, we call in the experts. Walbridge bids out specific components of a project with the end goal in mind, knowing all along it’s our responsibility to manage its prefabrication and installation, construction or assembly. Such components generally require a great deal of coordination, scheduling and supervision on our part to make sure the intent of the designer is met. Mockups for high-end finishes are placed in their intended areas to help our teams achieve the look. This also helps manage sequencing. When mockups don’t exist, renderings are hung so tradespeople working in the area have a visual reference of the end goal. Walkthroughs are scheduled with the owner and designer at various stages of a project, not only to provide progress reports but to also provide real-time visuals. Far better than a meeting to discuss, these walk-throughs help in understanding whether a concept is working, if there’s room for improvement, or if perhaps an alternative is the more economical solution. Designs for the new Oakland University Engineering Building in Rochester, Mich., included several modern built-ins and nooks for studying and gathering. While the concept may look simple on paper, it took a team of experts to bring it to life with tangible materials.

14 I Built For Good

As with any product, the way something is built has a great effect on how it functions. Something as simple as a shadow cast can make all the difference for end users. So making sure a concept will work before embarking on its creation can make all the difference.

Concrete placement in the twenties C

oncrete has been used for millennia to construct roads, bridges, canals, monuments and buildings.

But the need to deliver large volumes of concrete across wide spaces or into tight corners in a relatively short period of time has continuously challenged constructors. As shown in these photographs from 1926, Walbridge was making its own concrete on site and was utilizing a tower and chute system to elevate large quantities of the material before guiding it downward to the intended placement area.

power the system that lifted the hopper high into the air. One worker would ride the hopper or climb the tower to control the discharge. Concrete would flow down a chute, collect in a receiving bin, then flow down more chutes and bins before being placed. Each pivot point of the descending chute system was supported by a block and tackle tied to an adjacent post. The post transferred the weight of the chute and concrete to the ground and held the pivot point at the desired angle. Each post was held up in a vertical position by three guy wire ropes. “The chute could be manipulated so that concrete could be dropped into a column, wall or slab form anywhere over the building footprint,” said Rex Donahey, Editor-in-Chief of Concrete International magazine, a publication of the

The photo below shows a clamshell crane off-loading aggregate from a rail car. The material was dropped into a collection box with “battered boards” that kept material from spilling out on equipment or people below. A nearby mixer was powered by a steam engine (see puffs of steam coming from its stack to the right). Workers would fill a large hopper, or bucket, with mixed concrete then the steam engine would Concrete placement using a chute system

Moving the chute system was costly, but effective

American Concrete Institute. “The tower, chutes and wire ropes comprise a very complex and efficient structure. It would be designed today only through the use of non-linear structural analysis software. In 1926, it would have been graphically analyzed by an engineer at a drafting board. Amazing stuff.” While necessary, this concrete delivery process added cost to a project as construction of the system and its “movement from receiving point to receiving point took time,” said John R. Schmidt, Ph.D., Professor and Director of the School of Built Environment at Ferris State University. Improvements have been made over the decades. The Pumpcrete, believed to be the world’s first concrete pump, was introduced in the 1930s. And some buildings today, including the University of Michigan Munger Residence Hall, are constructed using large amounts of pre-cast concrete, especially the walls. As far as placement goes, subcontractors today use fleets of mixer trucks to drive large quantities of ready mix concrete to construction sites. There the concrete is placed exactly where it’s supposed to go using hydraulic pumping systems, mobile booms, cranes and even touchscreen electronic controls. Built For Good I 15

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