Atlanta’s Buckhead community celebrated the opening of a new office complex when Beers Construction completed work on One Alliance Center late this summer.
“The building and its adjacent parking deck opened on Sept. 1, 2001, just 16 months after work began,” said Jason Hodges, construction manager of Beers Construction. “In addition to 20 stories above ground, the office tower has four levels below ground for parking. The project also includes a 10-story parking deck that will have two floors of garden offices on top.”
Workers broke ground on the $56-million project in May 2000, according to Hodges, with Aiken Grading handling the initial site preparation. In the process, Site Supervisor Billy Wayne Morris, and his crew from Aiken Grading, had to address a variety of issues related to soil quality.
“Aiken hauled out several thousand yards of unsuitable soil while excavating and grading the site,” Hodges said. “The company also installed storm drainage and sanitary sewer lines.”
“We started work just three days after Beers Construction gave us the notice to proceed,” said Dennis Fuller, project manager of Aiken Grading. “At that time, the 7-acre site was basically just one big drainage basin.
“As a result, we had to take care of a lot of wet soil,” he noted. “In all, the project involved around 50,000 cu. yds. of cut and fill.”
“Whenever you work downtown Atlanta, you face issues related to the quality of soil,” added Bobby Minter, site supervisor of Aiken Grading’s finishing work crew. “The soil on this site was nothing like typical Georgia clay. With Georgia clay, when you pack it in and seal it off, it typically stays dry. Here if it rains, you end up with 6 in. of mud.”
In addition to the grading work, the Aiken Grading crew had to install a 6- by 6-ft. (1.8 by 1.8 m) box culvert to allow water to flow under the site. “That was the hardest part of the project, because our workers had to contend with off-site drainage when they started the installation. That took the first month and a half,” Fuller explained.
Aiken Grading also had to coordinate much of its work with teams from McKinney Company, which served as the caisson contractor for the project.
“As soon as we got the lowest elevation on grade, workers from McKinney Drilling Company moved in and began their work,” Fuller said. “Each time they got a retaining wall into position, our employees would bring in more dirt to get the next level to grade.”
Because of tight working conditions at the site, Aiken Grading had to move equipment in and out throughout the operation.
“The type of equipment we had at the site varied according to the type of work we were doing and the amount of space our employees had to work in,” Fuller said. The primary equipment the company utilized included Caterpillar 300 excavators, two 963 Caterpillar loaders, one 815 Caterpillar compactor, three Volvo 35-ton (31.5 t) articulated trucks, a D6 Caterpillar dozer, a Caterpillar D8 dozer and miscellaneous support equipment. It also used a vibratory roller for raw backfill, and some regular tandem dump trucks for hauling dirt.
Aiken Grading obtained its Caterpillar equipment from Yancey Brothers, which also supplied the company with the majority of the 250 pieces of machinery in its overall equipment inventory. Trax Inc. supplied the company with its Volvo trucks.
As Aiken Grading coped with soft ground and unsuitable soil, workers from McKinney Drilling had to deal with a completely opposite set of challenges. In the process of drilling the 227 holes for caissons at the site, McKinney’s workers had to remove approximately 200 cu. yds. (153 cu m) of rock.
“The One Alliance Center project was probably one of the biggest caisson jobs ever done in Atlanta,” said Sammy Odum, district manager at the Atlanta office of McKinney Drilling Company. “The holes ranged in diameter from 36 in. to 108 in. The depth ranged from 15 ft. to 70 ft. Some holes were designed with 6-ft. rock sockets.”
To complete its part of the operation, McKinney Drilling utilized a variety of equipment, including three double LLDD drill rigs. A 200 Calweld drill attachment mounted on a 150-ton (135 t) Manitowoc 4000 crane also played a key role the process.
“The Calweld attachment is capable of generating up to 3-million lbs. of torque,” Odum said. “In some places, we also utilized air-powered hoe rams pinned on the end of Kelly bars to wedge some of the rock apart after drilling the initial holes.”
At several locations on the site, however, drilling proved impractical. On those occasions, McKinney relied on explosives to get the job done.
“We started drilling right before Memorial Day and completed our work around the first of October,” Odum said. “After completing the tower part, we were able to make pretty good progress on the parking deck caissons. In fact, at one point on the parking deck, we were working right behind the Aiken Grading crew.”
As McKinney Drilling Company got each caisson into position, other contractors could also begin working on the project.
“We poured the first foundation at the beginning of June 2000,” Hodges said. “By the time build-out is completed, we expect that 50 to 60 subcontractors will have participated in the project.”
For example, Southern Pan Contractors serves as the formwork contractor for the project. Dixie Erectors has the responsibility of erecting the steel structure. In addition, Beers hired Ameristeel as the reinforcing fabrication contractor, and engaged 2K Steel Products of Alabama to provide structural steel fabrication services. McClean Behm provides rebar installation services. Precision Concrete serves as the concrete placement and finishing contractors.
“We have three tower cranes and two personnel/material hoists on site to do most of the material handling,” Hodges added. “Occasionally, we also bring in mobile cranes to assist with specific operations. We rent the tower cranes from Morrow Equipment in Kennesaw, Georgia. Morrow, in turn, relies on Phoenix Crane Rental to assist in putting up and taking down the tower cranes.”
Other trade contractors also have brought a variety of equipment to the One Alliance Center worksite. Dennis Taylor Construction, for example, utilized a John Deere 590D and a John Deere 310E to handle the digging work for trade contractors Mark Henderson Inc. and Mallory & Evans. Mark Henderson Inc. handled the electrical base building installation for the project, while Mallory & Evans served as the project’s plumbing and HVAC contractor.
In addition, Beers Construction kept several pieces of equipment on hand to assist with miscellaneous chores. “Beers has two 455 John Deere tractors at the site to maintain our roads,” Hodges said. “We also have two forklifts on site.”
But despite the considerable amount of machinery and the large number of organizations involved, Hodges and his team from Beers Construction have earned high praise from the various trade contractors for keeping everything organized at the job site.
“Beers has a highly talented management team working on One Alliance Center,” Fuller said. “They have bent over backwards to make it possible for everyone to complete their work on time.”
“The dedication and hard work of our many trade contractors has enabled us to overcome a variety of challenges and maintain a very ambitious schedule since we began work on the project,” Hodges said. “Thanks to their efforts, we’re confident that we will have the center ready for occupancy by Labor Day.” CEG
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