Steel Erectors Association of America (SEAA) announced the winners of its annual Project of the Year competition. Winners are selected by an independent panel of judges. Projects are recognized for their complexity, and companies are awarded the Project of the Year for overcoming challenges while maintaining safe work standards. Three projects were awarded for the 2014 competition.
“The number of nominations continues to grow each year, and we have more entries in the highest category of $1 million and greater, than any other. For this reason, the SEAA board of directors approved the addition of a fourth category for 2015 projects costing over $2.5 million,” said Tom Underhill, executive director. Nominations for 2015 are due Feb. 1, 2016.
2014 SEAA Project of the Year Winners
Case Study in Efficiency: MDX Open Road Tolling, Wing Gantry @SR836 & 17th Street
Class I: Erection Contract up to $500,000
Company: V&M Erectors Inc., Pembroke Pines, Fla.
The project, infrastructure modifications to convert to Open Road Tolling on Miami-Dade Expressway SR 836 in Florida, involved erecting and installing wing gantries and pylons for the new tolling structures. The challenge was to complete work with minimal disruption to traffic. To do so required making as few as possible, pre-assembled lifts over a short time frame.
V&M completed the work with less than 10 hours of road closures over two nights with a single 350-ton (317.5 t) Terex AC350 all-terrain crane. Each wing gantry was 85 ft. (26 m) long and weighed 110,000 lbs. (49,895 kg). Each pylon was 74 ft. (22.5 kg) long and weighed 80,000 lbs. (36,287 kg). For the erection plan, the crane was positioned so that it could lift and set the assembly from one location. The wing gantry was rigged with a 40-ft. (12 m) spreader beam. Each wing gantry was held in place by four suspension cables anchored to the pylon.
Cooper Steel Hits a Home Run for First Tennessee Park
Class II: Erection Contract of $500,000 to $1 Million
Company: Cooper Steel, Nashville, Tenn.
The city of Nashville needed ballpark steel erected fast. Opening day was less than nine months away and the project schedule was slipping. Given a 12 week window, Cooper Steel was able to top out all of the steel erection in just nine weeks. More than 850 tons (771 t) of steel and 45,000 sq. ft. (4,180 sq m) of deck were installed, working more than 8,000 man hours with no lost time accidents.
This project had a little of everything: joist framing, conventional steel framing, long span trusses, light supports, canopies, screen walls, batters eye steel and even a guitar shaped scoreboard. Typical of ballpark construction most connections were skewed and or sloped, requiring careful alignment both vertically and horizontally. Laser alignment was key in meeting the requirements for precast stadium risers.
Now Landing at Denver International Airport: New hotel and transit center canopies
Class III: Erection Contract of Greater than $1 Million
Company: LPR Construction Co., Loveland, Colo.
Part of the DIA’s South Terminal redevelopment program included construction of two large canopies, the lower train canopy covering the train station and tracks and the upper hotel canopy spanning through the airport hotel and cantilevering out on both north and south sides. The intricate projects involved placing 900 tons (816 t) of HSS members and box girders installed to tight tolerances, where all welds had to be uniform.
The geometry of the arched structure was very unique, consisting of interior tube members that twist about their axis as they go up and over the canopy. In all there were hundreds of steel nodes, where the steel members enter and exit the node at different angles of twist.
According to Ryan Duncan, pre-con engineer, LPR considered stick building the canopies in place, but that would have required the use of hundreds of shores and caused worker access issues. Instead, the company pre-assembled modules to lift into place.
“The best way to proceed was to maximize module size while keeping crane size within reason,” said Duncan.
The biggest challenge the planning teams faced was the cantilevered portion of the south end of the hotel canopy. This portion was 140 ft. (42.6 m) off the ground and cantilevered out over the train canopy below creating difficultly in shoring and access. The solution: build an access platform integrated with shore towers to support the south hotel canopy, which allowed all trades access to install finishes after steel installation was complete.
For more information, visit www.seaa.net.
Today's top stories
