In 2000, Louisville’s Mayor Dave Armstrong declared that downtown and Louisville’s historic waterfront, would soon become the area’s premier place to live, work and play. Now a Maxim T-Rex SK315 crane dominates the waterfront skyline as Wehr Constructors Inc. works to make that downtown housing initiative a reality with the construction of a 23-story, 82-unit condominium high rise.
Located at the corner of Witherspoon and Brook streets, Waterfront Park Place overlooks the Ohio River and is right next door to the city’s newly completed Waterfront Park. The project is being managed through Waterfront Park Place LLC, and is slated to be completed in January 2004.
“Wehr was awarded the job in January 2000, and we broke ground in October 2000,” said Scott Smith, senior vice president of Wehr Constructors. “It took us a little longer to get started because extra work had to be done to prove the structure wasn’t a flood hazard, and that downtown’s existing floodwalls were going to be sufficient. Fortunately that issue has been put to rest and now we’re up to about the fifth story of the condo tower construction.”
Smith added that the first phase of the construction, the condo tower, will be completed in 2004, and include mid-to-upscale condominiums and retail space on the first floor. Developers hope to attract grocery stores, restaurants, dry cleaners and other convenience services for future residents. Plans also include a glass exterior with brick accents, private pool, exercise facilities, a five-story private parking garage, secured entrances, and internet access. Wehr said he hopes also to participate in Phase II of the construction, which will include more apartments, the balance of the retail space and a five-story adjacent building.
Smith said that the crew first started on the parking garage, as it serves as a frame for the rest of the building. Construction began on an empty lot, with minimal leveling off of ground. Using a l00-ton (90 t) crawler crane, a 25-man crew was on hand to create Auger cast piles that were drilled 45 ft. (14 m) deep into the ground for the foundation.
Virgil Parrish, vice president of Wehr constructors and project manager for the site, said that once the friction piles were assembled, the crew put up about four stories of the structural steel skeleton, then began pouring concrete for the forms. “The structural steel frame was cheaper and more efficient for us,” Parrish said.
Efficiency also mandated the position of the elevators. “The elevators will be located on the interior walls and will be made of concrete shear walls, which we’ve been constructing floor by floor as we go.”
According to Doug Pillow, superintendent of the Waterfront site for Wehr Constructors, more than 4,400 tons (3,992 t) of concrete have been poured to date to do the form work. So far, the company has used a 20-, a 35- and a 60-ton (18, 32 and 54 t) hydraulic crane to carry forms for the existing structure; and he expects to have them back as construction progresses. A 300-ton (270 t) mobile truck crane has been used for moving structural steel around the site. In addition, a Peiner SK315 with a 17,600-ton (15,966 t) lift and a 190-ft. (58 m) boom has been used for heavy structural lifting.
The T-Rex crane will be a fixture at the site for the majority of the job, Parrish said, as it will be used to move all sorts of materials to the upper floors. At maximum length, the machine can stand 330 ft. (101 m) tall, hold 8 tons (7.3 t) per lift, and reach 180 ft. (55 m).
“Even though we do a lot of big jobs, we’ve found it easier to rent the equipment we need just for the time when we’ll need it. We usually rent our cranes from Padget and some of the remaining equipment from United Rental,” said Pillow. “We do have some standard Bobcats and bulldozers as part of our owned equipment.”
At any one time, Smith said Wehr has about 154 workers on staff, including its administrative staff. The rest are subcontracted. (see sidebar) Smith said the firm will probably be hiring more subcontracting firms as it reaches the finishing work stage of construction.
With a job on such a massive scale over such a long period of time, Smith said crews work to manage the budget by following the standard practice of holding to a guaranteed maximum price until the project has reached 80-percent completion. Then the company will submit a bid for the remainder of the work.
Luckily, construction has gone smoothly and the city has given Wehr a lot of support, Smith said. “So far, there haven’t been any unwelcome surprises,” he noted. “The only complication has been the fact that it’s a downtown site, and we have to work in tight parameters. But the city has been very good about allowing street closings and escorts for major deliveries, and that’s made it easy.”
Waterfront Park Place was designed by Bravura Architects of Louisville.
Wehr Constructors is one of Louisville’s top five commercial builders according to the Business First 2001 Book of Lists. The firm is no stranger to large jobs, having worked on other high-profile buildings in the Louisville area such as the Humana Tower, The Rudd Heart and Lung Center for Jewish Hospital, and numerous additions to the University of Louisville Hospital. The firms also is currently building a new suburban hospital satellite in Eastern Louisville for Jewish Hospital.
