Precast Concrete Prototypes in Pinellas County
PCI Ascent Winter 2022 – Making the Grade, Precast Concrete Prototypes by Monica Schultes
“The Pinellas County School District developed a prototype that used precast concrete to construct four school additions in the summer of 2021. ‘We developed a kit of parts that could be used in different configurations‘, describes Ted Williamson, President of Williamson Design AssociatesGo to https://wda.biz/. The prototype can be scaled up or down from 6 to 12 additional classrooms with an option for one or two story construction. ‘We could go bigger by just adding modules, so the design is very flexible to add space as needed. In the end, the precast prototype turned out to be an economical and fairly simple system‘, Williamson says.
The objective of the Pinellas County School District was to enlarge the existing schools at their current location without disrupting students and faculty. Because precast concrete components were cast off-site, fewer trades were needed on the active school campus. It required no laydown or storage area and was quickly enclosed for other trades to complete interior work.
Three of the four schools (North Shore Elementary, Sanderlin Elementary, and Sawgrass Lake Elementary) were constructed sequentially during the summer with only an eight-day typical duration to erect the two-story classroom additions. As if eight days were not fast enough, the Shore Acres Elementary project had to move even faster. Due to site constraints, it had to be completed in just one weekend. The building was up when students returned to school on Monday morning.
Jordan Wise, senior project manager with Ajax Building Company, described the carefully orchestrated sequence of events over that January weekend at Shore Acres Elementary. The accelerated building construction got started with the arrival of the crane on Friday afternoon. Coreslab Structures had the precast concrete panels at a staging area, ready to go. The team worked late, installing panels under the lights. Work continued on Saturday, when they finished erecting, welding, and grouting the precast concrete wall panels. On Sunday, the hollow-core slab was installed and in just three working days the shell was completed.
You can read more in the winter issue HEREGo to https://lsc-pagepro.mydigitalpublication.com/publication/?m=61705&i=736688&p=32&ver=html5.