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Click for Issue April 2007 December 2006 August 2006 April 2006 December 2005 August 2005 April 2005 December 2004 August 2004 April 2004 |
Project Report, Whonnock Office Malcolm Muir
As mentioned in our previous report, the logistics for Schuff Steel have been extremely challenging and there have been some difficult problems for them to solve. The fabrication so far seems to have gone well and the parts that have been erected have not generated any “field calls” to date, which is a reflection of how well our staff has done their job. Fluor has had some ongoing problems with equipment procurement and site conditions, but for the most part has managed to generate enough design information to keep us working steadily. As this project will undoubtedly be long gone before the next Details issue, I would like to take the opportunity now to thank not only the various project managers and their respective crews, but also the team in India, ably led by Patrick Salitra, for making my role easier. Thanks guys.
Project Report, Burnaby Office
Allan Gliege’s team have been detailing the 3,100 Ton Washoe Medical Center in Reno, Nevada for Fought and Company. This is another Project designed by Puttnam Collins Scott and Associates out of Tacoma with whom we have worked closely before. It is always a pleasure working with Lanny Flynn and Heath Mitchell of PCSA. The Vancouver Convention Center which, over the last 3 months has been going through very extensive Value Engineering, looks like it is finally getting off the ground. The Eastern part of the Convention Center has been revamped and the model revised ready for connections and detailing. This Project is breaking new ground, using a team approach with close coordination and consultation from Canron West Constructors (Fabricator, Erector) , Glotman -Simpson ( Structural Engineer), PCL ( General Contractor) and the Musson Cattell Mackay Partnership ( Architect). Our model has now become the official document, with the approval process being done electronically by all parties from PCL’s web site. Each discipline will have access to our approval model at the same time and can add its comments simultaneously. This process will approve the MODEL and connections before any shop drawings are actually created. This will dramatically speed up the approval process and flow of information from the Architect, Engineer and General Contractor. We are very excited with these new developments and are anxious to get underway. Thanks to Sanjay Prasad, with help from Raul Barreiro from our programming department, in creating the custom infrastructure to support this new concept. The Citi Bank Project in Long Island, NY for WSP Cantor Seinuk Structural Engineers (we completed the model for this) was awarded to Owens Steel and to Dowco for detailing in the middle November. This 5200 Ton Project will be headed by Doug McGillvray and his team. This will be Burnaby’s first project with Owens Steel. Eric Lee in our Toronto office has successfully worked closely with Owens Steel for a long time. We look forward to this new challenge and many more to come. John Chai’s crew is now in the midst of completing the Dallas Trade Mart Expansion for North Texas Steel. This is another job Bill Gigl has awarded Dowco. Thanks to Bill for all the support; we always enjoy working with you and North Texas Steel. The Comcast Center Project that Don Adair’s team has been trying to complete for Cives Northern Division is hopefully in its final stages. It has been an uphill battle dealing and struggling daily with revisions upon revisions. I know everyone working on this Project is very anxious to get to completion as soon as possible; hopefully sometime in December if there are no more changes. Sanjay Prasad and crew are modeling the New Jewish Museum Building for WRNS Studios (Architect) in San Francisco. Although smaller in size, this building is quite similar to the Denver Art Museum in design, with various skewed/sloping walls/roofs. This is one of the reason’s Dowco was hired by the Architect, to model the building in Tekla Structures, to help solve any potential problems before the job goes out for tender. This is becoming more and more the norm, especially for complex projects. In conclusion, I would like to thank all our staff for their effort and commitment this year. May each and every one of you along with your families have a safe and Merry Christmas.
Project Report, Toronto Office
Harvard Labs for Ocean Steel is delayed again by Bulletin 21.1. This project was intended to be complete by the end of October and now has stretched to early 2006. In addition to lack of information in the Structural Design drawings, the connection designs have contributed to the delay due to the multiple connections into one joint from different directions, resulting in connections overlapping each other. With Paul Ledsham on vacation, Frank Collins and the staff on this job have managed to maintain our submittal schedule without any further delay. Ashmont Station in Cambridge, MA is our newly awarded job from Newport Industrial Fabrication, Inc. of Newport, Maine. Total weight is approx. 350 tons, a unique project mainly designed using pipes or HSS, and majority members of this building are Architecturally Exposed, an open concept design utilizing natural lighting. Due to AESS with pin type connections and plated seats welded to pipe, and to avoid field cutting and grinding, it is extremely challenging in concealing erection aids. |
The Whonnock office is still working on the Cerro Verde Sulfide Project, which we are detailing for Schuff Steel. This project - located in Peru and being engineered by Fluor here in Vancouver, with connection design by Structural Consultants Incorporated - is nearing completion.
The Cerro Verdi Project is still going strong with the Whonnock and Burnaby offices working very closely to complete early in the New Year. The Grinding Building headed up by Tony Han is now complete; Tertiary Building run by Joe McDonald and Nick Tullen is well into its final 2 sequences and should be complete before Christmas. Steven Chang’s crew has finally received all the information for all 12 conveyors and is now full steam ahead.
One Bryant Park.
We have finished the lower floors on this project, after many weeks of design changes and schedule delays that resulted in a great deal of frustration on the part of our customer and ourselves. The major stumbling block on the project was the complete redesign of the belt truss system from the initial design drawings changing the member sizes and adding major load and member forces. The extent of this change was not apparent for many weeks until very complex connection details were issued from our customers Engineers changing the original bolted connections to massive welded “knuckles’ accommodating the bracing, beams and column in a single joint. Though further changes were required in many cases to accommodate the crane and material limitations, many thanks are due Don and our crew who performed an exceptional job detailing and checking the truss members, minimizing any additional challenges for the fabricator and erector.
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