Construction Equipment Guide
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Wed September 13, 2000 - Northeast Edition
Employees for Pray Construction Company of West Virginia’s Kanawha and Putnam counties have gone back to school at West Virginia University.
This design-build company broke ground on a four-story, 120-unit residence hall on Jan. 31, 2000. Project completion is scheduled for Sept. 22, 2000 less than one month after the start of the fall semester.
Before construction began, Pray was brought on the scene in November 1999 to develop the program. “UC [University of Charleston] had the square footage, occupancy requirements and a budget,” said Keith Smith, project manager. “Then they hired us to come in and design.”
Mary Cook, marketing director, said using a design-build company was an advantage to the University. Had the school chosen the design-bid-build route, Pray would have been the contractor and the University of Charleston would have had to hire its own architects in addition to other agencies needed before construction could begin. “With design-build, the client only has one company to respond to and one company that is responsible,” she said.
There are approximately 100 workers on site with Pray’s employees in conjunction with the 15 to 20 subcontractors. “We’d like to think Pray can stand alone but we can’t. This is a team effort,” Smith said. “We have our architect, Celli-Flynn of Pittsburgh; the structural and mechanical engineer, HF Lenz of Johnstown, PA; Potesta & Associates, our civil engineer from Charleston, WV; American Geo Tech also from Charleston and several others.”
Although major problems on this project were few and far between, there were minor obstacles the company had to overcome and be sensitive to during construction. “We encountered some old foundations and basements during excavation,” Smith said. “We had to use CLSM [a grout mixture of Controlled Low Strength Material] as a filler so the new foundation could be built on a more stable natural material.”
“We’ve also had to be sensitive when building because it’s in a residential neighborhood,” Cook, said.
In addition to these factors, like many other projects, the construction team was challenged by supplies that did not arrive on schedule. For example, Smith said the cooling tower was a month late.
“Aside from these minor hindrances the biggest challenge we’ve had has been the time schedule,” Smith said. “We’re designing and building a 54,600 sq. ft. building in eight months.”
Thus far the project has required 500 yds. (380 m) of concrete for foundations, 400 yds. (304 m) of CLSM, 50 tons (45 t) of structural steel, 54,000 sq. ft. ( 5,017 sq m) of precast concrete planks, 140,000 bricks and 220 windows. The amount of dirt removed from the site was minimal because the building is being constructed on what was a parking lot.
Subcontractors own about half of the equipment used in the project while the other half is rented. NationsRent and B&W Equipment and Sales leased the majority of the rented equipment. Some of this equipment included a Case skid steer, Sky Tracks, a JLG lift, a Snorkel lift, Komatsu and Cat excavators, and John Deere rubber tired backhoes.
Upon completion, this residence hall, named after West Virginia Supreme Court Justice, William T. Brotherton Jr., will house more than 220 students. Each suite will consist of two rooms with a shared bath, accommodating four students. Each resident’s room will be equipped with cabling for a computer, television and two telephone lines, and its own HVAC unit. “When designing we tried to look at the students’ needs,” Smith said. “With this residence hall, the University of Charleston has modernized the whole approach to student living.”
Jerry Forster, University of Charleston vice president for Administration and Finance, said the cost of construction is $6.2 million. “The majority of the money is borrowed funds that the university will pay for through student fees. Gifts in hand as far as monies received and forthcoming pledges is at $1.9 million but we hope to raise $2 million,” he said.
“We are pleased with our project and we are pleased we used the design-build approach with Pray. It put the project on an aggressive schedule and it looks like we’re going to meet our completion date with students residing in the facility at the beginning of the school year.”