Hodges Erectors, Miami, Fla., assembled and installed a pedestrian bridge at the Aventura Station for the Brightline train line in central Florida.
The Steel Erectors Association of America (SEAA) announced the winners of its 2023 Projects of the Year.
Entries could be submitted in two categories — Structural and Miscellaneous Metals. There are four classes by erection contract size in the Structural category and two classes in Miscellaneous Metals. This year, there were no entries for Structural Class II.
Projects that were topped out in 2021 or 2022 were eligible and must have been completed without significant accident or injury. Submissions are reviewed and winners are selected by an independent panel of judges from an engineering firm not affiliated with the association.
"SEAA appreciates the time and expertise these volunteers contribute, which makes it possible to fairly judge these projects," said Drew Heron, chairman of the awards committee.
"Several of the award-winning projects dealt with working during restricted hours, were challenged by limitations for crane placement, and exhibited creative use of tools and equipment to overcome those challenges," said Bob Beckner, Project of the Year Awards Committee representative. In addition, each of these projects was completed safely while working in close proximity to the public.
Winners receive trophies, feature article coverage in Connector magazine, and the chance to participate in peer panel discussions at future SEAA Conventions and at AISC's Steel Conference.
Structural Class I (Contract Value Up to $500,000) A Perfect Fit for Pedestrian Bridge
Pete Gum (L), SEAA executive director, congratulates Jorge Amador of Hodges Erectors.
Hodges Erectors, Miami, Fla., assembled and installed a pedestrian bridge at the Aventura Station for the Brightline train line in central Florida.
Assembling the pedestrian bridge on the street side of a space-constrained job site was the easy part of this project. Unforeseen circumstances due to a hurricane and lack of crane and operator availability added complexity to a task that already required close coordination with the GC, Lemartec Corp., Florida East Coast Railway and Florida Power and Light.
"It was decided early on that the only way to accommodate our work was to make the lift at night," said Jorge Amador, president of Hodges Erectors.
Ultimately, the 78-ton, 135-ft.-long bridge had to be lowered into 16-ft.-wide sections on either end with less than 2 in. of leeway on the sides.
"Three hours, this was the maximum time allotted for us to get the bridge lifted and set in place — so it had to be a perfect fit," said Amador.
Hodges Erectors, Miami, Fla., assembled and installed a pedestrian bridge at the Aventura Station for the Brightline train line in central Florida.
Structural Class III (Contract Value $1 Million to $2.5 Million) Transform 66 Outside the Beltway
Art Williams (C) holds the Project of the Year award surrounded by members of the Williams Steel Erection Co. Team.
Williams Steel Erection Co. Inc., Manassas, Va., erected 10 flyover bridges carrying exit ramps from central toll lanes along a 22-mi. segment of I-66. In addition, Williams Construction Services, a sister company of the erector, had the exclusive crane rental contract for the project.
The bridges straddled all lanes of traffic, requiring erection work to take place during six-hour nightly road closures. Conventional shoring for supporting partially complete bridge structures would not work due to the small working window. All equipment to be used had to be set up, operation completed, and removed within the six hours.
"Failure to do so would have resulted in six figure liquidated damages levied on the contractor for even slight overages in time," said Art Williams, president.
The Williams teams solved the problem by preassembling the main supporting box girders adjacent to the site, then moving them into place with their Goldhofer modular heavy haul trailer to be picked and set with cranes.
The box girders were braced using a low footprint engineered brace, which clamped them to the support piers. Meanwhile infill girders were erected between box girders and back to the bridge piers in alternating cantilevers. This enabled work to be done in small phases, providing frequent "out" points at which work could be paused in order remove equipment from the road when it was time to re-open for the day.
Williams Steel Erection Co., Inc., Manassas, Va., erected 10 flyover bridges carrying exit ramps from central toll lanes along a 22-mi. segment of I-66. In addition, Williams Construction Services, a sister company of the erector, had the exclusive crane rental contract for the project.
Structural Class IV (Over $2.5 Million) Colorado Convention Center Expansion
Ezra Presley (C) holds the Project of the Year award and is surrounded by other members of the Derr & Gruenewald team and representatives of SEAA.
Derr & Gruenewald, Brighton, Colo., erected 9,000 tons of structural steel for a 200,000 sq. ft. expansion of the Colorado Convention Center. The expansion was on top of the northwest corner of the existing structure, which ultimately required an LR1300 crawler crane configured with optional derrick and suspended counterweight to be assembled and operated from the roof of the existing structure.
The existing structure consisted of joist and truss girders with 90 ft. wide bays supported by 36 in. diameter pipe columns. The columns were filled with concrete to support the new construction.
At each bay, the crawler crane was used to build a new floor above the existing roof, capable of supporting the crane itself. After completion of steel erection and slab placement of each bay in the crane path, the crane would roll onto the newly constructed bay and continue erecting adjacent bays.
Putting a crawler crane on the roof of the convention center wasn't the only challenge the company faced. It also had very little room for unloading and shakeout. Located on the front range of Colorado, wind, snow and lightening were common causes for delay, plus work has to be scheduled around conventions that were being held in the adjacent space.
Derr & Gruenewald, Brighton, Colo., erected 9,000 tons of structural steel for a 200,000 sq. ft. expansion of the Colorado Convention Center.
Miscellaneous Metals Class I (Contract Value Up to $500,000) Pergola Over Tulsa
Bob Beckner (L), Project of the Year Moderator, congratulates Austin Jones (second from L) of Basden Steel.
Basden Steel Corp., Burleson, Texas, fabricated and erected a 100-ft.-long pergola on the second-floor terrace of a prominent downtown Tulsa building. The AESS Category 1 structure is made of white galvanized rolled 10-in. WF for the columns and arches, with 3-in. pipe infill and 10-in. HSS connecting the columns and bearing the center arches. Each arch is just over 18 ft. tall and 20 ft. wide. The AESS finish received a white paint over galvanized base and required multiple full pen welds.
The entire project was designed, fabricated and erected in less than four months. As the date for installation neared, the Basden team was faced with several surprises, including having to re-locate the crane and having restricted working hours requiring the crane to be removed every weekend.
"Mid-way through the second week, we got into a groove. Installation was complete in three weeks with an additional week for weld clean up, Bondo for AESS, and touch up painting," said Austin Jones, contract administrator and field operations manager.
Basden Steel Corp., Burleson, Texas, fabricated and erected a 100-ft.-long pergola on the second-floor terrace of a prominent downtown Tulsa building.
Miscellaneous Metals Class II (Contract Value $500,000 to $1 Million) Making Life Easier for Airline Travelers
Jennifer Nix (C) of Shelby Erectors receives the Project of the Year award from Bob Beckner, Project of the Year Moderator, and is surrounded by members of the Shelby Erectors team and SEAA representatives.
Shelby Erectors, Reddick, Fla., was the reinforcing steel subcontractor on a project at Tampa International Airport to build Express Curbsides. The company placed the reinforcing steel totaling 834 tons of steel for three bridges at the entrance, main terminal and exit.
Widening the access area for Express Curbsides at an existing terminal meant that Shelby Erectors' five-to-six-person crew was working under existing structures. The laydown area for materials was small and work took place in locations with limited headroom. This means it was more difficult to place materials into the job.
"This required a smaller crane with a short boom and the use of telehandlers to move materials around," said Jack Nix, COO.
Beams for one of the decks ran transversely from edge to edge, rather than longitudinally or lengthwise. Likewise, two of the curved ramps did not use beams. Instead, the slabs were more than 1-ft. thick, "requiring #9 rebar in the top and bottom mats, running in both directions," said Nix.
This unique deck design required the rebar to tie directly through the pier caps.
The volume and size of rebar installed for this job was significant.
"The work we do directly impacts the job schedule. The relationship between the rebar work and the concrete pours requires a very close relationship with GC," he said.
Shelby Erectors, Reddick, Fla., was the reinforcing steel subcontractor on a project at Tampa International Airport to build Express Curbsides. The company placed the reinforcing steel totaling 834 tons of steel for three bridges at the entrance, main terminal and exit.
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