JGM was brought on board early for this fast track, 300,000 SF 12 story office building. The general contractor and developer had an aggressive completion date to meet so their tenants could move in on time. Not only did we have a schedule issue, but we also had to contend with the tight site logistics as this building was at the heart of downtown Allentown.
Getting JGM engaged early on allowed us to work with the design team so we could build efficiencies into the project. The building was designed using a precast core design to brace the building, meaning steel and precast needed to be erected in concert. As we developed our project schedule, it became apparent that we needed to control the erection of the precast. Our tower crane had to be able to support both scopes of work. Because of this, we designed the precast shaft wide enough to accommodate the tower crane. The precast was designed in a way that our structural steel building acted as the temporary bracing for the precast until the final grouting and tie rods were completed.
The project floor plan was broken down into 4 quadrants which allowed for the most efficient erection process. We worked 2 floors at a time before moving to the next quadrant. All steel derricks were sequenced in a way that we erected every load right from the truck. Working 6-10’s and 2 shifts JGM erected all of the precast concrete core walls and the 1,800 tons of structural steel and metal deck in 10 weeks – that is over 1 floor a week! Lean construction at its finest!
This project required over 15,000 manhours and was executed with zero lost time incidents
