New construction presents many considerations to a building owner. For example, if you are building a new manufacturing plant, you must consider how long it will take to get equipment online — and whether that means taking equipment offline somewhere else. Because downtime can mean lost revenue, your new facility must be operable as quickly as possible. In such an instance, fast-track construction is critical.
Fast-track construction is optimal for other reasons, such as to complete a school building before a semester starts or to move operations from a less centralized or efficient facility to a new one as soon as possible to accommodate business growth.
“When it comes to fast-track construction, we are not just about getting it done fast, but getting it done right,” said Josh Wight, president of BlueScope Construction. “Fast-track delivery involves upfront and continual communication. When we collaborate from the beginning, we can reduce the owner’s risk, save on total project cost, and get them into their building faster.”
BlueScope Construction is the only design-build general contractor that can give you an integrated supply chain from raw steel through finished construction. With the ability to control your project’s steel procurement, design, detailing, fabrication, delivery, and building shell erection, we can control costs and schedule for the entire building shell.
Here are three examples of BlueScope Construction delivering fast-track construction as a solution for customers with a need for speed on their projects.
As a leading global supplier of pressure tanks and cylinders, Worthington Steel has processed steel in North America for more than 60 years. When business needs warranted a new steel processing facility in Decatur, Alabama, Worthington brought BlueScope Construction into the project early. Partnering early is a key driver of a successful project. It allows the BlueScope Construction preconstruction services team to develop a working execution plan which influences final construction costs before the project is underway, saving a building owner time and money.
Worthington had a clear vision for its facility, and it was complex. The 770,000-square-foot facility needed to include a temper mill, a cold roll mill, an annealing processing area, two slitting lines, a picking line, and office space.
Before steel could go up, extensive site work was necessary. Nearly one million cubic yards of dirt were moved, and an underground French drain network was installed. Additionally, several building foundations were lowered as much as 16 feet below grade to accommodate adjacent equipment foundations.
From the ground to the ceiling, BlueScope Construction structural engineering and detailing teams worked to design building systems that would support the needs of Worthington. The floors are 10” double-reinforced concrete. The roof supports the use of 14 overhead cranes, including two 70-ton cranes, three 60-ton cranes, and several 40-ton cranes.
To protect the steel in the plant, the facility was designed with an automated heating and ventilation system for monitoring, detecting, and controlling relative humidity throughout the facility. The BlueScope Construction erection services team provided all erection and sheeting for the project.
Maintaining the fast-track schedule was a full team effort. The complete project team, including the owner, equipment installation contractor, and BlueScope Construction’s project manager and superintendents, were located on-site to continuously manage and implement the extensive project changes to meet the desired schedule. The facility was completed ten months early and $1.6 million below the guaranteed maximum price.
As the federal agency responsible for maritime safety and security, the United States Coast Guard protects and defends more than 100,000 miles of U.S. coastline. It is the only military branch within the Department of Homeland Security.
When the U.S. Coast Guard needed a new building for maintenance and fast-deployment storage for two Coast Guard teams and their vessels in Boston, MA, the agency partnered with BlueScope Construction. As a General Services Administration contract holder, BlueScope Construction specializes in servicing government agencies and has been part of the GSA Federal Supply Schedule since 1993. Via this contract offering, federal agencies can purchase construction from BlueScope Construction without going through the public bid procurement process.
For this Coast Guard project, the speed of construction was critical to meet homeland security targets, as well as commissioning ceremonies for the Maritime Safety & Security Team (MSST), a Coast Guard anti-terrorism protection team established as a direct result of the September 11, 2001 attacks.
Due to its maritime responsibilities, Coast Guard facilities must be designed to withstand continual exposure to saltwater. BlueScope Construction engineers were able to meet this need by designing corrosion-resistant metal roof and wall systems for the 4,500-square-foot structure.
The design-build solution included a fully galvanized Widespan™ structural system, a painted Butlerib® II roof system, and Thermawall™ wall panels manufactured with stainless steel exterior facing. Additionally, all fasteners and secondary structural members were custom-manufactured with similar corrosion-resistant materials.
For this project, considerable demolition work was necessary, including the removal of an existing adjacent building. The surface of the pier was hydro-blasted to remove the top three to five inches of concrete to prepare the site for a new structural topping slab, the new building, and future 44-foot expansion.
Because of its utilization of the GSA Federal Supply Schedule, the United States Coast Guard procured the building materials needed for the unique environmental conditions, along with site work, construction, and favorable pricing through BlueScope Construction. Due to fast-track construction planning and the streamlined acquisition-to-installation process, the facility was completed two weeks ahead of schedule. The Coast Guard units moved in on-time and able to proceed with its missions related to homeland security targets.
When an international company was looking to build a large manufacturing plant in Shreveport, Louisiana, the company ran into some challenges. Initial estimates for a conventional steel structure were over budget, which put the project in jeopardy. When searching for a solution, the general contractor contacted BlueScope Construction.
The BlueScope Construction engineering services team designed a hybrid solution for the 704,000-square-foot facility. The combination of a pre-engineered metal building system and conventional steel brought the project in-line with the manufacturer’s budget.
This project involved several structural elements, including a tube rolling and finishing mill, a billet storage area, and buildings related to electrical and mechanical utilities. The design incorporated several parallel crane aisles with crane capacities up to 35 metric tons with the ability for the operation of multiple cranes in each aisle simultaneously.
Due to equipment layouts, there were several locations where placing a column was not possible. The crane beams needed to span 80’ or 120’, instead of the standard 40’-spacing.
To meet the aggressive steel fabrication and delivery schedule, BlueScope Construction used five internal design teams. Structural design was completed before the process equipment design. Additionally, 3D models were utilized to confirm that the building structure would not interfere with operational systems. The models were also used by the steel erection crews as the facility was built.
Much of the roof structure for the facility was pre-assembled on the ground. The pods were then lifted into the air, reducing the number of connections that needed to be made in the air. This resulted in a safer and faster steel erection by the BlueScope Construction erection services team.
Due to the early alignment of BlueScope Construction project management, engineering, and erection teams, the steel tube manufacturing facility was completed on-time and on-budget without a recordable safety incident. The total steel erection of the facility was completed in only 11 months. The finished mill can produce up to 320,000 tons of steel tubes annually.
BlueScope Construction specializes in fast-track construction. Not only do we offer an integrated supply chain that controls cost and schedule, but we also offer in-house, agile experts. BlueScope Construction project management, engineering, detailing, fabrication, and erection teams work closely together from the beginning of a project. Communication, collaboration, and employment of best practices allow BlueScope Construction to deliver efficiencies throughout your entire project.