NOrth Dakota Ready Mix & Concrete Products Association, Inc. …ndconcrete.org/Awards/PDFbrochures/2009_Awards.pdf · 2012-03-26 · Foreman noted a marked improvement, ... gutter

NOrth Dakota Ready Mix & Concrete Products Association, Inc. Hardfacts Special Edition

Hardfacts Special Edition NOrth Dakota Ready Mix & Concrete Products Association, Inc.

2009 Board of Directors

North Dakota Ready Mix & Concrete Products

Association, Inc.

North Dakota Ready Mix & Concrete Products AssociationPO Box 1076 • Bismarck, ND 58502 • 701-255-7250

David C. Sethre, P.E.Marketing [email protected]

Celebrating ExcellenceFor more than ten years, the North Dakota Ready Mix & Concrete Products Association. has honored our industry partners who have demonstrated the excellence and overall dedication needed to win our highest project awards each year. This year, we again have identified projects and their promoters and builders who will earn well deserved distinctions in our industry. The people involved in planning and specifying the use of concrete, and ultimately building these projects, will hopefully be recognized and honored, at least at some small scale, with this Hardfacts Special Awards Edition. For it is these people who not only honor themselves with finding effective uses for concrete, but it is their clients, project owners, and the public in general who will benefit from the environmental benefits, the value and the aesthetics that can come from the use of concrete.

Hardfacts applauds all winners, past and present, as they should be proud of their achievements. We hope they continue to provide the highest level of quality and dedication to the concrete industry.

David C. Sethre, P.E.Marketing Director

Gold 2009

Dan Doschadis PresidentVince Frost Past PresidentMark Dettling Vice PresidentClint Feland Secretary TreasurerAl Christianson DirectorArt Thompson DirectorJeff Stumpf DirectorJohn Grassel DirectorJohn Jund Director


Innovation AwardAwarded to Knife River Materials for Innovation in Mixes Using Vis-cosity Modifiers for Superior Flatwork Finishing at the Fargo Solid Waste Maintenance Facility Parking Lot.

Any story regarding innovation in the ready mix world should first start with how we have helped our customers. It is through inno-vation that we set ourselves apart from our competition to bring value added capabilities to the ta-ble. To provide a mix that makes the customer more successful should be our primary goal. Mix optimization can do many things of benefit for the customer. It can allow a reduction in effort to place and finish concrete, which is the primary benefit. When we

do special things to mixes we can reduce a buyers cost through increased productivity with less assets, increase the num-ber of projects a crew can finish in a week, and, most importantly, increase profitability for our customer, among other things.

This story starts with solving problems for our customers. Knife River has the resources to bring much to the table, being a national player in ready mix concrete. Jim Erbstoesser from the Fargo plant related the story of finishing problems of roller-screeded concrete for the parking lot for the Fargo Solid Waste facility. After discussion of the problem around the office, Jeff Eberhardt, Fargo Manager of Knife River Materials suggested the introduction of a small amount of viscos-ity modifying admixture as supplied by GRT Admixtures to improve the texture of the mix. When Erbstoesser called the Project Foreman to evaluate a certain modified load of concrete in the truck on the way to the construction site, the Foreman noted a marked improvement, completely eliminating the finishing problems. This project thereby was the first project in North Dakota to use the viscosity modifying admixture as a flatwork finishing aid, at least for Knife River Materials.. After more experimentation, it was decided to use the viscosity modifier to improve finishing of slip formed curb and gutter construction. The Curb & Gutter Foreman on this project noted an immediate improvement in finishing, with the beneficial reduction in paver tears.

The outcome of the use of this concrete admixture in an innovative manner provides an immediate benefit for Knife River Materials customers and potentially, for all who construct concrete pavements or curb & gutter. The obvious benefit is the reduction in effort, which translates to a reduction in cost to construct through potential time savings. This, then, re-lates to the benefit to do more work with less manpower and assets. A third benefit is providing the project owner with a higher quality surface finish (with minimization of over-working of the surface) compared to traditional concrete mixes. Knife River Materials continues to provide innovation to the concrete industry highlighted by examples provided by this Innovative Award application.


Veteran’s Boulevard I-94 Interchange Bridge

Owner: North Dakota Department of Transportation City of West Fargo City of Fargo Contractor: Industrial Builders, Inc.Engineer: North Dakota Department of TransportationConcrete Supplier: Aggregate Industries

This project is unique among bridges due to significant de-partures from normally perceived standards. First, it is the widest bridge every constructed in the State of North Dakota, providing width for two lanes in each direction plus adequate shoulder allowances to make future expansion to three lanes each way plus a median. To complicate the construction effort, the engineers asked the Contractor to install a double crown to ensure adequate drainage for each traffic direction.

To ensure a quality final bridge deck outcome, the engineers asked for retarding concrete admixtures to ensure workability

for finishing and to delay set-time to minimize tear-type surface cracks over the piers. The deck pour was conducted at night to also enhance the crew’s ability to finish the surface under ideal conditions. With an extreme width of the bridge deck finishing machine due to the ultra width, crews were still able to accomplish a smooth ride and perform with only minor evi-dence of drainage issues in the bridge crown.

Credit is given to the City of West Fargo and City of Fargo for pooling their financial re-sources to pay for the bridge construction. This bridge now provides an important cross-link across I-94 to ease traffic flow as development for both cities continues to the south and west of existing urban areas. The NDDOT provided concrete pavement for the ramps.

Bridge Category


South Prairie Elementary SchoolOwner: South Prairie School District No. 70Contractor: American General ContractorsArchitect: Davison Larson AssociatesStructural Engineer: Ulteig Engineers Inc.Precast Supplier: Wells Concrete

PrecastCategory

Precast concrete continues to provide optimal solutions for school structures with this project. Architects will always consider concrete to meet “sustainability goals” through cost effectiveness, high strength, long life, energy efficiency, desirable aes-thetics, ease of remodeling and low maintenance.

The highly efficient insulated load bearing precast concrete panels used on this proj-ect are PCI Certified for quality and will provide decades of service. The inner and

outer withes of the sandwich panels are separated from each other with insulation, resulting in no thermal short circuits or cold spots creating a very energy efficient wall system. Electrical boxes and conduits were cast directly into concrete, providing a smooth, clean, attractive, safe and durable interior finished surface. The concrete exte-rior provides a durable maintenance free finish surface for years to come. The tall load bearing gym wall panels were quickly erected in one vertical piece. The wall panels were provided offsite interim storage prior to and during erection. This advantage contributed to avoiding damage, staining and vandalism problems if stored outside in the elements. Since the panels were prefinished in the factory, the need for furring and drywall interior finishes was eliminated. By erecting the wall panels directly on top of the footings, thermal short circuits at the floor line were eliminated providing for uniform temperature on playing surfaces.

On the exterior, the architect chose a two tone architectural finish with subtle reveals for the outside panel face using a custom concrete mix design with medium sandblast exposed aggregate finish. The funky corner windows really provide a nice touch allowing staff and students to find their way through the gymnasium during daylight hours without the need for artificial lighting.

For the interior, the architects chose an attractive nearly indestructible surface created by applying a steel tow-eled surface coated with attractive painted surface. These painted concrete surfaces will ensure minimal mainte-nance for school staff.

The precast panels on this job were cost effective, quickly erected, provided a load-bearing function and are highly durable, with a pleasing eye appeal. Congratulations on a truly effective solution for the school district and its students.


Kanebec County JailOwner: Kanabec County, MinnesotaArchitect: Klein McCarthy & Co., Ltd. Architects Construction Manager: Contegrity Group, IncorporatedStructural Engineer: Paulson and Clark Engineering, Inc.Precast Supplier: Wells Concrete

Any successful project combines an effective partnership between designers, suppliers and build-ers. Only through communica-tion, interaction and commitment do projects such as the Kenebec County project meet the goals of the customer and those chosen for implementation. We can tell the story no better than testimo-

nial abstracts from the Architect, “Wells Concrete did an excellent job in working with our designers right from the start of the project. They spent time outlining their processes, quality control and capabilities so that we were able to challenge them to provide a building that “didn’t look like a jail”. With the facility being located adjacent to the existing historical courthouse, within a residential neighborhood and along a busy city street, the public was very skeptical about the design of the jail. They wanted to avoid the industrial park look.

With the help of Wells Concrete our designers were able to develop a series of random panels utilizing various reveals, textures and finishes to achieve an interesting design that met the public’s civic pride while also providing a value and maintaining the county’s tight budget.

Due to the reveal patterns continuing from one panel to another it was critical to the erection process to not only erect in the proper sequence by also to align the reveals with adjacent panels. Wells Concrete’s quality control to ex-ecute this design was excellent and the results are a crisp, clean design image.

The project has been praised by the public, the County Board and by all trade contractors involved. This was all made possible by Wells Concrete working collaboratively with the Klein McCarthy Architects to challenge everyone to provide a facility that provided value and maintained the public pride in the community.

Governmental Category


Concrete Bike Path with Drain 27 Pedestrian Bridge

Owner: City of FargoContractor: Wanzek ConstructionSub-Contractor: AJ ConstructionCivil Engineer: City of Fargo & Ulteig EngineersStructural Engineers: Ulteig EngineersConcrete Suppliers: Strata Corporation Aggregate IndustriesPrecast Beam Supplier: Cretex

This project is part of the ongoing commitment of the City of Fargo to provide concrete for shared use paths for the parks system and connecting paths in general. The project is focused on the Drain 27 Pedestrian Bridge plus adjacent paths in southwest Fargo in the Osgood area. The pedestrian bridge connects the existing shared use path along the west side of Drain 27 and the shared use path planned for 52nd Avenue South..

Both prefabricated and cast-in-place superstructure alternatives were explored. Ultimately, the Engineers chose a 135-foot cast-in-place concrete deck supported at mid-depth of a pair of pre-stressed concrete I-beams. The top of the I-beams also serve as safety rails for the bridge. This design presented an interesting challenge in adapting the bridge I-beams to a use in which the top of the flange is not laterally supported by a bridge deck. Another design challenge was provided by the 20-degree skew for the bridge waterway opening. Ornamental railing was provided for both safety and aesthetic appeal. Plus, the exposed concrete was decorated with a light brown surface applied cementi-tious coating for earthy toned aesthetics and enhanced durability.

The adjacent concrete multi-use path was designed to maintain a minimum radius of 100 feet where possible. De-signers determined that a 4” thick pavement would meet the requirements for the light traffic needs. This thickness helped provided economy for the long and difficult truck hauls to remote parts of the project. Joints on the pavement were installed with narrow saw-cuts. This detail eliminates a big complaint from the “rollerblading” users who dislike wide tooled joints.

Thanks to Ulteig Engineers for entering this great project.

Paths& Trails

Category


Ron & Sue Schuh Outdoor Living Space

Contractor: Tooz Construction, Inc.Subcontractor: Grizzly Concrete ServicesConcrete Supplier: Dickinson Ready Mix Co.

Segmented Walls & Patios CategoryWhen Ron & Sue Schuh built their new house, they wanted to create an outside living area that complimented the features of the house, enhance the beauty of the yard, maximize functionality and provide good traffic flow through the space. They accomplished this by mixing natural land-scaping elements such as grass, trees and other plantings with architectural elements including colored, stamped and textured decorative concrete, concrete pavers and segmented concrete retaining walls. The yard is raised above street level by the use of segmented concrete retaining wall

blocks (Diamond). The same retaining wall blocks are used to construct the 30” high wall around the perimeter of the yard. Versa Lok cap block were used to construct steps which were built into the retaining wall, providing access to the yard. Next to the perimeter retaining wall, a colored concrete border was constructed to add a more dramatic impact. This gray con-crete border was cast-in-place and then a leather colored acid stain (Dura-Stain) was used to provide color. This border was textured with an Italian Slate (Proline ) texture skin. All the walkways in the yard, including the perimeter retaining wall walkway, were created using decorative concrete with an Ash-lar Slate stamp pattern. These walkways were colored with a shake-on color hardener and accented with a charcoal colored release agent for contrast. The result for the walkways and borders was a rich and distinctive concrete hardscape. The focal point of this outdoor space is the stamped concrete patio, positioned inside the perimeter retaining wall, in the far corner of the yard. The circular patio is separated from the re-taining wall by an acid stained concrete border which serves to highlight the patio. The patio consists of textured, decorative concrete with a Cobblestone circle at the center surrounded


by Italian Slate. The Cobblestone center was created using decorative concrete, stamped with a Cobblestone Circle pattern stamp, colored with a color hardener and accented with a contrasting color release agent. The concrete around the circle was textured with an Italian Slate texture skin, also colored with a color hardener and accented with a dark colored color release.

The outdoor living space also includes an elevated deck connected to the house and constructed using interlocking concrete paving stones (Holland Stone) chosen to compliment the brick veneer of the home. The concrete pavers provide a classic look through use of a simple, but eye-catching basket-weave pattern. The transition from ground level to the deck elevation is accom-plished by also using concrete pavers on the steps, which combines with the Ashlar Slate concrete walkways to achieve a striking visual impact.

This outdoor living area intermingles a diverse grouping of architectural elements including integrally colored concrete, chemi-cally stained concrete, stamped/textured decorative concrete, interlocking concrete

paving stones and segmented concrete retaining walls. This outcome achieved a cohesive, aesthetically pleasing, outdoor space that adds livability and value to the Schuh home.


Harvey Residence

Contractor: Opp ConstructionArchitect: T. L. Stroh ArchitectsConcrete Supplier: Aggregate Industries

Decorative ConcreteCategory

Who is not amazed at the exotic opportuni-ties we see today for hard surfaces in our home and commercial environment. This project exemplifies the best in providing unique and attractive hardscapes to en-hance the efforts we place in aesthetics for our own homes, whether we consider our entrances, our exteriors or our landscaping.

The decorative concrete hardcape used for this project provides an invitation to come and explore the details in the decorative

flatwork; even to examine the blend and theme that the flatwork contributes to this homes entrance. Only real stone surfacing can compete with the effective use of decorative elements in this decorative flatwork, but at a significant cost premium.

The decorative technique to accomplish the final product involved an interesting combination of effort. Integral colored concrete was used throughout, with initial texture provided by the use of seamless Roman Slate texture skins. After initial texturing with the skins, the concrete artists returned to hand cut an Ashlar slate pattern to create random size stones. After curing with non-film forming techniques, the artists returned to provide custom color washing of individual stones for variety and effect.

Compliments to the Harvey family, the designers and the builders for a great effort.


This project meets many of the goals we set to use “Green” building practices and sustainable construction within the urban environment. First, it makes use of limited land space through infilling the parking facility within existing development. Concrete was chosen for this parking lot because of its competitive initial cost, expected durability, and nighttime safety characteristics. Use of concrete on this project helped contribute to effective use of materi-als including use of flyash, mitigation of “urban heat island effect”, provide long term aesthetics, and require minimal maintenance costs over a long period of time. This project has a clean look and upscale appearance, which enhances any property, plus its increased reflectivity (albedo) can lower cooling costs for adjacent buildings, and lower lighting costs.

At the beginning, a major drainage corridor existed in front of the 45th Street Business Center hindering access and consuming land area. Slope stability had become a concern for city engineers as this drainage ditch was exhibit-ing slumping of its embankments. Through cooperative goals and negotiations with the Red River Watershed Dis-trict (RRWD), City of Fargo and Roers’ Development (RDI), Inc., a plan was developed to better utilize the land area.

Through use of concrete box culverts to maintain the flow of the drain-age ditch, this wasted land area was put to practical use. This coopera-tive effort between the RRWD, City of Fargo and RDI is exemplary in its approach to provide a “win – win” solution for the public sector and private business.

Once the concrete box culverts were placed, they were backfilled utilizing geofabric to improve soil stability. Concrete was chosen for its rigid pavement properties, durability, clean look, low maintenance, and ease of installation. A 5 inch depth concrete pavement was placed in phases over the project schedule. Site drainage was designed to minimize impact to the existing storm drainage system through both onsite storage and offsite storage allowances.

This 144,000 SF parking area provides an additional 310 parking stalls for the 45th Street West Business Center. The geometric design greatly

improves access to the Business Center from 45th Street. Concrete provides a durable, attractive, easy to maintain pavement which enhances the productivity and value of the 45th Street Business Center.

ParkingFacility

Category

West 45th Business Center Parking Lot

Owner: West 45th Business Center/Roers Development, Inc.Engineer: Moore EngineeringContractor: Roers’ ConstructionSub-Contractor: Dittmer Concrete ConstructionConcrete Supplier: Strata Corporation


Milton R. Young Station Unit 2 Chimney

Owner: Minnkota Power Cooperative, Inc.Contractor: Maertens-Brenny Construction Company (Foundation)

Pullman Power (Chimney)Structural Engineer: Burns & McDonnellConcrete Pumping: Midwest Concrete PumpingConcrete Supplier: Knife River – ND Commercial

Category

In 2008, Minnkota Power Cooperative of Grand Forks, ND, began a three-year long project of envi-ronmental enhancements at its Milton R. Young Sta-tion near Center, ND. The enhancements are aimed at reducing sulfur dioxide emissions from the coal-fired power plant. As part of the project, Minnkota constructed a new concrete foundation and chimney for the facility’s Unit 2 generator.

Minnkota partnered with engineering firm Burns & McDonnell, general contractor Maertens-Brenny Construction Company, and concrete supplier Knife River – North Dakota for the first phase of the project – a 140-foot-wide, 11-foot-thick foundation to support a new 550 foot tall emissions stack.

Knowing the foundation needed to be placed as a single-pour, all parties coordinated this large undertaking through several months of detailed planning. Knife River started producing concrete at 8:00 a.m. Friday, October 17, 2008, and Maertens-Brenny completed its last placement at 5:10 a.m. Saturday, October 18, 2008. In total, 6,426 cubic yards of concrete were batched from four ready-mix plants and delivered by a fleet of 30 ready-mix trucks. The foundation pour was completed with no injuries or accidents, no rejected loads and almost five hours ahead of schedule. To Knife River’s knowledge, this was the largest continuous pour ever staged in North Dakota.

Nearly 9 months later, general contractor Pullman Power began the process of slip-forming a new 550 foot tall chimney on top of the foundation. Again working with concrete supplier Knife River, Pullman Power provided its propriety mix design for the slip-form. The technical mix design included super plasticizer, accelerators and a concrete temperature range that had to be maintained for the duration of the pour to ensure the concrete would set as required.

Knife River produced concrete 24 hours per day, 6 days per week for 6 weeks for this project. The stack measures feet in diameter at the base and 50 feet at the top and took nearly 4,500 cubic yards of concrete to complete. With the concrete work complete, construction crews will continue their work of installing the environmental upgrades. Milton R. Young 2 emissions project is scheduled to be completed, tested and online by November 2010.


Looking for opportunities to re-establish a concrete paving program on county highways, the Cass County Highway Department were able to budget additional funds for this project to construct one of the first thin concrete overlays in North Dakota. In spite of some of the most unsupportive soil types in North Dakota, concrete pavements have per-formed admirably in Cass County. Based on experiences in

other states, this project will also provide a long service life, even with the 5” concrete thickness.

Engineers at an early stage recognized that design effort for this project was little different than that for asphalt overlays. The preparation of life cycle cost (LCC) analysis comparing this 5” concrete overlay to thinner asphalt over-lays with less expected service life showed the opportunity for significant upside. Other upside opportunities not included in the LCC were minimizing impacts of load limits for this heavily traveled truck route, safety aspects of the concrete pavement and long life with little maintenance. Even when the project reaches the end of its service life, the pavement can easily be milled out and recycled, as no steel was used. Based on these upside opportunities, the Cass County Board of Commissioners gave approval.

From the beginning, the Contractor gave the project its highest priority. Know-ing the traffic would be severely limited during construction, the Contractor committed to constructing the job over a couple week period during a lull in agricultural work during June. The Contractor asked the ready mix producer for maximum effort to make practical progress in slip form paving work. Using 23 trucks at times transporting mix, paving progress was rapid, with one mile pav-ing per day possible. To maximize access to concrete, much of the paving work was performed at night. Concrete paving work was finished in 11 days, with additional time required for asphalt shoulders.

Communication and partnership in effort was a key to success in getting the road open in the earliest possible time. Use of ready mix was a key element to success so the Contractor’s batch plants could remain productive on other proj-ects. Final ride smoothness was excellent due to dedication to the use of slip form paving technology and superior crew efforts.

OverlaysCategory

Cass County Hwy. 11 Thin Concrete Overlay – Mapleton

Owner: Cass CountyContractor: Upper Plains Contracting, Inc.Engineer: Cass County Highway Department Engineering StaffReady Mix Supplier: Aggregate Industries

Veterans Boulevard Divided Arterial Roadway

Fargo Street Improvement District #5530-5 West Fargo Street Improvement District #2195-Ph.I

Owners: South East Cass Water Resource District City of West Fargo City of FargoEngineer: Moore EngineeringContractor: Dakota Underground, Inc.Subcontractor: Superior ContractingConcrete Supplier: Strata CorporationThe project consisted of constructing a new urbanized divided arterial roadway and associated utilities for future Veteran’s Boulevard and a 3-lane roadway on 32nd Avenue. Veteran’s Boulevard was constructed between 23rd Avenue and 32nd Avenue on the boundary between West Fargo and Fargo and 32nd Avenue was replaced between Veteran’s Boulevard and 51st Avenue South in Fargo. The existing gravel surface rural roadway sections were replaced with an urbanized concrete street with curvilinear multi-use paths, decorative street lights, trees, bushes, and medians.

Veterans Boulevard divides West Fargo and Fargo beginning at the new I-94 interchange. It is West Fargo’s gateway to the newer neighborhoods south of I-94 and the new Sheyenne 9th Grade Center, as well as future development land in the southwest corner of the interchange. 32nd Avenue is an arterial roadway leading from the residential areas in the southern half of West Fargo into the new commercial areas on the west side of Fargo.

A major design consideration was to provide capacity for the future volumes of traffic that are expected on the road-ways. Two through lanes are provided in each direction on Veteran’s Boulevard, along with faux dual left turn lanes and several designated right turn lanes. The section would be expandable to six through lanes with auxiliary lanes.

32nd Avenue has a center double left turn lane as well as designated right and left turn lanes at Veteran’s Boule-vard, and is designed to be expanded on the north side of the current road-way to its future six lane section width as traffic in the area warrants. Concrete pavement was chosen for the roadway because of the length of its service life and the expectation of large loads as the area develops. Concrete provides a great contrast from the adjacent landscaped areas and black decorative lighting and provides for more reflectiv-ity for lighting system.

A minor design consideration was the integration of the existing levee on the centerline of the right of way. To reconstruct the levee within the center

StreetPaving

Category

median of the new roadway and maintain a 5 foot minimum top width as required by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, it was necessary to use decorative colored concrete with 1:1 (horizontal: vertical) side slopes to accomplish this. The side slopes presented a major challenge for installers while placing and stamping the concrete, but the result is a unique and useful fea-ture in the center median.

Also within the roadway, colored concrete sections were installed within the cross-walk areas to provide a contrast between the gray roadway surface and the cross-walk area and to alert drivers and pedestri-ans of the locations of the crosswalks.

In addition to concrete pavement in the roadway, curvilinear concrete multi-use paths were installed on both sides of the

roadway to accommodate pedestrian and non-vehicular traffic. Concrete was chosen for multi-use paths to provide visual contrast to the surrounding landscape, long term surface quality, and load capacity to support snow removal equipment. Concrete also allowed for better control of the curved multi-use paths during construction and provides a more reliable surface for skateboarders, rollerbladers, and other similar uses. Decorative colored concrete was used in medians and boulevards in areas too narrow to support vegetation and where deicing materials would have detrimental effects on vegetation. This was also done for a 3’ strip behind the back of curb in the median areas. The decorative colored concrete produces a surface that adds to the aesthetic quality of the project as well as providing a durable, low maintenance surface in narrow median and boulevard areas.

Total project cost was $7.25 million. The installation of the four through lanes (two northbound and two southbound) on Veterans Boulevard was a record setting concrete production. For prime contractor Dakota Underground it was the largest single day concrete paving operation they had performed. For supplier Strata Corporation, it was the largest single day concrete quantity they had provided.


Documents

NOrth Dakota Ready Mix & Concrete Products Association, Inc. …ndconcrete.org/Awards/PDFbrochures/2009_Awards.pdf · 2012-03-26 · Foreman noted a marked improvement, ... gutter