ALABAMA STATE EDITION
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August 17 2016
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Vol. XXIX • No. 17
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“The Nation’s Best Read Construction Newspaper… Founded in 1957.”
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Your Alabama Connection • Rich Olivier, Atlanta, GA • 1-800-409-1479
Jacksonville City Schools to See Modern Facilities By Cindy Riley CEG CorrEspondEnt
students attending Kitty stone Elementary in Jacksonville, Ala., are beginning the school year in a new, 94,000 sq. ft. (8,732 sq m) facility. the campus will serve youngsters from pre-K through 6th grade, and was designed to accommodate a future expansion for middle school students. Located on a 30-acre site, it will give Jacksonville City schools some of the most modern facilities in northeast Alabama. City and county officials, school board members, principals, students and community residents took part in a groundbreaking ceremony for Kitty stone, which is a replacement school on a site adjacent to Jacksonville High school. the total cost of the project is expected to cost more than $13 million, including design fees and furniture. Carrollton, Ga., based rA-LIn & Associates was hired as the construction manager to lead the building process. rA-LIn senior project manager derek smith said crews have been focused on a final cleaning, along with completing fencing, the playground, installation of low-voltage equipment and moving in owner-provided furniture. Enforcing compliance of project plans and specifications has been a chief concern, as well as maintaining the project schedule for owner move-in for the new school year. As for the most time-consuming part of the job, said smith, “Masonry is the critical path subcontractor, with electrical and mechanical running a close second.” First team Construction Company Inc. of Auburn, Ala., was selected to build the new school. First team Construction vice-president Chad Beasley said, “Currently, flooring finishes are going down, final MEp terminations are being made, casework is being installed and final paving of the parking areas is expected to begin. Canopies still have to be finished, as well. Classrooms floors will be waxed and the owner’s furniture is scheduled to arrive on site. It’s a major push in many areas, and we have been running a seven-day per week schedule, in order to get it done.” the project, which calls for multiple classroom wings, a gymnasium, cafeteria and a courtyard classroom area, has not been without its share of challenges. “Initially, the time line was more relaxed, but the site clearing and building pad prep took almost five months, when it should have taken just one,” said Beasley. “this was due to the weather conditions. We mobilized to the site in February, 2015. Afterward, we had multiple days of snow and ice. Even roads were closed at times, so crews couldn’t get to the job site and obviously couldn’t work it. After tem-
peratures got better, we had a very rainy spring in 2015. the wet weather continued to delay the grading schedule. “Grading was critical, in order to release other activities, but when such a critical trade is being delayed due to the weather conditions for the length of time it was in Jacksonville during that stage, it is difficult to overcome. our aerial pictures each month showed the wet conditions. Additionally, we had two wind damage occurrences during the building construction — one regarding slab prep where our wire mesh rolled up like a ball, and the second where a section of trusses dominoed over and had to be replaced. redoing this work also caused delays.” the existing property was approximately 34 acres of cut over timberland. “the biggest impact to us is the time it took to destump and grub the site,” Beasley said. “Burning was not allowed after day one, so all the debris had to be hauled off as disposed of off site.
“We had to clear and grub the entire site. then, the site was to be balanced to establish the building pads. Upwards of 80,000 cubic yards of dirt was moved. prior to construction, we value engineered the project, which included lowering the planned building elevation by six inches. It was a good thing, as a large bottom corner of the site unexpectedly had soils not suitable for the building pad and parking lot areas. the on site suitable soils almost ran out. But by cutting out and back filling borrow pits on site in the non-building areas, we were able to reach the needed sub-grade elevations. Beasley said the critical goal at this time is to get the user into the building, and have it pass a life safety inspection. “outside, we are now, for the most part, in a drought, and only a small amount of the area outside the building is irrigated. We have seeded/strawed the bulk areas of the site, but without needed moisture, this may have to be revisited. see KITTY page 6
First Team Construction photo
The project, which calls for multiple classroom wings, a gymnasium, cafeteria and a courtyard classroom area, has not been without its share of challenges.
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Elements Prove Challenging During Concrete Installation KITTY from page 1 shelter area is capped by a concrete slab which is then covered up with the Also, the final wearing surfaces wood truss roof framing.” have to be installed, striping on the Site prep included dozers, dump asphalt must be done, and a general trucks, excavators and compactors. final cleanup is needed. “The site subcontractor on this “Most of the K-12 schools we project didn’t use a dirt pan, and build in Alabama consist of conshaped the site as he dug with the crete masonry unit (CMU) conexcavators,” said Beasley. “We had struction. In turn, the CMU instalmultiple mini-ex machines and skid lation is always on the critical path steers after that. Lulls were relied on of the construction, and drives the in the CMU, steel and truss installaschedule of the building, just like tions.” the grading does earlier on. A sucSome of the materials being used cessful masonry installation is key during construction have included on these type projects, but this also gravel, concrete, CMU, mortar and involves other trades getting their sand, wood, steel, shingles, metal components installed into the roofing, asphalt and VCT/carpet/hard CMU walls, as they are constructtile flooring. ed. Coming back after the fact to Beasley said the elements were a make corrections is costly and often major issue not only during the bulk alters the appearance. Beyond that, grading, but also regarding the conit’s getting a good group of subconcrete installation, as well as the CMU tractors on board.” First Team Construction photo The gym and kitchen/cafeteria The campus will serve youngsters from Pre-K through install. “We cannot lay wet block. In genbuildings were pre-engineered 6th grade and was designed to accommodate a future metal building (PEMB) frames. At expansion for middle school students. Located on a 30- eral, rain also delays the construction the kitchen, it was PEMB structure acre site, it will give Jacksonville City Schools some of until a roof is on, or we are otherwise ‘in the dry.’ Winter weather also has only. The roof consists of shingles the most modern facilities in northeast Alabama. its limitations depending on temperaover plywood, and the walls where tures, but this past winter was fairly CMU/brick. The gym was a more weather protection. This section is made up typical PEMB with a metal roof and some of classrooms, but the wall construction is mild for us. “We are still feeling the impacts of the wall panels, but also had a combination of 12-in. CMU, in lieu of eight inch CMU conCMU, metal stud framing, densglass, EIFS struction. The CMU has rebar in every cell, weather delays in the grading scope at this and brick. The classroom construction was versus a wider spacing, and the walls are point in time, because of where the job is CMU/brick walls, wood trusses overhead poured solid. All exterior door or window now, taking longer than it should have. Such and shingle roofs on top. openings have to be FEMA rated. a delay is difficult to overcome, because only “One section of the overall building is Penetrations of conduit, pipes, etc. through one trade is on site during that activity. designated as a storm shelter for severe the wall cannot exceed a specified size. The Outside of grading the masonry installation
spanned over about 12 months.” Beasley said, “Despite the four-month loss in the grading, which impacted the whole project duration, we have gained back at least two months of that loss at this point, which was critical in order to get the school open for fall. Anything less was not an option.” Project architect McKee and Associates of Montgomery, Ala., was responsible for the design of the new elementary school. Architect Lisa Bowen said, “The vision was to provide a modern cost-effective facility and amalgamate with the existing Jacksonville High School that benefits the initial and impending student needs of the city of Jacksonville School system. The site topography was the biggest challenge. The clearing of the trees and existing grade changes led to considerable site challenges that at the start of construction happened to be an extremely wet time of year.” The design allows for a storm shelter adequately sized in the building that will support the current and additional students for a middle school in the future. As for sustainability, Bowen said the new building design meets the ASHRAE 90.12009 International Energy Construction Code guidelines. She said, “Kitty Stone Elementary School is a testament of dedication by the City of Jacksonville schools to serve the community and its children for years to come.” (This story also can be found on Construction Equipment Guide’s website at www.constructionequipmentguide.com.) CEG
First Team Construction photo RA-LIN & Associates photo
Students attending Kitty Stone Elementary in Jacksonville, Ala., are beginning the school year in a new, 94,000-sq.-ft. (8,732 sq m) facility.
City and county officials, school board members, principals, students and community residents took part in a groundbreaking ceremony for Kitty Stone, which is a replacement school on a site adjacent to Jacksonville High School.
Construction Equipment Guide • Alabama State Supplement • www.constructionequipmentguide.com • August 17, 2016 • Page 7
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