The Art of Concrete

"The staircase was originally planned for steel construction because the architect was under the impression that it couldn't be done in concrete," Whitely explains. "We bid it, got it, but didn't know how we would build it at that time."

This feature of the building took immense planning, logistics and labor to complete. RSI interviewed three formwork companies for the staircase construction. They chose Peri because they had radius forms already available, avoiding a completely custom system and saving dollars in the budget.

The engineering company on the Dali Museum project wrote the initial concept design for the spiral staircase and the sequencing plan for loading and unloading. Peri went through the engineer's plan and detailed the construction of the shoring.

"A big concern with the spiral was the settlement and twist of the concrete, so we had to plan on 8 inches of settlement and 11/2 inches of twist," Madson explains. "After each pour and after each stripping sequence, we had to resurvey the staircase and adjust for anything that was out of plumb or design. In addition, we had to make sure the staircase followed general building code standards for rise and twist."

The construction of the staircase was a tedious process. "We poured a section of the spiral wall, then went back and poured that section of the stairs," Tellez explains. "So every day we had to take down the shoring and reshore."

The concrete work on the new Dali Museum was completed in late 2009, with the staircase work finishing up in Spring 2010. The inside of the building is still under construction and on track to meet the deadline for the January 2011 grand opening of the new museum.

"We took on a pretty ambitious schedule with this project, but with everyone's help and detailed planning we finished a week ahead of time," Madson says. "We hope that after seeing this project and the success we achieved, people won't think of us as a small contractor but a concrete company that can take on anything that's thrown our way."

Project at a Glance

Concrete Subcontractor: Reinforced Structures, Inc.
General Contractor: The Beck Group
Architect: HOK Architects
Structural Engineer: Walter P. Moore
Producer: Florida Rock, A Vulcan Material Company
Key products and equipment:
Timberline Estimating; Adobe Acrobat Pro for shop drawings; Mac computers; iPhones; PLS lasers; Penetron waterproofing admixture; Grace SCC admixtures in the ready mixed concrete and Marb-A-Like form release agent; ERICO's LENTON Couplers; Peri formwork for staircase; Shore/Form Systems, Inc. for building forms; HDO plywood.