ForConstructionPros.com

There are only a handful of buildings in the United States that rival the Virginia State Capitol for historical prominence.

Thomas Jefferson designed the original structure, modeled after an ancient Roman temple. With construction beginning in 1785, the building has housed Virginia’s legislature since 1788, except for a four-year stint during the Civil War when the Virginia State Capitol served as the seat of government for the Confederate States of America. It is currently the nation’s second-oldest working capitol.

After more than two centuries’ worth of wear and tear, the state of Virginia recognized the need to renovate, update and preserve this historic building. In 2004, the Virginia State Capitol Restoration and Extension Project began as an effort to turn around years of water damage, termite infestation and general aging. The project also includes updates on water and sewer utilities, electrical systems, telecommunication wiring, heating and cooling and making the building fully handicap accessible. A new underground extension off the south portico will house a visitor’s center and a security entrance to the building.

The concrete work

Cleveland Cement Contractors of Cleveland and Richmond, Va., working for the Gilbane/Christman joint venture, is carrying out the needed concrete work for the project, inside and outside. It includes pouring new floor slabs inside the building, restructuring concrete on the existing roof and walls, installing elevator shafts, building a new mechanical tunnel, repairing the concrete work in an existing mechanical tunnel and building the underground extension. Cleveland Cement began work on the project in early 2005 and will be finished by the end of the year.

“It’s not a large concrete project; it’s just an expensive concrete project because of logistics,” says Steve Murphy, vice president at Cleveland Cement. “There’s very little access, and it’s a very tight site.”