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Ahal Contracting Co. of St. Louis (Bridgeton), Mo., is no stranger to large concrete jobs. The company has over 50 years of experience performing major concrete flatwork and architectural concrete installations for a variety of clients.

However, in the summer of 2005, the contractor faced an especially challenging job at the 1.1-million-sq.-ft. Dollar General Distribution Center in Marion, Ind. The Dollar General Distribution Center is an $8.5 million project on a 188-acre site located near Interstate 69. Once fully operational, it will employ over 500 people.

Ahal Contracting's portion of the project called for construction of 1.3 million sq. ft. of concrete floor, 374,300 sq. ft. of tilt-up panels and 200,000 sq. ft. of concrete pavement in an exposed environment, while meeting the owner's specifications associated with an enclosed, climate-controlled building. Conditions on the job were hot, sunny and windy with the occasional afternoon thunderstorm. Furthermore, concrete floors are always stressed in a tilt-up operation since they are used as the casting bed for the wall panels.

In order to overcome these obstacles, Ahal decided to employ advanced scheduling and the latest technology on its concrete pours.

Multiple tools for a high-quality finish

According to Bruce English, Ahal's operations manager, the slab pours began each day at 3:00 a.m. and typically finished by 2:00 p.m. The pours were 40,000 sq. ft. in size and the concrete was placed at a rate of 125 cu. yds. per hour.