ForConstructionPros.com

The Tilt-Up Concrete Association's (TCA) Achievement Awards program demonstrates the rapidly increasing use of tilt-up for multistory facilities. In 2007 alone, four multistory projects were selected from the submittals that demonstrate the advantages tilt-up provides for these unique projects. These projects display the variety in approaches to multistory configuration as well as several ways to embrace the aesthetic variation possible with tilt-up.

Overcoming space constraints
Tilt-up construction was the best choice for Seven Farms Square, a 94,000-sq.-ft. housing project in Charleston, S.C. Located in an area with seismic and storm requirements, this project needed to be designed to handle the elements. Tilt-up was selected for this project because of its ability to address those concerns as well as meet cost and schedule requirements. However, as a four-story project it also stretched the use of tilt-up.

Minimal space on the tight site for casting the many panels needed for this large project made panel layout and bracing very challenging considering the panels weighed approximately 95,000 lbs. The tilt-up contractor for the project, Charter Concrete Services, Inc. of Charlotte, N.C., overcame these issues by taking extra caution in lifting the panels and placing smaller panels on top of the third floor slab on deck. This project introduced tilt-up and its many advantages to the area, architects and construction managers as well as proved its viability for a four-story multi-use project.

Saving money and enhancing visual appeal
Seeing a total savings in construction costs of $1 million, the owner of 2310 Crossroads, a 70,000 sq.-ft. office building in Madison, Wis., was enthusiastic to begin construction using tilt-up. The building was initially designed using conventional building methods, but tilt-up provided significant cost savings. As a result of switching methods, Newcomb Construction Company, Inc. of Madison, Wis., the contractor for the project, faced the challenge of maintaining the appearance of the architect's initial plans.

Additional challenges included working with five-story panels and a small, 14,000-sq.-ft. foundation. Temporary casting beds were utilized at the site for the formation of most of the panels. The 57-ft. panels were the tallest Newcomb had worked with during its 14 years of tilt-up construction experience. Because of the project's complexities, the engineer built a scale model of each panel and its braces. Then the engineer designed a complex weaving pattern that had to be followed exactly in order to adequately support the panels.