Beat the Clock

New transmission assembly building design-built to meet GM deadline

By Sam Barnes

Playing beat the clock, a contractor recently tackled a fast-track design-build project and helped an assembly company meet a four-month deadline for supplying transmissions to General Motors' Shreveport complex.

In order to achieve GM's mandated deadline for its new line of Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon trucks, AI-Shreveport had to supply the transmissions several months before the final completion of the facility.

To facilitate the process, Brown Builders Inc., Bossier City, took control of both design and construction to hurriedly open 80,000 sq. ft. of the 226,000-sq.-ft. facility, as well as a 6,500-sq.-ft. office area, to allow the company to begin partial operations.

According to Dan Fellows, project manager with Brown Builders, approaching the $16.2 million project in such a fashion provided fuel for the project's schedule and enabled the contractor to meet the goal with time to spare.

"It gave us greater control, which helped us avoid the kinds of errors or omissions you might typically encounter on a more traditional jobsite, and we cut costs in the process," Fellows said.

Brown Builders had ultimate responsibility for the design, although much of it was performed by John Cush & Associates, Bossier City.

"Relationships with subcontractors are also enhanced in a design-build project," Fellows said. "Basically, we were able to select our subs. In a bid process, you have to take the low bid ... and there's no relationship there. Sometimes you get those low bidder companies that you're not familiar with, but you've got to use them."
The most fundamental component of the design-build relationship, though, is greater communication between contractor and owner.

"There's more of a direct relationship with the owner - you're continuously showing him what the finished areas are going to be like, and proposing alternatives that might be less expensive. It's more hands on," he said.
Fellows and developer Jonathon Hardtner, Sealy & Co., Shreveport, worked together with Android throughout the design and construction phases to look for potential cost and timesavings.
According to Hardtner, his company is developing the 22-acre AI-Shreveport site, as well as 18 additional acres that have yet to be sold.

"When GM was expanding (an $800 million expansion was recently completed), we recognized the potential benefits here and we felt this would be a good market," he said. "We chose this particular site because it was a good location for a long-term investment because of its accessibility from I-20."

Upon receiving a commitment from AI-Shreveport to build, Sealy purchased the property.

"Jonathon and I have worked together throughout the project to ensure that AI-Shreveport gets what they want and Sealy gets what they want," Brown Builders' Fellows emphasized. "So it took a lot of effort to coordinate between all the parties to make sure the finished product is exactly to specifications."

According to Fellows, design of the facility began in February 2002 and was still underway when crews broke ground in July.

"There were still some minor things that had to be tweaked. In general, the foundation plans were complete, which allowed us to get started," Fellows said. A short four months later, the building was completely "dried in."

Construction phase.

The 22-acre site was "full of trees" when the contractor broke ground, necessitating a significant clearing and grubbing phase before the crew could begin moving several thousand cu. yds. of fill to create the building's pad. A foundation of more than 200 drilled shafts was constructed by PPT Inc., Shreveport, to support the building, followed by pile caps, grade beams and a 6.5-in. concrete floor slab.

Jobsite Superintendent Leonard Banks pointed to stringent slab levelness requirements as presenting the greatest challenge during the project's early stages, with the entire slab laser-screeded to ensure only minimal variances in the slab surface.

"Concrete Construction Inc. poured the entire area in four pours, averaging about one a week," Banks said. The Springdale, Ark., contractor was responsible for placing, finishing and saw cutting the slab, beginning each pour at about 3 a.m. to beat the summertime heat.

Nearly half of the 11,000 cu. yds. of concrete supplied by Builders Supply Co. Inc., Shreveport, went into the slab, with the remainder used for tilt-up wall panels and exterior paving.

The building structure, itself, is a combination of pre-engineered steel and metal, with an exterior skin of tilt-up wall panels. Butler Manufacturing Co., Kansas City, Mo., supplied the building, while Trio Fabricators Inc., Shreveport, erected both the building and panels.

"When they put the metal building up, they left a 5-ft. strip around the perimeter where we could cast the panels," Fellows explained. A Brown Builders crew cast all of the panels, the largest of which reaches 30 ft. tall and more than 7 in. thick.

"After casting, we stood them up on the footings and the building erector tied into the weld plates."

The primary advantage of the tilt-up construction method "is that it goes quickly, in lieu of concrete blocks or other methods."

"You just cast them, cure them and put them up," Fellows explained. "Once the building erector tied his beams from the column to the tilt walls, he could run the roofing all the way across and get that section dried in."

Providing HVAC for such a large area was the next major challenge, requiring the installation of 12 air handling units averaging 9,600 cfm (one of which services the office area).

Outside the building, a new rail spur installed by North American Railway will enable materials to be transported by railcar to five overhead doors at the building's rear.

On the opposite side, a truck dock with 19 overhead doors will allow trucks to be loaded with the assembled transmissions for transport to the GM facility about 1 mile away.

"There's also a fairly sizeable retention pond that we excavated to compensate for the site's lost drainage capacity," Fellows pointed out. The pond will control runoff and reduce the potential for flooding created by the facility.

"The pond retains stormwater and allow it to slowly disperse into a nearby bayou," he said. "Typically, water would be absorbed by the soil, but now it's all covered by building or concrete, so there's a lot of water that will sheet off the site."

Mohr & Associates Inc., Shreveport, designed the pond based upon the square footage of the disturbed area.

Now complete, the new AI-Shreveport facility is expected to eventually employ 200 workers. The company follows two other GM suppliers to build in the area, Intier Automotive, which will manufacture instrument panels; and NYX Inc., which will produce interior components.

Other suppliers not quite as large are also expected, eventually expected to total 12 with approximately 1,000 employees. Most, if not all, of the companies will supply materials for GM's new Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon midsize pickup trucks, which should be in showrooms this fall.

According to Dave Donnay, president of AI-Shreveport (a joint venture partnership between Donnay and Android Industries), the transmissions will be delivered "just-in-time" to the GM plant on an as-needed basis. Manufactured by GM, the transmissions will arrive at the AI-Shreveport facility by rail.

The new AI-Shreveport facility could also help GM's Shreveport plant manufacture a new Hummer H3, expected in the next few years.