Category Archives: Materials

January 22, 2013 · 11:50 am

Other Underground Movements

Floor Plan

There are other things moving about underground at the Visitor Center. Within the assembly of the building, there are several other systems moving about under the floor slabs.

  • Storm Drain Lines
  • Sanitary Sewer Lines
  • Grey Water Lines
  • Conduits for Power
  • Conduits for Communications/Data

Throughout design and the development of construction drawings there is a lot of planning that goes into systems integration and coordination and how all these building systems are woven together in a tidy manner. Within the construction sequence, the building must be layered from the ground up and there are certain systems that must go into the ground before being covered up. This post focuses on the systems that are placed underneath the concrete slab on grade. Continue reading →

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January 14, 2013 · 10:32 pm

Setting the Stage – a continuous effort

erection 3D-neg

 3D View of the Structural Steel Fame

The stage is continually being set for the upcoming construction activities. There is an important sequence of steps that occurs from visioning and design concepts to the realization of the project in its physical form. We have been through many of these to date in previous posts: Continue reading →

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January 7, 2013 · 10:26 pm

Infiltration – an underground movement

WP Photo-1

One of the feared and dreaded infiltration movements in architecture is the movement of moisture into a building. Keeping water out of buildings is a constant vigil within the industry. We’ll take a look at how stopping this movement below the surface, underground, has been addressed. A fair amount of the underground waterproofing has been installed at the Visitor Center at this point; particularly on the north side of the project where the building is tucked into the sloping site.

No one wants to hear the words “roof leak, window leak, wall leak or any other kind of leak” that shows up as stained ceilings, stained walls, wet carpet or worse. However, one of our more noted colleagues, Frank Lloyd Wright once said, “if the roof doesn’t leak, the architect hasn’t been creative enough.” Frank is certainly known for his creative architecture, but may also have a share of famous buildings that have experienced water infiltration.

Aevar Hardarson, an architect and research fellow at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, took a shot at providing insights to this problem area in a doctorial study Continue reading →

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January 1, 2013 · 4:45 pm

A New Year

Happy New Year

We wish you a Prosperous, Healthy and Joyous 2013

We are starting a new year at the project site, but essentially picking up where we left off. We meet at the site for a project progress meeting every other week. The last meeting was December 20, 2012 and the next meeting will be January 10, 2013 with a little interruption due to the holidays. The Contractor maps out a 3 week look ahead to share the anticipated construction activities that will occur in the coming weeks. Construction schedules are always a work in progress as any number of things can crop us that either accelerate or delay the schedule. The 3 week look ahead shared on December 20 is shown below.  Recent snow and ice have pushed some activities off by about a week. Continue reading →

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December 26, 2012 · 1:26 pm

In The Spirit of Past Present Future

Happy Holidays to All and Wishes of a Peaceful New Year

Past-Present-Future slide 1

The holiday season tends to bring about joyful reflection on the year, spiritual celebrations and with the coming of the New Year, thoughts about what lays ahead. The Visitor Center Blog has been tracking what we believe is a special project in the making. We have been sharing with you each week a look into the challenges, successes and progress of the project. We have been sharing the process of achieving LEED Gold certification. We have progressed from a Vision with the Chickasaw Nation to being under construction and you have met a number of players along the way. This is the trail we have traveled. Continue reading →

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December 17, 2012 · 11:45 pm

The Cast System – a la construction

Construction Panorama

There are many things considered “cast” in the building industry. The cast system we are discussing is related to construction and in that regard we are talking about materials at the site that are fabricated in situ (in place). So we are looking at those items that are cast-in-place at the project site. There are a variety of items that could potentially be cast-in-place on a project, but by enlarge the most significant cast-in-place product at the site is concrete.

Let’s look at the nature of concrete on the project. The drawings and specifications guide the contractor in the construction of the cast-in-place (CIP) concrete systems. So, we will take a look at the specifications for CIP Concrete which is located in specification Section 033000. At some point for reference we will need to calculate the amount (volume) of concrete in the project to get an order of magnitude of the quantity involved. We are several pours down the road and the amount that has been poured increases weekly.

The Cast-In-Place Concrete Specification covers some of the following: Continue reading →

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December 10, 2012 · 10:26 pm

Getting to Know the Players – Take Six

Justin Woolverton Interview

Interview by Fred Schmidt

Justin Woolverton is the Project Manager for Flintco (construction company) on the Chickasaw Visitor Center project. He is basically responsible for running the overall project day to day at the site.

So Justin, this is a pretty cool project.

Justin: Yeah, even Mark Grimes (president of Flintco Oklahoma City) has told us that per square foot this is the highest budget job that Flintco has ever done, maybe all of Flintco. So that right there gives you an inkling of what we are into. We are only talking 8500 square feet. Square footage wise, it’s not that big of a job. Even site wise, there’s not a lot of site work. So there’s a lot packed in there into a small space. But I think once it gets done, it’ll be something we can all be proud of; proud to be a part of you know.

Preliminary Design Exterior Views

You have somebody who takes care of the LEED side of things on the project? Continue reading →

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December 4, 2012 · 7:35 am

Project Goes Vertical – structure is mushrooming

Construction Panorama

The construction is moving at a calculated, methodical pace. The cast-in-place concrete is steadily rising from the footings upward. The panorama above is from the south part of the site looking north with the construction activity spread from west to east (left to right). The interview last week pointed out the progression of the project as it moves from a design on paper to placing and integrating the materials. The following series of diagrams shows that progression. Continue reading →

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November 27, 2012 · 9:51 pm

Getting to Know the Players – Take Five

Interview by Fred Schmidt

Today you will meet one of the structural engineers on the project. Designing the structure became a tag team affair as we worked through getting the project completed within the owner’s timeframe. Tom Bush, P.E., Ph.D. is a senior structural engineer at FSB. A pretty calm and easy-going guy but according the Cathleen he can toss back some serious snacks.

Tom, tell us about your role on the project?

Tom: I came in a little later in the project. A lot of the systems had been decided. I worked from the slabs down on the foundations. Checking wall strengths, detailing rebar, sizing the footings and designing the elevated floor system of the Gallery area over the mechanical crawl space; the slab on deck. The other thing was the lateral load system; the sheer walls and the elevator core and getting the foundations properly sized for those.

What’s the purpose of a sheer wall? Continue reading →

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November 19, 2012 · 9:47 pm

Forming-laying down the foundation

The building is methodically growing from the ground up. The perimeter grade beams are growing like those 4th of July snakes that start as black pellets that expand exponentially when lit. Every kid who has played with fireworks can remember the smell of them smoldering. The perimeter French Drain continues to do its job collecting water seeping into the north and east edges of the site and discharging it at the southwest corner of the site. The workers at the site say it is a steady stream 24/7.

The photos at the top provide a panoramic view of the progress of construction on the site. The elevator is the tallest element in the center of the site. The elevator is surrounded by the perimeter footings being formed on the west, north and east sites of the mechanical crawl space.

The site is tight and there is not a lot of room left over beyond the building construction footprint. Continue reading →

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