Dallas’ Parkland Hospital Selects Team for $1.2-Billion Project

The 1.9-million-sq-ft facility will replace a 55-year old hospital with Balfour Beatty slated to lead a JV team on construction next year. Also, damaged waterlines at Houston dorms find solution to re-piping.

U of H Avoids Costly Re-Piping With Epoxy Lining Process

Construction Masters of Houston Inc. is leading a team to build the Associated Credit Union of Texas’ Environmentally friendly headquarters in League City.

When University of Houston officials faced a costly and time-consuming prospect of re-piping damaged galvanized water lines of two 18-story Moody Towers dormitories – the university’s largest dormitory complex – they had a big decision to make.

Instead of re-piping, university leaders chose an epoxy-lining process that reinvigorated the eroded piping system, generated greater water pressure and purity and did so in less than half the time of conventional re-piping. It enabled restoration of existing pipes while the buildings were occupied. No walls or existing fixtures were removed.

“The towers were constructed in 1972, so after decades of patching and spot repairs of galvanized piping, water lines had deteriorated to the point that additional repairs were not possible,” Skip Wolfe, vice president of sales for Beachwood, Ohio,-based CuraFlo, told Texas Construction.

“Initially, the university believed that a complete re-piping of both towers was the necessary next step,” Wolf says. That would take them offline for up to 14 months, he says. Much of the piping was inaccessible, he adds, “meaning that walls, marble showers and other expensive fixtures would have to be ripped out in order to install new pipe.”

Complex projects such as Moody Towers often require a blend of solutions: epoxy lining to mitigate property disruption and streamline costs; re-piping in cases where epoxy lining isn’t recommended or when rerouting is necessary; replacement of corroded valves and fittings; and repairs if leaks are isolated, Wolfe says.

“We ultimately recommended a combination of epoxy lining with CuraFlo’s Engineered Flow Lining System, as well as pipe replacement in areas where existing pipe was too eroded to line,” he says.

The team began work on the dorm towers in June 2008. The first step entailed running temporary water lines from the basement to aid in re-piping and relining each floor until the main lines were completed.

 In some cases, existing pipe was in such poor condition that it couldn’t be lined – it had to be replaced.

$1.2-Billion Parkland Replacement Hospital Project Team Named

Balfour Beatty Construction was recently selected to manage construction of the Parkland Replacement Hospital for the Parkland Health & Hospital System in Dallas as part of a joint venture team known as BARA. The 1.9-million-sq-ft facility will replace a 55-year old hospital. When complete, it will be the largest hospital building in Dallas.

The $1.2-billion program will include a new 862-bed acute care hospital, separate clinic building, office building, parking structures and support facilities. Two architectural firms, HDR Architecture of Omaha, Neb., and Corgan Associates of Dallas, will design the project, which will be built to LEED-silver specifications. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2010 and complete in 2014.

BARA is a joint venture formed to provide construction management services for the Parkland Replacement Hospital. BARA firms include Dallas-based Balfour Beatty Construction, Dallas-based Austin Commercial, Dallas-based H.J. Russell & Co., and Dallas-based Azteca Enterprises.

Skanska Awarded $70-Million Fort Sam Houston Lab Contract

A facility that consolidates Air Force and Navy bio-effects research at one location on Fort Sam Houston is the latest project awarded as part of the Base Realignment and Closure construction program in San Antonio.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Fort Worth District, awarded a $69.9-million contract to Skanska USA Building Inc. for construction of the Tri-Service Research Laboratory, which will be located north of Brooke Army Medical Center. Skanska will oversee the project through its San Antonio office.

The Tri-Service Research Laboratory is a 181,000-sq-ft facility that will house Air Force and Navy research programs. The programs currently operate in a collection of buildings located at Brooks City Base in San Antonio. The facility on Fort Sam Houston is scheduled for completion in spring 2011.

The Corps of Engineers also awarded a related $367,000 contract for installation of the ducts and cabling necessary to provide voice and data communications to the laboratory facility. This contract went to Blackhawk Ventures LLC, based in San Antonio.

The contracts are among 30 contracts worth more than $700 million that are scheduled to be awarded for BRAC and other military construction projects in San Antonio by the end of fiscal year 2009, which runs through Sept. 30.

They come in addition to the $1.2 billion in BRAC and BRAC-related construction contracts that were awarded in fiscal year 2008. The prime contractors that have received BRAC contracts are hiring many subcontractors from the San Antonio area to help complete their projects.

Cadence McShane Completes Three, Selected for PISD Campus

Clockwise from top left: Cadence McShane Development-Metlife Real Estate Investments completed the new Guhn Road Distribution Center in Houston; Cadence McShane also completed the Central Green Building No. Nine, which received LEED-silver for core and shell the Carson Portwall Distribution Center both in Houston; and the firm was selected to build the new Douglas Otto Middle School in Plano.

Dallas-based Cadence McShane Construction Co. was recently awarded the comprehensive construction assignment for the new 153,400-sq-ft Douglas Otto Middle School in Plano for the Plano ISD.

The single-story structural steel and composite-wall facility situated on a 22.77-acre site will feature a two-toned brick-and-cast stone exterior designed by Dallas-based PBK Architects.

The Houston office of Cadence McShane Construction recently completed three projects in Houston: The Carson Portwall Distribution Center on behalf of developer, The Carson Cos. for a 401,338-sq-ft assignment consisting of two distribution/warehouse buildings on a 21-acre site; The Central Green Building No. 9, which recently received LEED- silver for core and shell; and design-build work for the 63,600-sq-ft industrial facility on behalf of developer Liberty Property Trust, located within Liberty Property Trust’s Central Green Business Park. The facility was constructed with a tiltwall panel exterior featuring a 24-ft clear height, 22 exterior truck docks and parking for 133 vehicles. Houston-based Seeberger+Associates LP provided architectural services.

The Carson Portwall Distribution Center includes a 162,178-sq-ft building, Building Two, which offers 37 dock high doors with one ground-level ramp. Cadence McShane also completed the 239,210-sq-ft Building Three, featuring 54 dock high doors with one ground level ramp. Houston-based Powers Brown Architecture was selected by The Carson Cos. to provide the architectural services.

As well, the McShane Development Co./ MetLife Real Estate Investments industrial development alliance recently completed a new 253,838-sq-ft Guhn Road Distribution Center located in Houston.

The cross-docked industrial facility is located on a 14-acre parcel in the Guhn Road Distribution Center. The Houston office of Cadence McShane provided design-build construction services for the development. Munson Kennedy Partnership of Houston provided the architectural services for the project.

Associated Credit Union of Texas HQ, First League City LEED Project

League City’s first building seeking certification is under way. ACU of Texas started construction on a new 30,000-sq-ft corporate headquarters and full-service branch.

Construction Masters of Houston Inc. is leading a team to build the Associated Credit Union of Texas’ Environmentally friendly headquarters in League City.

The new headquarters will incorporate energy efficient and cost-saving features from lighting to landscape. A highly reflective “cool-roof” system will reflect the sun’s rays, while reducing the demand for electric power. The energy-efficient air-conditioning system will circulate fresh air from outside.

The building’s high-efficiency parking lot will feature one of the first LED units to be installed in Texas. LED units require less maintenance and reduce energy consumption while providing more light than conventional bulbs. The arched window design will allow natural lighting in to complement the indoor lights, requiring one bulb to light an entire area. Drought tolerant landscaping will surround the building.

The project designer is TNRG Designs LP of Houston; construction is by Construction Masters of Houston Inc.; and Reihl Engineering LLC is managing the green design. Completion is targeted for December.

San Antonio Selects Sterling for $25-Million Project

Sterling Construction Co. Inc.’s subsidiary, Texas Sterling Construction Co., was awarded a construction-manager-at-risk contract for a $25-million project to widen Bulverde Road from Loop 1604 to Evans Road.

The contract, awarded by the city of San Antonio, consists of design review and construction management of roadway improvements.

Hill & Wilkinson Launches Building Enclosure and Renovations Group

Hill & Wilkinson is providing the city of Garland with an extreme makeover. The city’s 1960s-era Utility Services Building has been stripped to its frame. Once rebuilt, it will aim for LEED-silver certifi cation.

Plano-based Hill & Wilkinson recently created a new building services group to address the increased demand from existing and prospective customers for turnkey repair, modification and upgrading of existing facilities in the North Texas region.

One of the firm’s projects under way is the city of Garland’s Utility Services Building. The firm will strip the façade of a 1960s, four-story building down to its frame and rebuild it. The $17.1-million project is scheduled for completion in February and is expected to earn LEED-silver certification.

The firm has extensive reuse, renovation, repair and remodelling experience .

Innovative Developers to Develop Fort Worth Medical Office

Fort Worth-based Innovative Developers Inc. broke ground recently on a 15,000-sq-ft, two-story medical clinic that will be the new home for Pediatric Eye Specialists.

Fort Worth South Inc. assisted through the design and permitting processes and Gerry Schwarz of Fort Worth-based Schwarz Hanson was the architect.