Garage Collapse Contractor Points Finger at Engineer

The contractor cited for safety violations in connection with a mid-construction garage collapse in Jacksonville, Fla., last year blames the failure on poor design.

The pancake-style collapse on Dec. 6, 2007, claimed the life of a laborer and injured 23 others. Atlanta-based Choate Construction Co. hired two forensic engineering firms, Wiss-Janney Elstner Associates, Atlanta, and Carl Walker of CW Consulting LLC, Kalamazoo, Mich., to review the design for the six-story, post-tensioned concrete garage that accompanies the Berkman Plaza II residential tower.

“Both studies independently conclude that the collapse was due to significant deficiencies in the design performed by the owner’s structural engineer, Structural Consulting Group of Alpharetta, Ga.,” said the written release from Wm. Millard Choate, CEO of Choate Construction.

Choate didn’t immediately make available the full engineering reports.

Officials of the Structural Consulting Group could not be reached for comment.

Specifically, Choate’s statement says Wiss-Janney concluded, “The original design was deficient and inadequate to support the 50-psf design live load prescribed by the building code.” Mark Moore, a principal with Wiss-Janney, confirmed the accuracy of the statement but says he cannot comment further.

Neither the Will Janney or Walker report found any action or inaction by Choate to be the cause of the collapse, according to the Choate press release.

However, in June, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited Choate for three violations and proposed penalties totaling $56,700 against the contractor. OSHA also issued two willful violations with penalties totaling $125,000 against Southern Pan Services of Lithonia, Ga., the concrete formwork contractor.

Choate and Southern Pan each received a willful violation for failing to have a qualified person determine if the structure could support the additional three-quarters of an inch of wet concrete weight that was added to the 20-in floor slab. In addition, the agency proposed one willful violation against Southern Pan for failing to obtain a re-shoring drawing, including all revisions, for the reshoring design method used at the site.

Choate is vigorously contesting its citations, the release says, because the evidence shows Choate properly performed the work.

Mike Wald, a spokesman for OSHA, acknowledged that Choate has appealed the citations and declined to comment further.

The project’s developer, Harbor Cos., said in a statement that there was no surprise that Choate’s experts would point the finger at other project members. “Other experts will undoubtedly express very different opinions,” says Harbor’s statement. “The owner is committed to determining the true cause of the collapse and to making sure the responsible party or parties are held accountable for this tragic event, whoever they may be.”

The developer has not set a date for resumption of construction and says it is taking steps to ensure no problems are encountered in completing the project and that the final product will be safe.

OHL Group Acquires Another South Florida Firm

OHL Group of Spain recently acquired control of its third Florida construction firm, Miami-based building contractor Arellano Construction. OHL agreed to pay $25 million now and at least another $11.5 million, depending on the company’s performance. In exchange, OHL received 70% of Arellano’s stock. In 2006, OHL purchased Community Asphalt, a civil contractor based in Hialeah, and in 2007 bought commercial building contractor The Tower Group, based in Davie.

“We wanted to consolidate our position in Florida, and we were looking for a specific positioning in the health-care sector, in which we are very strong worldwide,” Lauro Bravar, president of OHL USA told Engineering News-Record. “We found in Arellano the perfect partner.”

We believe (health care) is a very stable segment in construction activity, because it doesn’t follow the cycles of housing development or investment in the public sector,” Bravar says. “Right now, with this financial crisis, you see very little private development. Nonetheless, there are still excellent opportunities in the health-care sector. With Arellano, we had a medium-sized company in the order of $100 million [in annual contracts], which was growing fast, but had reached the point it needed a larger, multinational firm to gain speed in growth. There is a market value that will be easily transformed into something tangible in the terms of additional work and larger jobs in Florida and around the U.S. through this acquisition.”

Charlotte-based Hendrick Recognized for Safety

Hendrick Construction of Charlotte, N.C., received the Building STAR award for safety recently from the North Carolina Department of Labor.

The designation, which is part of the state Occupational Safety and Health Division’s Carolina STAR program, recognizes construction companies with exceptional safety programs that strive for accident-free work sites. Hendrick Construction received the award for its work on the 81,000-sq-ft Mecklenburg County Jail-North Annex.

“This designation underscores our commitment to safety and health,” says Roger Hendrick, president of Hendrick Construction. “Our safety program exceeds OSHA’s requirements by using flexible and creative strategies to provide the best feasible protection for our employees and contractors.”

Skanska Goes Green in Atlanta, Orlando

Skanska USA Building announced that its Atlanta office space has earned a LEED gold certification for commercial interiors from the U.S. Green Building Council. Also, the company is seeking LEED silver certification for its new Orlando office space.

Skanska built out 41,000 sq ft of office space at 55 Allen Plaza in downtown Atlanta, where it moved in 2007.

In Orlando, the company is seeking LEED silver certification for its new office space in the 32-story Dynetech Centre in downtown Orlando. Skanska’s new 15,000-sq-ft space is an open floor plan with workspaces for 40 to 45 employees, four conference rooms, an exercise area, changing rooms and showers.

Stellar Builds a New Green Home for Itself

Stellar, a Jacksonville, Fla.-based design, engineering and construction firm, is seeking LEED silver certification for its new two-story, 25,000-sq-ft commercial building.

We are excited about our new building,” says Richard Lovelace, divisional vice president of commercial for Stellar. “In keeping with LEED, we tore down our old building and directed 75% of those materials towards recycle and away from the landfill. Energy efficient features in the new building include Low E windows, automatic flush valves, motion-activated faucets, waterless urinals, a reflective roof and a reduced energy consumption HVAC system.”

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