Farmington Hills – (April 11, 2013) – The Post-Tensioning Institute (PTI) a nonprofit organization for the advancement of post-tensioned, prestressed concrete design and construction, has announced the recipients of the 2013 PTI Project Awards to be honored May 6 at the PTI Awards Dinner in Scottsdale, AZ during the 2013 PTI Convention.

The awards jury, comprised of industry representatives, evaluated award submittals based on creativity, innovation, ingenuity, cost effectiveness, functionality, constructability, and aesthetics. Fifteen exemplary post-tensioning projects were selected to receive awards in the following categories: Project of the Year; Buildings; Bridges; Parking Structures; Repair, Rehabilitation, and Strengthening; Industrial/Special Applications; and Slab-on-Ground.

Project of the Year: Wacker Drive Viaduct Reconstruction

Submitted by: Alfred Benesch & Company; T.Y. Lin International
PT Supplied by: DYWIDAG-Systems International USA, Inc.; VSL
Wacker Drive Viaduct Reconstruction was entered in the bridge category and is a remarkable example of urban reconstruction. Wacker Drive’s reopening in December of 2012 was the first time in which both the lower and upper levels have been open fully to the public since 2010. Post-tensioning was the single most critical element to accomplishing the project’s main objective, affording exceptional flexibility in the design of every major infrastructure component. The project team was able to accommodate heavy loads, unbalanced spans and geometric anomalies by adjusting the horizontal layout and vertical drape of the strands, which is not feasible using other systems of construction.

Bridges

Award of Excellence: The Vidalta Bridge

Submitted by: MEXPRESA; PT Supplied by: MEXPRESA
The Vidalta Bridge is a concrete-steel composite structure that was conceived to maximize the use of post-tensioning techniques. Its 161 m steel main span is supported by means of parallel strand cable stays, while its 78 m compensation back assembly is made of 50 MPa concrete, post-tensioned with multistrand cables. The Vidalta Bridge is a visually striking structure that maximized the use of PT in multiple structural elements and resulted in a very efficient use of materials.

Award of Merit: I-280 Veterans’ Glass City Skyway

Submitted by: Figg Bridge Engineers, Inc.; PT Supplied by: DYWIDAG-Systems International, Inc.
Spanning the Maumee River in Toledo, OH, the I-280 Veterans’ Glass City Skyway incorporates innovative structural and aesthetic features, including a unique pylon design and stay cradle technology that was groundbreaking at the time of its construction. The single plane stays, in combination with the cradle system and precast delta frames post-tensioned into place allow for larger stay spacing and reduce the number of stays, providing more openness at the deck level and more pleasing aesthetics.

Award of Merit: I-64 Kanawha River Bridge

Submitted by: T.Y. Lin International; PT Supplied by: VSL
The bridge is a record-setting, low-cost, durable, and aesthetically pleasing post-tensioned box girder structure built as part of the I-64 Widening Project in Kanawha County, WV. The project demonstrates the cost-effectiveness of post-tensioned segmental box girder construction with the bid price for the PT box girder bridge design coming in at $30 million - 27% - less than the structural steel alternative. The 760-foot main span minimizes the construction impact to local roads and to navigation on the Kanawha River. The “S-Curve” alignment was accommodated with cast-in-place concrete segments and the use of PT made long-span balanced cantilever construction possible.

Buildings

Award of Excellence: San Francisco Public Utilities Commission Headquarters

Submitted by: Tipping Mar, Structural Engineering; PT Supplied by: AVAR Construction Systems, Inc.
The LEED Platinum-designed San Francisco Public Utilities Commission Headquarters will be honored for its innovative post-tensioned design that exemplifies post-tensioning’s capabilities to save material, improve seismic resilience, enhance functionality, and speed up construction. It stands today as a model for water conservation, energy performance, and indoor air quality. Moreover, the novel, vertically post-tensioned concrete structure gives the SFPUC building superior resilience and the ability to self-center after a large earthquake with only minimal damage resulting, making immediate reoccupation possible.

Award of Merit: 2201 Westlake/Enso

Submitted by: Cary Kopczynski & Co; PT Supplied by: PTC Incorporated
2201 Westlake/Enso is a cast-in-place concrete structure featuring concrete shear walls and a combination of one-way and two-way post-tensioned slabs. The structural frame was selected to satisfy the architectural layout without compromising the owner’s vision for open and spacious floor plans for office, retail, residential and parking stacked vertically without column offsets and transfers. The project used an innovative combination of PT and high strength concrete and reinforcement. The long-span PT design facilitated the minimal use of interior columns and the construction of a curved exterior façade.

Award of Merit - The Trump International Hotel & Tower

Submitted by: Baldridge & Associates Structural Engineering, Inc.; PT Supplied by: RPS Cable, Inc.
The Trump International Hotel & Tower, located on Waikiki Beach, is a 38- story luxury hotel and condominium. This highly desirable address set a world record for sales, selling all 464 units in eight hours for a total of over $700 million. This challenging mixed use design has 19 structurally unique floors that effectively use post-tensioning to optimize functional space and maximize value for owners and occupants. The building includes optimized thin post-tensioned slabs, 23 transfer girders, a 10 in. thick post-tensioned transfer slab at the penthouse, sloping columns, numerous wall-to-column transitions, unique composite steel plate link beams, and uninterrupted views of the Pacific Ocean.

 
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