As Hurricane Mathew bore down on the southeast coast of the U.S., a team of concrete producers and contractors worked tirelessly to get the job done. Charleston Concrete was scheduled to deliver concrete to a pour at the Marion Square Hotel in Charleston, S.C. on Friday Oct. 7, the same day Hurricane Matthew was scheduled to hit.
Working with the contractor, Lithko Contracting, they decided it was best to pour before the storm to prevent tables and everything positioned on top of them from being blown away. Not only would the storm affect the jobsite, but delaying the pour could have put the public in danger. The decision to pursue this route was made on Oct. 5, after the city fire marshal and police approved. With evacuation orders already in place, the wind howling and the sky darkening, crew members rolled up their sleeves and got to work.
The tables (forms and shoring for the west half of level 8) were already set with MEP sleeves, the post-tensioning tendons and rebar were in place. It was too late for the team to look back; they were willing to weather the storm to guarantee the safety of others. The place/finish crew braved the traffic and lane reversals to get to the jobsite on time and ready to pour.
Not only was there concern that the 75 mph wind could shift or damage complete work requiring much re-work, but there was also concern that the entire deck or at least sections of the deck could be thrown off the building to the ground below. This would not only damage the construction materials but likely the properties adjacent to the construction site and could injure or kill anyone in the path of the flying materials.
The 155 cubic yard pour began at 1 a.m. on Oct. 6. Covering 7,000 square feet, a 56-meter pump was used to place the concrete. Once the job was done the pump, place/finish crew, and Charleston Concrete (joint venture company including Van-Smith and Ford’s Redi Mix) moved a few streets up the peninsula to pour an elevated slab at Woolfe Street Apartments starting at 4 a.m. Yes, other trade’s work was already complete on the decks and there were living spaces and commercial properties adjacent to the project posing a safety and liability issue. The only difference (which really didn’t factor into play at all) is that the Woolfe Street Apartment building doesn’t have a basement.
The Hotel at Marion Square is going to be a nine-story five-star hotel. It’s a cast-in-place structure with about 13,800 cubic yards of concrete, that includes a full basement with finished floor at sea level. During the storm, the basement took on 4 to 6 inches of water, which the contractor was able to pump out with ease. Hurricane Matthew is the second major storm encountered during the construction of this project, the other was a “1,000-year rain” about a year ago.
“Had it not been for the team’s dedication and coming together, the outcome could have been much different with lives and property lost,” says Chad Woodell, technical director at Van-Smith Concrete.
Stories like this just go to show how tough the concrete industry and its people are.
