december 2013 cam magazine

®DECEMBER 2013 Vol. 34 • No. 12 • $4.00

“ V o i c e o f T h e c o n s T r u c T i o n i n d u s T r y ”

EXCAVATION/ SITE WORKHydro-Excavation Professionals Safely Uncover the Underground Grid

MICHIGAN CONSTRUCTION OUTLOOK 2014Non-Residential Building Still Slow Despite Local Economic Improvement

Success in 2014: What it Looks Like for Contractors

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE: BRIGHTON HIGH SCHOOL: “LOUD, PROUD AND POSITIVE”

DEMOLITION AT COBO:DEMOLITION COMPANY

AIDS COBO CENTER’SRE-INVENTION

16 CAM MAGAZINE DECEMBER 2013 “Voice Of The Construction Industry”®

the iconic oval of cobo Arena has offered patrons a front row seat to

history for the last half century. the voice of martin Luther King, Jr.

once filled the 12,000-seat arena with a rendition of the civil rights

leader’s “i have a Dream” speech. cobo center as a whole has hosted

every sitting president since 1960, beginning with eisenhower and including

george W. bush and even then-candidate barack obama, according to

the cobo center website.

From Detroit Pistons basketball to the Rolling Stones, cobo Arena has

been a legend in the sports and music world. the sounds of Pink Floyd,

the Who, KiSS, bob Seger, Jimi hendrix and other top performers will

forever rock the memories of fans who once flocked to this landmark arena.

As part of cobo’s 21st century re-invention, the Detroit Regional

convention Facility Authority (DRcFA) has transformed the former arena

into the recently opened two-story, 40,000-square-foot grand Riverview

ballroom with a prefunction area overlooking the shining, blue expanse of

the Detroit River. Acting as its own project manager, the DRcFA remains

DEMOLITION

Demolition Company Aids Cobo Center’s Re-Invention

By Mary E. Kremposky, Associate Editor

HOMRICH 4 DETROIT ™

Homrich’s equipment arsenal completely removed the interior

of the 12,000-seat Cobo Arena and its access ramps.

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Visit us online at www.cammagazineonline.com CAM MAGAZINE DECEMBER 2013 31

SucceSS in the ‘new’

conStruction Market

In a good or bad market the overall common

goals that every contractor should try to achieve

in 2014 are simple – manage cash flow, decrease

operational costs and maximize profits. For some

this is easier said than done. Follow these four

best practices and you should find success in

2014:

1. Be savvy about your teams and terms:

Construction is one of the few industries that

can dictate how and when one gets paid. Use

this to your advantage to better manage cash

flow by using contract terms to establish a

scenario where the owner and the general

contractor can insist on payment by a given

date:

• Upfront cash-flow techniques: Use techniques

such as “front-end loading” to help increase

cash flow in the initial stages of the project and

ensure adequate cash to complete the project.

• Develop a system: After thoroughly reviewing

contract terms and requirements, develop a

system revolving around these terms, including

knowing to whom to send invoices, how many

to send and the actions needed to be taken if

a payment is returned.

2. Manage supplier costs: With rising raw

material and supplier costs come price

increases. Do not be quick to cut your losses,

and try these strategies first:

• Map out costs: Understand exactly where

increased costs have come from by charting

out how much each step of the construction

project costs.

• Look for cost cuts: Below are a few areas

where costs can be reduced:

a. Inventory: If you obtain supplier discounts

consider stocking fast-moving inventory.

b. Alternative materials: Seek out materials that

can do the job for lesser costs.

• Build strong relationships: Building a strong

working relationship with suppliers can help

you make compromises and reach fair prices.

3. Beware of underbillings: Underbillings are

viewed by many bankers and bonding

underwriters as a bad asset to have on your

balance sheet, indicating that you are either

being overly aggressive when estimating

profits on open jobs or are not able to bill in a

timely manner. Bankers shy away from

anything over a 10 percent variance between

underbillings and overbillings. To give financial

statements a boost, consider including a

footnote showing a healthy backlog. Especially

if you’ve had a rocky couple of years, this can

help instill confidence in your banker or

bonding agent.

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With a new football stadium and a field of synthetic turf, the

Brighton High School Fighting Bulldogs certainly can be

considered “lucky dogs,” thanks to the George W. Auch

Company, Pontiac, and the SHW Group, LLC, Berkley. Both firms are well-

schooled in bringing to life some of the best facilities in Michigan’s education

marketplace. The football stadium is only one piece of an $88.5 million

dollar bond issue for Brighton Area Schools. At Brighton High School,

Phase I of the bond issue called for the transformation of outdated athletic

fields and select improvements to the 450,000-square-foot high school - a

school almost as big as a shopping mall. The first phase of the bond also

called for alterations to six elementary and middle schools in this thriving

Livingston County community.

Both Brighton High School and the district-wide improvements are the

result of a five-year renewal plan launched by Brighton Area Schools under

Superintendent of Schools Dr. Gregory Gray. “We hadn’t had a bond in a

while,” said Gray. “Our athletic facilities were dilapidated and outdated. …

We were struggling with the condition not only of our athletic facilities but

also with our technology.”

The program is being implemented over a three-year span at 10 different

schools. The current phase included dramatically improving athletic

facilities, installing new security vestibules in elementary schools, improving

lighting and HVAC systems, and providing new information technology. “We

now have wireless systems district-wide,” said Gray. “Beyond that, the

instructional portion of technology – touch screens, smart boards and Betio

video projectors – have now been infused in the classrooms.”

Brighton Area Schools selected SHW and the Auch Company to

successfully implement its vision. “Auch has worked in the district a long time,

and all of their work shows a great deal of quality,” said Gray. “They always

CONSTRUCTION HIGHLIGHT

BRIGHTON HIGH SCHOOL:“LOUD, PROUD AND POSITIVE”

AUCH and SHW Tackle New Bond Issue for Brighton Area Schools

By Mary E. Kremposky, Associate Editor Photos by Lark Photography


deliver what they say they are going to deliver, and

it’s on time and on budget. That is important to

me as a superintendent.” Gray also praises and

trusts the abilities of SHW. “They have creative

designers, and I think they listen,” he said. “I don’t

get the feeling that they just take the last design

that they did and implement it in a different manner

at our schools. They actually listen.”

SHW and the Auch Company both joined the

project in the early phases. “For a year, we went

through all of their buildings to develop a scope

of work, closely working with Auch to put

numbers to the project,” said SHW Project

Architect T.J. O’Connor, AIA, LEED AP.

The district and the project team held focus

meeting with teachers, the community and other

stakeholders. Based on these meetings, “the

community drove the athletic improvements at

Brighton High School,” said Gray. The athletic

fields and amenities throughout the district are

also available for community use, a godsend in

an area of avid sports fans, added O’Connor.

In addition to community demand, the athletic

facilities were in dire need of improvement. “The

grass football field was in tough shape, the tennis

courts were in bad shape, and the whole athletic

portion of the school needed an upgrade,” said

Auch Project Manager Dennis R. Smith.

The name Of The game: BudgeT

and Schedule

Brighton Area Schools has 32 different athletic

programs and approximately 99 teams. The high

school alone is almost like a mini-Olympics with

its wide array of athletic fields spread over the 75-

acre campus. The school offers baseball,

softball, football, track and field, lacrosse, soccer,

rugby, wrestling and other sports.

As construction manager, the Auch Company

began tackling this sprawling expanse of fields in

fall 2012, working closely with SHW throughout

design. “We check the budget as they design

each phase, beginning with schematic and all the

way through construction documents,” said

Smith. “We are always checking to make sure

we are staying within budget.”

The Auch Company worked within a tight time

frame. “In building these athletic complexes, you

can’t start until April and the football portion has

to be done in August, because the team starts

practicing in mid-August,” said Smith.

Unfortunately, Mother Nature wasn’t a team

player, but delivered a steady drumbeat of rain.

“We had a tough summer weather-wise,” said

Gray. “It’s difficult to build outdoor fields when it

rains a third of the summer. The fact that we got

it done and it turned out as great as it did is a

testament to how the Auch Company operates.

Everything is top-notch.”

Extended hours and Saturday operations kept

the project on schedule, as well as the site’s fairly

sandy soil. “The contractors were aware of the

various constraints on the schedule,” said Smith.

“Most everybody included overtime in their bids.”

The Auch Company staged their construction

operations in a west-side parking area located

farthest from the high school. The Auch

Company kept the bus loop open until school

closed for the summer, enclosing construction

operations in temporary fencing.

The campus is a tight weave of athletic fields,

parking lots and even a sizeable pond, all

clustered around the massive high school. For

SHW, preserving parking while expanding and

improving the multi-use athletic fields was a

delicate balancing act. “It was a continual

challenge to maintain parking, but still provide the

right-size facilities for competitive play,” said

O’Connor.

West of the school, a prime example is the

expansion of the oval of the football field and its

companion running track. “We had to expand

into the existing parking lot, because one of the

challenges of adding the turf field and

reconstructing the running track was that it had

to be large enough to accommodate soccer

also,” said O’Connor.

East and behind the school, a new practice

field triggered the need for a small, new parking

lot. In addition, the entire campus shares close

quarters with the surrounding neighborhoods.

“The practice field is right on the border of the

school’s south property line,” said O’Connor.

KicKing Off The SeaSOn

The end result is the design and construction

equivalent of a touchdown. The play-by-play: It’s

August 29 and the Brighton Bulldogs take to the

field for the first football game of the 2013

season. Clad in the school colors of orange and

black, the team runs out of the new locker room

facility emblazoned with the words Brighton

Pride: Home of the Fighting Dogs. The new

4,672-square-foot building is a curved structure

following the arc of the field and designed to

directly face the home team’s cheering fans, said

O’Connor.

Pre-renovation, the football team had to

prepare for the game in the high school’s locker

room located a distant jog across the school’s

inner roadway. The new facility offers a spacious

locker room for the exclusive use of the football

team during its season, as well as a conference

room, separate space for the visiting team, and

a small satellite concession and restroom. Inside

the inner sanctum of the Mighty Bulldogs, a video

playback monitor and white tack board allow for

game discussions; a Tectum roof deck offers the

proper acoustical control.

The new locker room is located almost on the

very edge of the newly resurfaced running track

that wraps around the field. As part of Auch’s

construction game plan, “we had to have the

masonry bearing walls completed for the new

locker room before installation of the track’s new

running surface,” said Smith.

Once on the field, the players pass, punt and

tackle on a new playing field of synthetic turf –

the district’s first use of such material. As part of

the bond issue, Brighton High School’s practice

field and a newly renovated middle school also

enjoy the benefits of a synthetic turf field.

“Synthetic turf is more durable and drains

The new entrance to the football field is “watched over” by statues of two bulldogs decked

out in the school’s signature black and orange jersey.


better,” said O’Connor. “They can also play

multiple sports on the field.” The “grass” is

composed of nylon polymers rooted in a “soil” of

granular rubber fill. “The biggest benefit is that

the school gets much more use out of the field,”

said Smith. “They can use it while it is raining, and

they can use it numerous times a day. The

players love it.”

The fields’ vibrant graphics honor the school’s

mascot – a fierce-looking bulldog. A large

orange paw marks the practice field and a bold

mug of a bulldog dominates the football field.

The field markings are tufted rather than painted

on the turf, meaning the markings and the

chosen graphics are an integral part of this lovely

expanse of turf. “The turf for the major line

markings comes in a roll and certain pieces come

in strips that are glued into the field,” said Smith.

The newly renovated stadium also boosts the

fan experience. A small, obscure ticket booth

once marked the entrance to the stadium. Today,

a new entry gate and arcade welcomes students

and visitors to the game. The two entry columns

each sport a statue of a bulldog decked out in

the school’s signature black and orange jersey.

SHW’s design gives the entire stadium a visual

glow - literally. Sunlight interacts with translucent

panels at the entrance gate and in the center of

the new concessions building. “At night, the

panels are backlit, lighting up the orange panels,”

said O’Connor.

The positive fan experience continues within

the stadium. Formerly made of wood planks, the

visitors bleachers are now aluminum with risers

painted orange and black. Got the munchies at

half-time? Due north of the field, the new 4,836-

square-foot concession and restroom building

offers expanded service for fans in a building that

is double the size of the original one. The new

facility has a bank of large restrooms and one

smaller in number, allowing the district to tailor

usage to the size of any given event, said Smith.

Like the new locker room, this new masonry

building follows the curve of the field. Together,

both buildings bracket or frame the football field

and the newly resurfaced running track, complete

with small, yellow paw prints. “I think the project

is exceeding the community’s expectations,” said

Gray.

eaST meeTS WeST

Other improvements to the west-side athletic

facilities include a new and improved discus, shot

put, long jump and pole vault area for track and

field events. SHW and Auch also revitalized the

athletic facilities due east of the large high school,

adding a long scroll of renovated and new fields

to the school district’s roster.

Smith rolls out the list: Re-graded and re-

sodded the baseball and softball fields, along

with installing a batting cage with Astro turf, a sod

practice pitchers’ mound and new bleachers and

a press box; updating and expanding tennis

courts from eight to 12; a synthetic turf practice

field for football, lacrosse, soccer and rugby; a

new parking area, and a small restroom and

storage building.

Part of the project literally leveled the playing

field. “They essentially rebuilt the baseball field

because the grades and the drainage were bad,”

said O’Connor. “During a game, if the ball went

to the outfield it dropped three feet. Brighton

certainly had the home field advantage just by

knowing the lay of the field.”

Slated for spring 2014, Phase II calls for the

conversion of the high school’s existing pool into

a fitness center and construction of a 24,900-

square-foot natatorium addition on the western

CONSTRUCTION HIGHLIGHT


edge of the high school, said Smith who will spend

part of the winter working with SHW in preparing

for this phase of the district’s bond program. “The

new pool will be right across the parking lot from

the stadium entrance, so we will be revamping the

site circulation and parking to tie the area

together,” said O’Connor. Future phases may also

involve a new entrance for the massive high

school. “We are going to create a sense of entry,”

said O’Connor. “Right now, you can’t really tell

where the main entry is into the building.”

indOOr “SpOrTS”

The Auch Company and SHW also renovated

select spaces and infrastructure within the high

school. The Auch Company installed a

completely new fire alarm system, as well as new

LED lighting for the media center, gymnasium and

the exterior soffit lights near the rear parking lot.

The Auch Company had to work around the

schedule of a vibrant school with an almost

constant lineup of activities. “We did some of the

prep work for lighting in the spring,” said Smith,

“but primarily we did the fire alarm on the second

shift in the afternoons and evenings.”

Other work included installation of new drapery

and theater lighting in the high school’s

performing arts center, and the revitalization of

the automotive training garage. “For the

automotive program, we provided new painting,

new epoxy flooring, and new temperature

controls, as well as new car lifts and other

equipment,” said Smith.

Renovation of four sets of restrooms with new

ceramic tile, accent tiles in the school colors, new

toilet fixtures and the conversion of individual

sinks to wash fountains now offer brighter, more

AUCHReliabilityAccountability

Integrity

GeneralContractors

Construction

Managers

248 334 2000www.auchconstruction.com

Over a Century of Building Trust

ManagersConstruction

ContractorsGeneral

ManagersConstruction

ContractorsGeneral

IntegrityAccountability

Relia

AUIntegrityAccountability

bilityRelia

Over a Century of Buildi

CAU a Century o f Buildi

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.auchconstruction.comwww2000334248

.auchconstruction.com

The new locker room facility, a curved structure following the arc of the field, is designed to

directly face the home team’s cheering fans.


• Electrical - Metro Electric Engineering

Technologies, Inc., Romeo

• Fencing - Motor City Fence Company, Troy

• Asphalt - Nagle Paving Company, Novi

• Carpentry - New Carpentry, Detroit

• Theater - North Coast Studios, Inc., Clinton

Township

• Overhead Doors - Overhead Door of Whitmore

Lake, Whitmore Lake

• HVAC - Pleune Service Co., Grand Rapids

• Toilet Partitions - R.E. Leggette Company,

Dearborn

• Aluminum, Glass & Glazing - Rochester Hills

Contract Glazing, Rochester

• Masonry - Rosati Mason Contractors,

Rochester Hills

• Foundations - Six-K Construction Co., Inc.,

Brighton

• Grandstands and Press-Box - Southern

Bleacher Construction Co., Graham, TX

• Wire Mesh Partition, Lockers - Steel

Equipment Co., Pontiac

• Drywall - Turner-Brooks, Inc., Madison Heights

The Construction Highlight list ofsubcontractors is provided by owner, architect orconstruction manager.

Summer School: Auch andSHW Upgrade Seven BrightonArea Schools

The George W. Auch Company, Pontiac,

had a busy summer in 2013 performing a diverse

array of work on seven different facilities for the

Brighton Area School District, including Brighton

High School. “Auch did a fantastic job in

managing all of the different sites,” said SHW

Project Architect T.J. O’Connor, AIA LEED AP.

“They accomplished a great deal in a short period

of time.”

SHW is the architectural firm working with

the Auch Company on bringing the

$88.5 million bond issue to life over the span of

three years, beginning in April 2013. As

part of Phase I, much of the work involved

constructing a security vestibule near the main

entry for each of the schools, as well

as exterior door replacement with fiber-glass

reinforced polyester (FRP) doors and

aluminum frames. A security vestibule

essentially creates two sets of doors

and funnels all traffic to the main office. “In a

future phase, we will be creating new music

rooms on two of the elementary schools and a

gymnasium on another,” said O’Connor.

A list of the project team’s “homework” for

Phase I includes:

Scranton Middle School: New tennis courts

and stadium; replaced indoor carpeting; creation

of a security vestibule; and replacement of half

the exterior doors.

Maltby Intermediate: Creation of a security

vestibule, toilet room renovation; replacement of

corridor and classroom lighting with more

energy-efficient fixtures; and replacement of all

mechanical equipment and controls.

Hawkins Elementary: Revamping of the

entire site, including all the parking lots and the

addition of a new parking lot; replacement of half

the exterior doors; toilet room renovation;

creation of a security vestibule; upgrading of all

playgrounds and playground equipment;

replacement of classroom lighting with energy-

efficient lighting; locker replacement; and

addressing site drainage.

Hilton Elementary: New playgrounds;

creation of a security vestibule that involved

relocating the main office within the building.

Hornung Elementary: New playground,

creation of a security vestibule.

Spencer Elementary: Redid the site

circulation, half the exterior doors replaced, new

EDPM roof, new playground, and creation of a

security vestibule.

Winona Lighting Receives Architectural Record Product AwardFull Circle Curvilinear Luminaire Recognized as One of the Most Innovative Building

Products

The Winona® Lighting Full Circle luminaire from Acuity Brands has been acknowledged as one of

the most innovative and useful building products by Architectural Record. A panel of judges selected

the Full Circle luminaire as a lighting solution for architects, specifiers and designers to help distinguish

the best product options for 2013 projects.

The Full Circle luminaire breaks away from traditional recessed linear fluorescent slot fixtures. It allows

light to curve and flow through a space with freedom and flexibility. Available in four forms - full circle,

radius, straight and organic - it can be used as an individual luminaire or combined to create a unique

pattern or shape for any space.

The Full Circle luminaire can be used in suspended grid ceiling or hard ceiling applications. For more

information about lighting solutions from Winona Lighting, please visit www.winonalighting.com or

www.acuitybrands.com.


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Concrete ContractorsHonored for ExemplarySafety at ASCC AnnualConference Concrete contractors with exemplary safety

records for 2012 were recognized by the

American Society of Concrete Contractors

(ASCC), St. Louis, MO, at the association’s Annual

Conference in September 2013 in Columbus, OH.

W. Burr Bennett Awards for Safety Excellence

were given to specialty contractor T.A.S.

Commercial Concrete Construction, Houston, TX,

and general contractor, T.B. Penick & Sons, San

Diego, CA. These awards are presented in

partnership with CNA, Chicago, to contractors

that place the highest priority on safety. Entries

are judged on three years of safety performance

indicators, values and trends; a self-assessment

checklist of company safety practices; and

detailed descriptions of safety plans and culture.

Additional awards based on the incident rate

for 2012 were presented to general and specialty

concrete contractors in four categories. The

incident rate is the number of lost workday cases

from the OSHA 300 log, times 200,000, divided

by the number of work hours in a calendar year.

General contractors receiving the Outstanding

Safety Achievement Award for the lowest incident

rate were Walbridge, Detroit, MI (over 250,000

work hours); Prus Construction Co., Cincinnati,

OH (100,000 – 250,000 work hours) and

Quesenberry’s, Big Stone Gap, VA (under

100,000 work hours).

Specialty contractors receiving the Outstanding

Safety Achievement Award were Wayne Brothers,

Kannapolis, NC (over 250,000 work hours);

Canyon Contracting, Inc., Mt. Airy, MD (100,000

– 250,000 work hours); and Pence/Kelly

Concrete, Salem, OR (under 100,000 work

hours).

48 concrete contractors received awards for

zero lost time due to accidents and 34

contractors were recognized for having lowered

their incident rate from the previous year. 62

contractors received certificates for achieving an

incident rate below the national average.

Three companies were recognized for

outstanding fleet safety records: Rex’s Custom

Concrete, Cedar Rapids, IA 150,000 miles with

zero accidents; Kolde Construction, St. Marys, KS

503,740 miles with zero accidents; and L. Keeley

Construction Co., Sauget, IL 2,800,000 miles with

zero accidents.

Walbridge and Orion AnnounceConstruction Teaming Walbridge and Orion recently announced that

they have signed a strategic construction teaming

agreement calling for the two Michigan-based

companies to cooperate on bids and construction

for select projects in the West Michigan region.

The companies will team on construction

opportunities when factors such as project

location, size, and complexity call for increased

capacity or combining complementary capabilities.

The relationship between company leadership

dates back to the early 1990s when Orion

Construction CEO John Boonstra and Walbridge

Executive Vice President Randy Abdallah worked

together at the Detroit office of London, Ontario-

based EllisDon.

The agreement was finalized in September

2013 and plans are already underway to team on

construction of the recently announced Arena

Place Development in downtown Grand Rapids.

The project is due to break ground in the first

quarter of 2014.

Walbridge is a construction firm founded in

Detroit in 1916, and is still based there today. Orion

is a multi-service construction company founded

in 2000 and based in Grand Rapids.

december 2013 cam magazine

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