News: Modular Concrete Buildings

December 15, 2009

New Haven Rail Yard Facility Complex Chooses an All Concrete Solution

Midland, VA. – The New Haven Line, CT Department of Transportation is in the early phases of an improvement program, initiated in 2005, for their rail car maintenance facilities. The program includes: purchasing new rail cars, upgrading severely antiquated facilities & systems infrastructure, and expanding the maintenance shop space. This initiative required that several new buildings be constructed: a fueling facility to house pumps, pump electronics, and a fuel containment sump area; a fire protection/fire suppression room to house the alarm system and fire suppression foam & equipment; and an air compressor enclosure to house the air compressor required for the sanding system. Since these operations were at separate locations within the rail yard facility complex, three separate buildings were required.

Items such as completion schedule and building maintenance & longevity were part of the consideration for the type of buildings to be constructed. Additionally, because of the magnitude of the project and the existence of many concurrent construction activities, there was a definite need for a “quick in and quick out” approach for erecting these buildings. An all concrete solution would also be highly desirable for this project. PDS Engineering & Construction, Inc. of Bloomfield, CT, the general contractor, selected the pre-engineered line of Easi-Set/Easi-Span all concrete precast buildings as the solution. These buildings feature concrete, post-tensioned or pre-stressed roof systems with the Easi-Span line offering clear spans of up to 40-feet in width; thereby, offering more useable floor space while providing extended longevity of the roof system. Additionally, these buildings can utilize either a precast floor system (no foundation required) or a site-poured concrete slab.

The sizes of the three buildings are 30’x40’x10’ (fueling facility), 20’x20’x9’ (fire protection/fire suppression room), and 8’x14’x9’ (air compressor enclosure). The two larger buildings were erected on a knee wall with a poured slab, while the smaller building utilized a post-tensioned precast floor. All buildings featured 4” thick, steel-reinforced, high strength (5,000psi) concrete walls. Both single and double steel doors and selected ancillary openings were incorporated into the buildings. The specified finish was a split-face block stained grey.

The building panels for the larger buildings and the completed smaller building were manufactured & supplied by Utility Precast of West Wareham, MA, a licensed Easi-Set/Easi-Span Building provider, located less then 150 miles from the rail yard complex. The Easi-Span roof sections for the two larger buildings were provided by another building producer, Smith-Midland Corp., Midland, VA located over 350 miles from the site. The company cooperated with Utility to offer the all precast concrete solution by providing three 40’ pre-stressed roof spans and two 20’ post tensioned roof spans to the project. These two buildings were site-assembled by Utility Precast and the inter-company coordination was provided by Easi-Set industries.

Assembly of the two larger building shells was accomplished in only three days, which included having the erection crew spend part of a day participating in a railroad safety program conducted at the site. The smaller building was plant-assembled at Utility’s plant and shipped to the site as a fully-assembled building and installed within a few hours.

Easi-Set/Easi-Span pre-engineered, all concrete, precast buildings are one product line of Easi-Set Industries, licensor of precast products worldwide.

 

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Corrie Cunningham
media@easiset.com

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