Early design assistance available

By Tara Loomis
Senior Structural Engineer

Are you getting started on a project and need some help with layout and design, while keeping value in mind? In recent years, a trend toward early integration of the design/build process has developed into what is now called design assist.

Mid-States Concrete is currently able to offer services to our customers – including layout, design, and value – as early as the schematic design phase, helping customers to keep their projects on-time, on-budget and on-target. These services are provided for you through our preconstruction department by Tara Loomis, senior structural engineer. Prior to Mid-States, Tara spent 20 years in the consulting engineering field, which exposed her to a wide variety of building materials and systems. Her vast work experiences make her uniquely qualified to evaluate your projects and propose the precast solution that best fits your project’s needs.

Getting Mid-States on board early, and working through early design phases together, aids in cost efficient element sizing and helps to limit issues during final design, saving you time and money. If drawings are already underway, we can review the drawings and provide any cost-saving comments to ensure an efficient and economical precast layout. If your project is not a total precast structure, we can help with how the entire structure will be framed, calculate loads, and aid in precast sizing that is critical at the time of design development, truly partnering with you to ensure the success of your project. Determining precast element sizing early saves on drawing modifications later. It also eliminates other issues that often arise when element heights change late in a project. Again, this early work can save time and money later.

Another area we can help is with precast details. If you are unsure which is the correct detail to use on a project, or which is most cost efficient, we are here to assist with drawing development and design. Tara can aid in things from building envelope solutions to advanced building efficiencies and performance, which allows clients to maximize investments in their buildings.

Tara’s technical experience, attention to detail, and knowledge of precast efficiencies gives her and the Mid-States team a valuable understanding of how to best support our customers, and ultimately help your project to be successful.

If you are interested in precast design assistance for a project, please contact Mid-States at sales@msprecast.com.

When should I order my precast?

Precast concrete is known for the speed at which it can be erected, but do you know when to order your precast concrete products to ensure you have them for your just in time delivery?

At Mid-States, our goal is to keep our customers’ projects on-time, on-budget, and on-target.  One way we do that is to learn what our customers’ goals are and then understand how our lead times could impact those goals. Internally, that means our team communicates daily about the production schedule, openings for production, and capacity, as well as projects we expect to be awarded in both the short-term and long-term that would impact the production schedule.

When approached about a potential project, the best we can provide is the current lead time at that point in time. However, if we anticipate lead times growing, we make sure to communicate that with our customers so they can make the decisions that are best for them.

Since many of our customers have used precast before, the importance of getting a spot in the schedule is something they are relatively familiar with. Mid-States will only hold production space for a customer once we have been awarded a project. However, when Mid-States is brought on to a project early, perhaps to help with design, we are able to track the timeline of a project, and are able to keep our customer apprised of what the production schedule looks like if they were to award us a contract at that time, versus two weeks from then (as an example).

Production time also varies greatly from product to product, depending on the projects we are working on at that time. While we are generally able to refer to our typical lead times on our beam, column and hollowcore product line, our wall panel schedule usually has a longer lead time.

All this being said, the earlier a customer brings Mid-States on as a project partner the better.  Knowing the construction industry is fluid, however, to ensure you have Mid-States Concrete precast around your desired delivery dates, we encourage an open line of communication leading up to the awarding of the project.

To see how we can help with your next project, contact us at sales@msprecast.com.

Precast Chalk Talk: Episode 16

In this episode of Precast Chalk Talk, learn about some of the safety protocols we are taking amid COVID-19.

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What do we need to provide the most accurate estimate?

By Neil Shaw
Chief Estimator

In the last few years, the process of bidding a project has changed dramatically. It wasn’t too long ago that we would receive full sets of complete plans for bidding, shipped in by the postal service or picked up at the general contractor’s office by our salesmen. Those days are gone. Now, we receive everything electronically and usually well before the design documents are complete.

So, what do we need to provide a reasonably accurate price from these early documents? At a minimum we need plans that have some basic dimensions on them. With the modern hi-tech drawing systems in use today (AutoCAD, Bluebeam, etc.), if the documents have any dimensions on them, we can scale off those known dimensions and verify the size of areas without dimensions quite easily.

In addition to dimensions, building cross-sections are very helpful in seeing what the architect has in mind, which generally cannot be defined from the floor plans and elevations. With so many buildings being put on sloped sites or incorporating atriums, balconies, mezzanines, etc., it is very easy to miss the design concept without the cross-sections.

In the case of our load-bearing podium projects, the loads from above are critical in providing an accurate price. Designers are constantly trying to get the most out of every structural element in these buildings and therefore are pushing the products to their design limits. To know for sure we can make our components work, the loads are essential.

Finally, in the case of wall panel projects, there are a number of items needed for an accurate estimate. What are the expected exterior and interior finishes - painted, sandblasted, troweled, etc.? Are there special colors involved in the concrete mix? What insulation R-value is needed? Are the panels load-bearing or not? Are we free to change panel widths to be more efficient?

Obviously, the more information we receive the more accurate we can be, but the above items give us the best opportunity to provide a solid price to our customers.

Total Precast Structures

A total precast concrete system has benefits that apply to the entire building team – owner/developer, architect, engineer, and contractor.

What is a total precast structure? A total precast structure is a structure in which the substantial core and shell of the structure are comprised of precast components. Integrating precast structural and architectural solutions produces a system, as well as a methodology for producing commercial properties that are better, faster and more economical. Total precast is suitable for many types of commercial applications and allows for a tailored design as necessary. The architectural choices are nearly endless.

Benefits:

• Prestressed concrete can achieve long clear spans.

• Prestressing and available element sizes can provide high load capacity.

• Concrete mass provides inherent fire resistance without the need for field applied fire proofing.

• High quality materials provide durability in the most severe environments.

• Precast concrete can provide excellent Sound Transmission Class ratings.

• The thermal storage capacity of concrete will temper the heating and cooling load swings, which ultimately reduce costs for the owner.

• A total precast concrete structure provides single source responsibility from structural design through final detailing.

• Precast concrete structures are erected quickly.

• Precast production and erection continue year-round with little influence from weather.

• Both structurally and architecturally, precast concrete offers a multitude of design options.

One total precast structure Mid-States Concrete has worked on is The Humbucker. The Humbucker, located in Madison, Wisc., is a 9-story total precast rental apartment building for University of Wisconsin students. The exterior is comprised of structural precast wall panels with an architectural finish of colored concrete with an acid etched finish. The project consists of 75 apartments and below grade parking.

As a design build project, the project owner, design team, and precaster were able to partner with each other from the initial design. By understanding project goals early on, the design team was able to create ideas to achieve them. The challenge was to quickly create an appealing structure in an efficient and durable manner to meet the demands and rigors of the student rental market.

As a student apartment building, the expectation for wear and tear was high. Precast concrete construction was the perfect solution based on its aesthetic possibilities, safety, durability and speed of construction. In addition to exterior precast walls, the project utilized numerous precast concrete products, including columns, beams, hollowcore plank, interior walls, balconies and stair/landing units.

The 98,000 square foot building was erected in 12 weeks in the middle of winter.

Project and Precast Scope:

• 89,500 square feet of Hollowcore Plank

• 33 Beams

• 7 Columns

• 289 Wall Panels

• 52 Balconies

• 36 Stair and Landing Pieces