Precast Solutions - January/February 2008 - (Page 12)

sidewalls are poured, and the materials have to cure Top: About 1,200 lineal feet of utility tunnel ran between the project and surrounding structures. and be inspected. The roof goes on next, and after another inspection it can be backfilled.” Having to jump through all of those hoops on a project of this scope would have created major time delays and incurred higher costs than using precast, says Brown. “We were able to lay out the pieces in 10-foot lengths – all manufactured and ready to install as soon as the area was excavated,” he explains. “That allowed the contractor to do a small section, backfill it and move on to other parts of the project.” Jensen, which handled the structural engineering for the project, used a wet-cast design mix for the box culverts. According to Brown, the finish that resulted was the perfect complement to the site’s existing structures. “The result was a very smooth finish that you’d normally see on poured-in-place products,” Brown adds. “It has more of an architectural finish to it, whereas most of the storm drain products designed for underground are made with a dry-cast design, which inherently gives them a rough surface.” Brown, who estimates that CityCenter’s owners saved about 60 percent in this phase of the project by using precast concrete, says Jensen used existing cranes (of which there are about 39 on the job site) to move the products into place. Tight work quarters presented challenges, he adds, and required that the precaster in some instances stage the material on Right: The precast products allowed the contractor to install a small section, backfill it and move on to the next section of the crowded work site. single-deck trucks before delivering it on site. The 70-foot-long air intake tunnels that circulate air in and around the parking garages, for example, are made from precast concrete. For those, Jensen manufactured four tunnel sections, each of which houses fans and 12 PRECAST SOLUTIONS | JAN/FEB 2008

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Precast Solutions - January/February 2008

Precast Solutions - January/February 2008 Contents Precast Concrete Short-Span Bridges Precast Micro-Reinforced Concrete A Winning Edge The Creative Edge TMI: Too Much Infiltration! Architectural Details Cast in Stone

Precast Solutions - January/February 2008

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