ALABAMA STATE EDITION
231
65
72 Florence
2
Huntsville
20 Decatur
72
565 59
43
A Supplement to:
231
431
31
5
Gadsden
78 59 Anniston
20
Birmingham Bessemer
82 Tuscaloosa
65 280
20 82 Auburn
80
85
Selma
Phenix City
Montgomery
82
October 16 2013 Vol. XXV • No. 21
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“The Nation’s Best Read Construction Newspaper… Founded in 1957.”
Dothan
65 98
Mobile
10
Your Alabama Connection • Rich Olivier, Atlanta, GA • 1-800-409-1479
Millbrook Celebrates Step to Tornado Recovery By Cindy Riley CEG CORRESPONDENT
Described as one of the fastest growing communities in Alabama, the city of Millbrook is celebrating the completion of a $4 million police and judicial complex. As a testament to the city’s resilience, the new courtroom features pews from a church sanctuary that was destroyed by a powerful tornado that ripped through the area in April 2011. “The building is a single-store steel and masonry frame structure with wood roof trusses,” said Richard Kirkland, project manager of Russell Construction in Alabama. “The envelope utilizes a masonry wainscot with EIFS, horizontal metal panel and a snap-lock metal roof. We worked closely with the owner and architect to make design revision in a design and assist process to achieve the budget that was suitable for the city.” Construction on the facility began last June and was completed in March. “We went through a refinement process to reduce the cost of the initial capital investment and yet prepare for future expansion as the city continues to grow,” Kirkland said. “This design and assist process resulted in multiple meetings to review reductions in systems, security analysis, staffing requirements, operations or other elements to assure the needs were met in the most economical means possible. We subcontracted all major trades and supervised the entire installation from permitting through close-out.” The new complex is home to the Millbrook police department headquarters and includes police dispatch operations, an officer briefing and training area, security holding cells, police offices and conference rooms. The Millbrook municipal court department is housed in the facility and features a large courtroom, attorney offices and meeting space and court administrative office spaces. The courtroom will serve as the city council chambers and as the location for all city council meetings and work ses-
sions. Kirkland said the new building, described as long overdue, was not without its share of challenges. “As the project started, we uncovered buried drainage for the former ball field, as well as an underground concrete structure to be removed. We quickly addressed this issue, so as to maintain a very quick-paced schedule. We chose to work with the various subcontractors who were qualified to do this type work, could meet the performance requirements and maintain a suitable installation. “The mechanical rooms are always a key component of building operations. When we simplified the systems from a chilled water system to gas furnaces, we had to address size requirements to fit all the equipment in the rooms. We had to fulfill fresh air requirements, venting and still provide adequate space to service the equipment. The fabrication of sheet metal, typically overlooked to join separate air handler into twin units, is not new, but was put together professionally in tight confines.” As part of the site construction, and to provide room for future expansion, crews maintained the original civil design. As a result the retention pond is located on the property perimeter. This required storm water piping on all sides. “Using a 16,000 pound excavator permitted us to quickly install the storm water system and move on to the project utilities,” said Kirkland. “The excavator is a key component to a good pipe crew, with a top-notch operator to correctly install all the key pieces required for the building that included firewater, domestic water, roof drainage, storm drainage and sanitary sewer. Crews installed 350 linear ft. (106.7 m) of reinforced concrete pipe. The project included 200 linear ft. (60.9 m) of 3-in. copper for domestic water and approximately 80 linear ft. (24.4 m) of 6-in. ductile iron for the firewater installation. The building included two separate sewer taps and 160 see MILLBROOK page 2
As part of the site construction and to provide room for future expansion, crews maintained the original civil design.