441
59
75
GEORGIA STATE EDITION
Cornella 19
A Supplement to:
Rome 85 27
Athens 441
Atlanta
20
Madison Augusta
85
20
Griffin 1
129
Milledgeville
75
La Grange
Macon
301
185 19
16
Dublin
Swainsboro Oak Park
Columbus
Statesboro
341 441 16
Lyons Americus
December 25 2013
Dorchester
341
Cuthbert
75
Albany
84
Douglas Tifton
82
95
82
Blakely
Pearson 27
“The Nation’s Best Read Construction Newspaper… Founded in 1957.”
301
1
82
Vol. XV • No. 26
Savannah
McRae Cordele
27
84
Moultrie
19 319
84
Bainbridge
Valdosta Thomasville
Waycross Brunswick 82
1 441
Your Georgia Connection: Rich Olivier, Atlanta, GA • 1-800-409-1479
Atlanta Spares No Expense on $147M High School By Cindy Riley CEG CORRESPONDENT
A high-rise once occupied by IBM employees is now filled with thousands of students in Buckhead, Ga. Atlanta Public Schools purchased the building, along with 57 wooded acres, for the new North Atlanta High School, which opened recently. The first to offer the International Baccalaureate program in the Southeast, North Atlanta High School is also the most expensive public school in the state’s history. With a total construction cost of $147 million, the campus includes a 900-space parking lot, a food-court inspired cafeteria and an indoor ROTC gun range that required specific lighting and the strategic placement of targets with the proper clearance. New data, voice and video systems, mechanical controls, a fire alarm and security systems, along with updated plumbing, paint and flooring. Civil Site Services Inc. (CSSi) of Fayetteville, Ga., performed the site work
and utilities on the project, under the supervision of general contractor JE Dunn Construction. “This project consisted of renovating an 11-story building into a high school, and demolishing a second building that was nine stories,” said Brent Benson, project manager of CSSi. “Atlanta Demolition imploded the existing building and hauled it off site to another location. It was crushed and recyCSSi photo cled. The building that was demolished is Crews moved roughly 145,000 cu. yds. now the location for the gym at North (110,860.5 cu m) of material. Atlanta High School.” Atlanta Demolition had to first separate said Barry Roberts, owner of Atlanta the two office buildings, which were con- Demolition. “This was a project where nected by a four-story pedestrian bridge over nobody believed we could meet the projecta small lake. Crews also had to remove all ed schedule, and we beat it by one week. Our the materials containing asbestos before employees deserve the credit for completing imploding the structure, all while leaving the a project that some of our competitors would other building completely intact. not even bid. “Cutting and removing eight levels of sky “The sky bridges were cut with wire saws bridges and chopping a 60-foot section of 10 and lifted out in 15-foot sections with a full levels to gain separation for the implo- crane. The building was chopped using sion were the most challenging aspects,” see SCHOOL page 8
CSSi photo
The operator installs a concrete storm drain using the John Deere 330 excavator.
I-75 Interchange Marks Beginning of Major Road Projects By Eric Olson CEG CORRESPONDENT
(L-R): David West, grading superintendent of Sunbelt Structures; Matt Rutledge, project manager; and James Chester, bridge and concrete superintendent talk about the job.
Work crews are currently rehabilitating an old interchange on Interstate 75 just south of Calhoun. No big news there, right? Well, upon closer inspection, that fairly routine road work appears to signal the beginning of what is destined to be just the first part of a major new road project in northcentral Georgia, designed to lighten traffic congestion in the area and help move local commerce more efficiently.
The interchange rehab contract, worth more than $16 million, will include the installation of a new four-lane bridge over the interstate, as well as wider on and off ramps. The updated interchange is at the intersection of I-75 and Union Grove Road in southern Gordon County, just a few miles south of Calhoun at Exit 309. The interstate connects Chattanooga, Tenn., in the north with Atlanta, Ga., to the south. Although the Union Grove Road project is not labeled as such, the work is really the first section of the proposed South Calhoun Bypass
project, according to Matt Rutledge, project manager of Sunbelt Structures Inc., a general contracting firm based in Tucker, Ga. That larger project will not begin until at least 2015, but when finished will connect two ends of nearby Georgia Highway 53 south of Calhoun. Highway 53 approaches Calhoun from Rome to the southwest, before turning east away from Calhoun. The approximately $29.5 million bypass will be 6.8 mi. (10.9 km) in length and will utilize the new Union Grove Road/I-75 intersee I-75 page 2