Case Studies
Ponte Vedra High School was one of the most well orchestrated and exciting jobs in the history of Elkins Constructors, Inc. The challenges of complex construction, a tight schedule and less than agreeable site conditions could have been disastrous, but it did not ruin the resolve of the team to make this project successful.
The team knew from the very beginning that this would be one of the most challenging projects they would ever build. Contractually, our schedule was 17 months. However, with permitting delays and delays due to weather, the project was actually constructed in 15 months.
About the Project
The 250,000 square foot high school opened in August 2008 and was completed in 17 months. “We knew from the beginning that we would have to build this mammoth school in a hurry. We planned for success and accomplished what we were hired to do,” said Chip Cooke, Elkins’ Senior Project Manager.
The tilt-wall project consisted of athletic fields with outbuildings and four main buildings including an auditorium, gymnasium, cafeteria, classroom buildings, and support space.
Classrooms are on two floors and outdoor walkways that run along three wings of upper-level rooms overlook a spacious courtyard and athletic playing fields beyond. Classroom areas accommodate multi-disciplinary teaching teams, as well as more traditional same-subject groupings. Movable walls opening to a common work area allow for flexible-sized spaces in this "house" design concept. This feature enables teachers to work cooperatively to facilitate learning for students through a variety of activities. The facility also includes state-of-the-art instructional technology.
Athletic facilities are behind the school, including a physical education basketball area, a track, soccer fields, the football stadium, baseball fields and tennis courts.
Meeting the Challenge of a Difficult Job
No matter how big or small, every project team faces challenges. The mark of a good project team is how they pull together to overcome those challenges and get the job done.
The first problem the team encountered was permitting. The land the school was to be built on had been donated, which made the permitting process more difficult than usual. The permit was received two months later than originally expected which put the project behind schedule before it ever got started. To overcome this issue, the team had to condense the schedule – performing work out of the usual sequence (where it made sense) and having as many trades onsite as was feasible. The schedule was updated weekly to ensure the team knew exactly where the project was. The project had an end date that could not move and the team worked diligently to make sure the students would start the school year at their new high school.
Another issue the team faced was the condition and size of the site. The school was constructed on a 77-acre site – with nearly 20 acres being wetlands. The site package alone was over nine million dollars – the team brought in more than 500,000 yards of dirt in order to raise the entire site approximately four feet. At times, laydown was a problem because there were so many activities going on. For example, there was sitework, building construction, site utilities and athletic field construction being done simultaneously. All of this work had to be done while maintaining sensitivity to nearby wetlands.
The entrance road to the site was over a half mile long through the woods. Early in the project the entrance road was lost for about a week due to heavy rainfall. Trucks could not navigate through the muddy mess and had to be pulled on and offsite. While this did not halt construction, it surely slowed it down. Soon after, the team built a permanent road to the site to accommodate for utilities. The addition of the road also aided trucks in entering and exiting the site, no matter what the conditions.
Coordinating the design of the tilt-panels was required by our contract. Usually, this task would not be very challenging because of Elkins’ experience with tilt-wall construction. However, there were over 500 panels on this project. Joe Barnes, our project superintendent was selected for this project for his tilt-wall expertise. Joe and Jim’s Concrete worked together to create drawings and issue them for approval and construction. We phased the most critical buildings to keep the flow of construction moving in order to meet the schedule.
Because this was such a large project, there were more than 75 subcontractors / suppliers involved. This meant that there were as many as 350 people working onsite at peak times and close to 200 on a regular basis. It took the help of the entire project team to manage this many workers. This became more of a challenge when work was being done on the athletic fields and the related buildings, since these were located at the opposite end of the site from the main buildings. We had one major problem with a poor performing subcontractor who had to be replaced during construction. That particular subcontractor was replaced, and that scope of work got back on schedule and was built with the quality we expect and demand from our subs. Despite this example, overall we had good performing subs that were capable of handling a project of this magnitude.
Excellence in Project Management
Without excellent project management, this job could not have been completed on time or with the level of quality that was achieved.
The success of this project was truly a team effort. Everyone was assigned specific duties and made sure those duties were carried out. For example, we had a general superintendent who oversaw the entire project and we had another seasoned superintendent who was responsible for handling the mechanical and electrical aspects of the project. This division of responsibilities allowed each team member to focus on a snapshot of the job to ensure it was being done safely, with the quality expected, and on time.
Since this was a hard bid job, we didn’t have much opportunity to provide value engineering proposals to the owner without causing significant delays in the drawings. This project had to be completed before the start of the 2008-2009 school year and as previously mentioned, we started the project two months behind schedule. However, one example of a cost saving method involved using tilt-panels with a faux stacked stone finish in lieu of actual stacked stone. This method provided significant savings to the owner and allowed us to complete the project on time.
Sensitivity to Environment & Surroundings
This project was situated on 77 acres of land with over 20 acres being wetlands. Not only were wetlands on our site, but the site was also surrounded by wetlands and other environmentally sensitive areas. To avoid disturbing the wetlands, strict adherence to our Stormwater Management plan was imperative.
We also had to deal with having a threatened species located on the site. The eastern indigo snake is the longest snake in the United States and is more docile and much slower moving than the black racer, characteristics that have made it popular with collectors. This pressure from collectors, coupled with disappearing habitat, has hurt the population and earned it federal and state protection as a threatened species.
Historically, the eastern indigo snake was found from southern Georgia to the Florida Keys and west to Alabama, but today, it is mostly restricted to Florida and southern Georgia, where it is often found in association with gopher tortoise burrows in well-drained scrub and sandhill habitats. This snake, though, is not found just in dry areas. It readily moves through a variety of habitats, especially those that border marshes and swamps, in search of prey such as birds, young turtles, frogs, and other snakes, including rattlesnakes.
So, in addition to the eastern indigo we dealt with birds, turtles and frogs. These animals were not a big concern. However, the rattlesnakes, alligators, wild hogs and armadillos that were on or near the site could have posed safety risks. These animals could not be disturbed or harmed. To ensure our staff was properly informed on what these particular animals looked like and what to do if they were seen, an environmental consultant came to the jobsite to talk to our staff. Signs were also posted around the jobsite with similar information. Thanks to the consultant and the care taken by everyone on the job, we had zero incidents involving wildlife.
Excellence in Client Service
This project meant a lot to the school board and the people of Ponte Vedra. The existing high school, Nease, was extremely overcrowded and this school provided much needed relief.
The new principal requested to move in before the originally scheduled date. We pushed ahead to finish the administration building first, so that he and his staff could move in on their desired date. Not only did we accommodate for early move-in dates, we had to constantly coordinate with FDOT regarding changes in the roadway leading into the school and signalization for that road.
We held weekly meetings with the owner and architect to keep a firm grasp on the construction process and keep everyone informed of the project’s progress. If a concern was voiced, we could tackle the problem immediately, not a month down the road when it was too late to fix it. We were constantly told that we far exceeded our competition’s work in terms of schedule, quality, completeness of work and attention to detail.
Contribution to the Community
We recognize the importance of giving back is more than just jobs and a corporate presence in the communities in which we do business. We have a responsibility to make each community a better place to live and work for all its citizens.
At Elkins, giving back to the community takes many forms, on both the company and the individual level. We encourage and support any employee who wishes to get involved in the community, and donate thousands of dollars each year to numerous organizations.
We maintained our usual presence in St. Johns County throughout the entire project. This involvement included active participation in the St. Johns County Chamber of Commerce, St. Johns County Economic Development Council, Bartram Trail High School Design/Construction Advisory Board and others.
Through our involvement in the Bartram Trail High School Design/Construction Advisory Board we provided tours of the building throughout the construction process to give the students a real life look at the construction process.
Safety Initiatives Employed Throughout the Construction Process
Safety is the number one priority on any jobsite and we performed this entire project without a single recordable accident. The safety measures employed on this project helped Elkins to reach over one million hours without a single lost-time accident. Close to 700,000 man hours were worked on this project alone.
In addition to our standard safety procedures we held weekly safety meetings for everyone onsite. We also held bi-monthly Safety Committee Meetings led by our superintendent in which a representative from each subcontractor attended.
Fall protection was a hot button for our project superintendent and he frequently discussed it in safety meetings and performed safety inspections on a regular basis to ensure workers were abiding by the rules.
Although tilt-wall construction is relatively safe because the vast majority of the project takes place on the ground rather than on scaffolding, the chance of being “squished” by a panel during erection is something to be aware of. This was another key concern for our superintendent because of his years of experience working on tilt-wall projects. There were isolated areas for tilt-construction. Our general superintendent’s rule was simple – don’t be in or around the area where a panel is being lifted.
Excavation cave-ins are a major source of fatalities within the construction industry each year. On this project, trench safety was of the utmost importance because of all the storm drainage onsite and the almost 6,000 lineal feet of chilled water pipe around the building. The subcontractors performing this work had to provide us with information regarding which method of trench safety they would employ and undergo regular inspections.
Despite all the challenges the team faced, everyone pulled together to deliver the product we promised in time for the start of school. The result was a project in which the owner, Elkins and the architect all could take great pride.