October 29, 2007

Keith Griffiths

Tilt up panels were used in the construction of a Refridgerative Supply building in Langley. The architect was Alisdair Hamilton and the engineer was Weiler Smith Bowers Consulting Structural Engineers. Tom Christianson of Dunhill Project Management Ltd was the general contractor. Alberta is currently experiencing a lack of engineers versed in tilt up construction.

Engineering

Alberta tilt-up market constrained by lack of engineers

Jean Sorensen

correspondent

EDMONTON

Tilt-up structures in Alberta are still a fledgling market, said general manager Bryon Volkman of Integrated Construction Concepts Ltd. (ICC), but growth is really being constrained by a lack of local structural engineers who understand the tilt-up concept and its evolution over the last 40 years.

Volkman said that his firm has done about 18 of the tilt-up structures in Edmonton with a competitor providing another half dozen.

Clients are finding they are an easy, low-cost solution to large space, however, often clients can not find the needed local structural engineers.

He said that several proposals have fallen through because the lack of local engineers who understand the design concepts behind forming large slabs on site and lifting them into place.

Structural engineering of the panels is a fine line between balancing the strength of the panel with weight.

“When you get to the structural end of it, you need someone who has seen it done,” Volkman said.

“As a result, we keep going back to structural engineers with offices in Vancouver.”

ICC also has a Lower Mainland office involved in the B.C. tilt-up market.

Volkman said that today in tilt-up you build for the tilt — once you have the panel up, it is really over-built.

However, it’s a feature that lends to the durability of the structure.

As panel sizes increase from 30 feet up to more than 50 feet in the Alberta market, structural engineers require experience to ensure panel strength but not over-engineering of panels which increases the weight and makes lifting and bracing more challenging.

Volkman said he has seen some tilt-up designs by inexperienced engineers that looked like the Taj Mahal, which are not economical to build for the client.

The Alberta market does present an opportunity for structural engineers with tilt-up experience, Volkman said, as many of the local engineers are too busy to take on the steep learning curve that is required for dealing with the rapidly evolving tilt-up industry.

Part of ICC’s success with tilt-ups in Alberta has come from Alberta’s expanding economy fuelled by oil, which has spurred demand for industrial and commercial structures. ICC is currently completing Phase 7 and 8 of Broadmoor Place in Sherwood Business Park for the Trans America Group, a land development and leasing company.

Four buildings valued at $10.5 million were developed five years ago, a fifth and six in Broadmoor Place followed, while Phase 7 and 8 are currently being developed.

The buildings have a common footprint of about 50,000 square foot building with a 30,000 square foot mezzanine for office and commercial space and several have below grade parkades.

“These last two buildings are at the closing stage and 90 per cent of the 160,000 square feet of space has been leased. Broadmoor Place Phase IX is scheduled to start soon with a three-storey building and an underground parkade,” he said.

Volkman said during the initial development that the client became sold on the low cost of construction and speed with which the structures could be erected.

During the development of this Sherwood Park area, Volkman said ICC has met various challenges such as a tight footprint on the current site which required the crane to be placed onto the parking slab inside the building and below grade to lift panels as high as 56 feet into place.

The heaviest was a 150,000-pound lift while most varied between 85,000 and 90,000 pounds. An opening had to be left to remove the 500-ton crane at the end, Volkman explained.

“We are fortunate that in Alberta we have major crane companies,” he said, adding that Alberta’s construction boom has brought many large capacity cranes into the market to facilitate heavier lifts.

Volkman said that clients such as the Trans America Group are finding that the concrete structures are virtually indestructible and are appealing to investors over the long-term.

Tilt-up also offers the ability to place insulation and decorative tile or brick while the panels are on the ground eliminating the need for and cost of scaffolding.

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