Haynes Whaley Associates teamed with contractors Harvey, Myrex Industries, and Lucky’s Steel to present a panel discussion at the recent AISC SteelCamp at the DoubleTree at the Intercontinental Airport in Houston on June 25. The panel, made up of members from the design and construction team, discussed challenges in the Houston Pavilions project, completed in October 2008.
The Houston Pavilions is an iconic mixed-use facility spanning three city blocks in downtown Houston. The lower three levels contain 350,000 square feet of high profile retail and entertainment venues, including the House of Blues on the northern half of block 274, one of the anchoring tenants. The center tower provides over 200,000 square feet of office space. Two crossover bridges connect the site, creating a contiguous and unique interior space.
Steve Wilkerson, Director of Technology at Haynes Whaley, introduced the project team and helped facilitate the discussion, which included a 60 minute presentation and 30 minute question-and-answer session for the over 90 attendees.
Tan Tran, Project Manager at Haynes Whaley, began the discussion by describing the structural systems, which consisted of a concrete podium structure with 90 foot trusses spanning over city streets at San Jacinto Street and Fannin Street. Structural features were highlighted, such as the oval roof, nicknamed “the eggs,” and the hanger supported retail space that spans over downtown streets. In the design, an emphasis was placed on constructability, knowing that this would help facilitate the installation of structural steel components in the challenging urban environment.
Nisar Ahmed, Project Manager at Myrex elaborated on the complexity of detailing, fabricating, and delivering the steel with the project restrictions and within the project schedule. Continuity of rolled members was difficult to maintain as multiple radii were required in many areas of the building. A large quantity of architecturally exposed structural steel meant the need for high attention to detail to prevent surface blemishes.
Jeff Hess, Senior Project Manager at Harvey, continued by enumerating the multiple challenges that were unique to this site and building on three city blocks in an urban setting. The challenges of minimizing street closures meant that a significant amount of work would need to be done in the evenings and on weekends. This challenge was compounded by the enforcement of noise ordinances that essentially went into effect at the same time as the crews were able to begin work. Coordination with the City of Houston was an ongoing task involving nine government agencies, including the City.
Kelly Barsh, Owner of Lucky’s Steel Erectors, finished by discussing many of the difficulties encountered during steel erection. In many cases, only very confined spaces were available to move and store steel prior to installation. Safety was an ongoing concern because of nearby traffic, which was allowed to travel below construction areas. Installation and erection of the main trusses which took place in January 2008 was a major endeavor that was a great success because of the teamwork between engineer, fabricator, contractor, and erector.
This AISC event was one of three conducted in major US cities (Houston, Denver and Chicago). Local firms were asked to put together a panel to discuss a steel project of general interest for the event. Haynes Whaley worked in conjunction with the local chapter of SEAoT to present the Houston Pavilions discussion. SEAoT will receive a donation from AISC in thanks.
