CONCRETE: THE BEST

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, May 9, 2018

Concrete hasn’t changed much in the last 50 years, but the skill of those who work with it is still increasing.

That was evident at the Annual Excellence in Concrete Awards celebration held on April 27, at the Salem Convention Center. Sixteen unique categories were judged best in class from over 60 submitted entries.

Take the case of the winner in the commercial category, Porsche Beaverton.

Byron Balogh (pronounced Baylog) is a senior associate at the firm LRS Architects which designed the column poured floor system. Local planning rules and FEMA state that any new building in the downtown Beaverton must be able to not just withstand a 100-year flood, but also not create any debris that could cause problems for others downstream.

“The whole building had to sit on a precast, prestressed concrete platform,” Balogh told the Business Tribune. The floor had to sit four or five feet above the ground so that even in a 100-year flood it would still be 12 inches above the water.

“We built a concrete understory through which the water can flow, 944 million gallons per hour at the peak, without damaging the building.” The space — some call it the crawl space — is like a squat, underground parking lot, with nothing but smooth concrete and pillars. It contains no electrical or plumbing, nor any stored items.

There are hydraulic machines that lift the cars for inspection on the first floor. Their jacks go through the floor and are encased in concrete boxes, or crypts, around which flood water can flow.

Slits like storm drains sit around the bottom of the building, hidden by landscaping.

“The water will literally come in one side and out the other,” said Balogh. The engineering firm did the fluid calculation not with software but “by hand,” he said. “We had a certified floodplain manager come in and check it every time it changed.”

The floor on which the cars sit is a precast, recessed hollow core concrete platform. “We call them concrete planks in the trade.” They are 12-inch thick, 40-foot long concrete planks that are hollow except for steel cables already tensioned by bolts at the end. This tension makes them extremely strong. “They’re the opposite of post-tensioned floors. The arrive on trucks and when they’re installed they have a 4-inch camber.”

The design problem was how to elevate a car dealership above the flood plain, in a two-story building that can house cars and occupants. “It needed a robust floor system and there could be nothing in the understory.”

“It’s an important building for downtown Beaverton. The concrete work added to the cost of the building, but it’s going to protect it for 100 years.”

The building was completed in Jan. 2017 and can be seen at 13875 S.W. Tualatin Valley Hwy., Beaverton.

The winner in the Residential Multi Family category was Couch 9, designed by Vallaster Corl Architects PC. (Another of their projects going up now is The Delta at East Burnside and Southeast 12th Avenue)

Couch 9 is at Couch Street and Northwest Ninth Avenue near the Pearl Bakery. It’s a zinc coated building with a color fill in red which opened in September 2017. Don Vallaster of Vallaster Corl Architects attributes the win to the contractor, Walsh Construction.

“They excelled with the concrete work, which they do themselves,” he told the Business Tribune. “It’s a concrete frame building with quite a bit of exposed concrete on the inside.”

The building uses the post tension concrete floor system, which produces thinner floors and more usable space inside. Floors are poured onto forms like cake batter over steel cables in plastic sleeves. When the concrete has cured, the ends of the cables are tightened squeezing the concrete together and making it much stronger.

He says in places like New York and Chicago they use more steel. In Portland, architects use more concrete because they are used to working with it. Portland has a lot of buildings with a concrete base than the maximum five floors built entirely of wood.

“We have really good concrete people here, good at forming it and handling it. A lot of contractors sub it out, but Walsh likes to do their own.”

The price of concrete is going up, “like everything else” he says. He is interested in newer high strength concrete which can handle high stress and make for thinner walls. “It could be good for columns where you don’t want them too big, like in a parking garage.”

He says the current vogue for exposed concrete in residences came from people living in converted lofts and warehouses. Now it is requested in new buildings. “It’s just that straightforward, honest look of the structure of a building. No one seems to like carpet and dropped ceilings any more. Look at the inside of US Bank Tower, they ripped out the carpet and the dropped ceilings.”

WINNERS

Judge’s Choice

Hannah Mason Pump Station

Portland, Ore.

Craftsmanship

Hannah Mason Pump Station

Portland, Ore.

Owner/Developer – City of Portland

Water Bureau

Architectural Firm – MWA Architects, Inc.

Civil/Structural Engineer – Peterson Structural Engineers

General Contractor, Concrete Contractor & Concrete Finishing Co. – James W. Fowler Company

Concrete Staining Contractor – Your Concrete Guy

Ready Mix Supplier – Cadman Materials

Education

Kalapuya Ilihi Residence Hall

Eugene, Ore.

Owner/Developer – University of Oregon

Architectural Firm – Mahlum Architects

Civil/Structural Engineer – Froelich Engineers

General Contractor – Walsh Construction Co.

Concrete Contractor – RDF Builders

Concrete Finishing Co. – Hillebrand Construction

Ready Mix Supplier – Knife River NW

Institution

Sky Lakes Medical Center Parking Garage

Klamath Falls, Ore.

Owner/Developer – Sky Lakes Medical Center

Architectural Firm – Clark/Kjos Architects, LLC

Civil/Structural Engineer – Equilibrium Engineers LLC

General Contractor – Perlo Construction

Concrete Contractor – Perlo Structures

Concrete Finishing Co. – LaRusso Concrete, Inc.

Precast Concrete Supplier – Knife River Prestress

Ready Mix Supplier – Knife River NW

Mixed Use

Slate

Portland, Ore.

Owner/Developer – Beam Development & Urban Development Partners

Architectural Firm – Works Progress Architecture

Civil/Structural Engineer – DCI Engineers

General Contractor – Yorke & Curtis Inc.

Concrete Contractor & Concrete Finishing Co – Marion Construction Company

Ready Mix Supplier – CalPortland

Office Building

Crane Shed Commons

Bend, Ore.

Owner/Developer – Crane Shed, LLC

Architectural Firm – TVA Architects Inc.

Civil/Structural Engineer – Froelich Engineers

General Contractor & Concrete Contractor – Kirby Nagelhout Construction

Concrete Finishing Co. – LaRusso Concrete Inc.

Ready Mix Supplier – Hooker Creek Companies, LLC

Paving

West Eugene EmX Extension

Eugene, Ore.

Owner/Developer – Lane Transit District

Architectural Firm – PIVOT Architecture

Civil/Structural Engineer – WSP USA

General Contractor – Wildish Building Co.

Concrete Contractor & Concrete Finishing Co. – Wildish Construction Co.

Ready Mix Supplier – RiverBend Materials, A CRH Company

Precast

Oakway Building

Eugene, Ore.

Owner/Developer – McKay Investment Co.

Architectural Firm – Studio C Architecture

Civil/Structural Engineer – KPFF Consulting Engineers

General Contractor – Chambers Construction

Concrete Contractor – Marion Construction

Concrete Finishing Co. – Salem Concrete Paving, Inc.

Precast Engineer – David Bugni & Associate

Precast Concrete Supplier – Knife River NW

Ready Mix Supplier – RiverBend Materials, A CRH Company

Recreation

10 Barrel Brewing Co. Eastside

Bend, Ore.

Owner/Developer – CS Construction LLC

Architectural Firm – Scott Edwards Architecture

Civil/Structural Engineer – LB Engineering, Inc.

General Contractor – CS Construction LLC

Concrete Contractor & Concrete Finishing Co. – JKD Construction

Precast Concrete Supplier – Cement Elegance

Ready Mix Supplier – Hooker Creek Companies LLC

Residential Multi Family

Couch 9

Portland, Ore.

Owner/Developer -Couch 9 LLC

Architectural Firm – Vallaster Corl Architects PC

Civil/Structural Engineer – Kramer-Gehlen & Associates

General Contractor – Walsh Construction Co.

Concrete Contractor – RDF Builders

Concrete Finishing Co. – Hillebrand Construction

Ready Mix Supplier – CalPortland

Residential Single Family

Scariano Pool and Party Decks

Albany, Ore.

Owner/Developer – Chris and Nicole Scariano

Landscape Architect – Ham / Hopson & Associates

General Contractor, Concrete Contractor, & Concrete Finishing Co. – Knox Construction, Inc.

Ready Mix Supplier – Knife River NW

Tilt-up

Majestic Brookwood Building 7

Hillsboro, Ore.

Owner/Developer – Majestic Brookwood LLC

Architectural Firm – Commerce Construction Co.

Civil/Structural Engineer – Mackenzie

General Contractor – Perlo Construction

Concrete Contractor – Perlo Structures

Concrete Finishing Co. – Alite Construction LLC

Ready Mix Supplier – Knife River NW

Utility

Lake Oswego Tigard Water Treatment Plant Expansion

Lake Oswego, Ore.

Owner/Developer – Lake Oswego-Tigard Water Partnership

Architectural Firm – MWA Architects

Civil/Structural Engineer – Stantec

General Contractor, Concrete Contractor, & Concrete Finishing Co. – Slayden Constructors Inc.

Ready Mix Supplier – Cadman Materials

Warehouse

Portland Bulk Terminal

Portland, Ore.

Owner/Developer – Port of Portland

Architectural Firm & Civil/Structural Engineer – WorleyParsons

General Contractor – Phoenix Industrial, Inc.

Concrete Contractor & Concrete Finishing Co. – Whitaker/Ellis Builders, Inc.

Concrete Pumping – Brundage Bone Concrete Pumping

Ready Mix Supplier – CalPortland

Lifetime Achievement Award 2018

Brad Moyes PE, SE

KPFF Consulting Engineers

Brad Moyes was raised in Redmond, Oregon. Brad is an OSU grad. He joined KPFF in Portland in 1974. He’s registered in 20 states. He’s a past president of ACI and SEAO. He’s a past board member of the NCSEA, National Council of Structural Engineering Associations.

The Excellence in Concrete Awards program is produced by the Oregon Concrete & Aggregate Producers Association (OCAPA) and the Oregon Chapter of the American Concrete Institute (OACI).

For additional information:

ocapa.net/excellence-in-concrete

Joseph GallivanReporter, The Business Tribune971-204-7874