Outlook: Building

Industrial, commercial construction to experience some growth

By Karla Wall

The construction industry will experience some growth over the next year, due to two major factors: an increase in industrial construction due to three key $1 billion-plus projects either under construction or planned, and residential and commercial hurricane reconstruction efforts.

Key projects, according to the 2006-2007 Louisiana Economic Outlook, published by Loren C. Scott and James A. Richardson, include:

• The $1 billion-plus retro-fit projects at Cleco's Rodemacher plant in Alexandria and Louisiana Generating's Baton Rouge plant, which will switch the facilities from natural gas power to coal.
  
• The construction of a $1.3 billion cogeneration unit at Citgo's Lake Charles refinery.
  
• Several planned LNG facilities along the Gulf Coast, particularly in Southwest Louisiana. Projects range from $166 million to $900 million.
  
• Shintech will invest $1.3 billion in a new PVC/plastics plant in Iberville Parish.
  
• A $10 million Union Tank Car facility near Alexandria.
  
• The planned $200 million construction of the Steelcase facility near Shreveport.

In addition to the major projects in the works, the industry will also benefit for some time from the massive hurricane reconstruction along the Gulf Coast.

Stephen Broussard, director of the Southwest Region for the Louisiana Dept. of Economic Development, said so far 32 non-FEMA contracts have been awarded in southwest Louisiana.

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He estimated that private contractors in the area have handled roughly $6 million in cleanup and temporary housing construction in southwest Louisiana alone.

Though it's a bit early to determine what the long-term effects of the hurricanes will be on the construction industry, said Van Champagne, estimator for The Lemoine Co. LLC in Lafayette, there will be "quite a bit of public work related to the storms, particularly in southeast and southwest Louisiana. And some of that work could go on for five to 10 years. It's not going to be an easy or quick fix."

"I expect the construction industry to be very busy for the next 10 years, just from the sheer volume of rebuilding projects alone," said Al Bargas, president of Associated Builders and Contractors' Pelican Chapter.

Two major question marks in reconstruction activity, said Bargas and Champagne, will be material prices and workforce availability.

"Price of materials is up as much as 20-25 percent," Champagne said. "I'm not sure the private construction sector can handle those kinds of increases, at least short-term."

Bargas said a bigger problem might be the lack of a large enough workforce to handle the extra work contactors will face in the next year.

"Virtually every craft, from laborers to pipefitters to millwrights, has been affected by the hurricanes and is facing a major shortage of workers."

The ABC is working with the Louisiana Dept. of Labor, as well as the state's community colleges and technical schools, to develop training programs. ABC is also developing new training programs for its three training facilities.

Convention Center Hilton Hotel, Shreveport. Work on this new 12-story concrete-framed hotel in Shreveport began in June 2005 and should be completed by November. Not much fill dirt work was needed for the project, said Loren White of Walton Construction in Shreveport, primary contractor for the project.

The slab on grade rests on 400 auger-cast pilings measuring 50 ft. in length and supplied by Cajun Contractors of Baton Rouge. Pile caps are 4.5 ft. thick.

Roughly 16,000 cu. yds. of concrete were used on the project, supplied by TXI of Shreveport. The first six of the 16,000-sq.-ft. floors of the structure are being formed with 6,000-psi concrete, with remaining floors formed with 4,000-psi concrete.

The exterior is being formed with brick, supplied by the Acme Brick facility in Baton Rouge, and split-face CMUs are being supplied by Corslab of Oklahoma City.

Limited space has been the major challenge to the project thus far, White said. The site is 200 by 300 ft. and adjacent to the Convention Center.

"The building takes up about half of the site, so it's been a real challenge," he added. "We've just had to schedule deliveries to coincide with need and we have two off-site laydown areas nearby."

Baton Rouge General Hospital Expansion/Renovation. This nine-phase, $48 million project began in December 2004 and will last approximately two more years, said Ann Ellis, project manager for primary contractor Milton J. Womack of Baton Rouge.

The project will add a four-story nursing unit, a kitchen and café area, a radiation/oncology unit with 4-ft.-thick concrete walls formed with 3,000- to 4,000-psi concrete, several parking lots and a 10,000-sq.-ft. mechanical building with helipad.

About 40,000-50,000 cu. yds. of dirt was needed for the bed, some shuffled from other areas of the project, some brought in from outside, said Randall Loup of Rad-Ton of Baton Rouge, who handled dirt work for the project. Base stabilization for the parking lots was provided by a soil/cement bedding and beds for the lots are 10 in. thick.

Andy Webster of Dolese Bros., who is handling cement work for the project, said 5,000 cu. yds. of 3,500-psi ready-mix was used for the interior decks.

Working in coordination with an operating hospital has been a challenge, said Ellis. Scheduling is important, she said, and work has been divided into nine phases to keep the hospital running.

Heidelburg/Capital House Renovation, Baton Rouge. Demolition began on this project December 2004 and renovations are expected to be complete by August 2006. The building consists of 10 floors on one side, eight on another.

The interior of the building was completely gutted, said Randy Roussell, project manager for Buquet/Leblanc.

Gill Industries of Baton Rouge handled the demolition. The interior structure was left intact, said Roussell. Elevators and stairwells were brought up to code and three steel stairwells were added.

Existing flooring was replaced with carpet, Terrazza epoxy flooring, ceramic tile, granite and quarry tile. Guest room ceilings were replaced with sheetrock and acoustical tile.

Exterior renovations included replacing the roof with red clay tile gables, similar to the existing structures, and a modified bituminous membrane flat roof. The exterior was repainted and windows were replaced.

Roussell said it's been a challenge to fit the building to the codes and standards of today.

"Also, the floors are a lot shorter than what's normally built today, so putting in new duct work and piping was a challenge," Roussell said. "We just had to find nooks and crannies to fit everything in and we added furrdowns."

Federal Prison expansion, Pollock. More than 120 acres had to be cleared for this $90 million project, which began in February 2003 and will be completed by August.

The project will add 14 buildings to the complex, said Darryl Harris, project manager for Flintco of Memphis, Tenn. Buildings include four 275,000-sq.-ft. housing units, a 60,000-sq.-ft. health service building, a 125,000-sq.-ft. dining services building, and a 90,000-sq.-ft. emergency services building.

Precast concrete tilt wall panels and modular buildings are fabricated on-site or nearby. Buildings consist of concrete and metal panels.

Weather has been the major problem in the project, Harris said. The area has had 88 in. of rain since the project began, which has set work back four months.

Opelousas General Hospital expansion. This $23.3 million project will add a six-story, 96,000-sq.-ft. tower to the hospital campus, connected to the main building directly on the first floor and by walkways on the second through fifth floors. The steel-frame, slab-on-deck structure is built on auger-cast pilings, said project manager George Kragle of the Lemoine Company.

The building consists of a vertical, six-story sheer cast-in-place wall enclosing the stairwell and elevator. There are 58 auger-cast piles under the sheer wall alone. Stewart Builders of Houston did all cast-in-place work for the building. The exterior of the building will be stucco finish with an elastameric coating, which was used to finish all the buildings on the campus.

The building will house a new emergency room, ICU/CCU wards and office space.

A five-level, 365-car parking garage is also being constructed. Lemoine looked at three options for the garage, Kragle said, including cast-in-place, pre-cast and hybrid. A hybrid structure was chosen, and includes a combination of precast columns and beams, and post-tensioned, cast-in-place decks.