Tennessee Report

Hospitals, jails and highways to make 2006 a booming year

By Candy McCampbell

Numerous high-dollar projects should make 2006 a prosperous year for Tennessee's construction industry and Nashville appears to be a hot spot.

One of the more recent developments is the announcement of a $70 million headquarters for Nissan USA, lured to Middle Tennessee late last year from Southern California. The automaker will house its 1,300 employees in a 450,000-sq.-ft. building near Interstate 65 near Nashville.

Other headquarters buildings in the Nashville area include American Healthways with 220,000 sq. ft. of space and Community Health Systems, with 186,000 sq. ft. of space. The projects are part of $500 million in construction started last year in Franklin, a Nashville suburb, and helped push construction starts $166 million ahead of 2004, said Gary Luffman, codes director for the city.

"It's hard to beat that, but you never know," he said. In early January, he had about 1.2 million sq. ft. of office space scheduled for construction in 2006.

In downtown Nashville, high-rise residential buildings are sprouting like spring onions. The 31-story Viridian and 21-story Icon are under way and the 55-story Signature and 20-story Encore are on the drawing boards.

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Toby Compton, executive director of the AGC Middle Tennessee branch, said the 338,000-sq.-ft. SunTrust Plaza is also going up and a new 347,000-sq.-ft. federal courthouse is planned.

Roger Tuder, executive director of the AGC Chattanooga branch, said Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Tennessee plans to build a new $220 million headquarters in Chattanooga. Bids are expected this summer.

Also expected are an $80 million marina and more than $90 million in school construction, Tuder said.

"We're looking at about $670 million to $675 million in work in the next 18 months," he said.

The Knoxville area is busier this year than last, said Stephen Whitson, president of H-S Whitson Construction Co. Inc. and chairman of the Associated Builders and Contractors' East Tennessee chapter. Projects include the $67 million St. Mary's Medical Center North and Neyland Stadium renovation, new business building and new swim center at the University of Tennessee.

In upper East Tennessee, "all my fellow general contractors seem to have pretty good backlogs," said Bob Edmisten, vice president of Armstrong Construction Co. and president of the AGC Tri-Cities branch.

There is a new dormitory at East Tennessee State University in Johnson City, a headquarters for the Bank of Tennessee in Johnson City and a new library in Bristol.

Washington County has several schools planned and water-sewer updates are ongoing in the area, Edmisten said.

Bob Rose, executive director of the AGC West Tennessee Branch, said downtown multiresidential work is "booming" in Memphis and another hotel is going up there.

Road projects continue, with "about $500 million of highway work slated," he said. The Tennessee Air National Guard has a $167 million base under way in Memphis and nearby Collierville is conducting a major sewer study.

Following are some ongoing projects in Tennessee.

Project snapshots

Morgan County Correctional Complex, Wartburg. This $151 million prison facility, the largest contract let by the state of Tennessee, is scheduled to get under way this summer, said Kevin Keller, project manager for Ray Bell Construction of Brentwood, Tenn.

With more than 500,000 sq. ft. in 20 buildings, it includes more than 900 minimum- and medium-security housing units with 1,430 beds. Ross/Fowler of Knoxville is the architect.

The complex has an administration building, medical and education/training facilities, food service, laundry, visitation, recreation, warehouse and community buildings.

First to go up will be the maintenance building, since the old one it replaces blocks the way to other buildings, Keller said.

He said the 86-acre site is "swampy," so both dirt and rock will be moved from hillsides across the highway, also owned by the state. The site build-up will include 3 ft. of rock and 7 ft. of soil, or about 150,000 cu. yds. of dirt and 360,000 cu. yds. of rock.

All the buildings will be supported by steel H-piles driven about 30 ft. below surface, he said. Completion is scheduled for winter 2008. The complex will replace the old Brushy Mountain Prison in nearby Petros, the oldest operating prison in Tennessee.

Central Wastewater Treatment Plant Biosolids Facility, Nashville. The Central Wastewater Treatment Plant in Nashville is undergoing a $118 million expansion to convert sludge into biosolid pellets to use as fertilizer.

The job includes six structures and four towers where solid waste will undergo anaerobic digestion, dehydration and heat drying - fueled by methane gas produced in the digestion stage. Outdated equipment will be removed and the old plant demolished.

Archer-Western Contractors of Atlanta is general contractor for the project.

Construction started in October, startup will be in June 2007 and total completion is scheduled for June 2008, according to Metro Nashville Water and Sewer Department officials.

A similar anaerobic digestion plant is being built at Metro's Dry Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant as part of a $35 million contract with Brasfield & Gorrie of Birmingham.

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital Integrated Patient Care and Research Building, Memphis. St. Jude's new 300,000-sq.-ft. building answers three needs at the medical and research complex: increased patient care, expanded radiological services and more research laboratories.

When the $114 million Integrated Patient Care and Research Building is completed in 2007 it will house all the radiological imaging for the hospital - including MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) and CT (computerized tomography) - as well as 18 patient beds and two floors for researchers. Also included are outpatient treatment areas and offices.

The building, which sits on a cast-pile foundation, has some walls enlarged by thicker concrete and lead shields to handle the radiology in use, according to Craig Gum, project manager. The exterior consists of precast concrete panels.

Skanska USA Building Inc. of Parsippany, N.J., is construction manager and SmithGroup of Detroit is architect.

Schermerhorn Symphony Center, Nashville. Construction is nearing completion on the $92.4 million Schermerhorn Symphony Center in downtown Nashville, with the first concert planned for Sept. 9.

American Constructors Inc. of Nashville is construction manager for the 197,000-sq.-ft. building. David M. Schwarz/Architectural Services of Washington, D.C., is design architect; Earl Swensson Associates of Nashville is architect of record; and Hastings Architecture Associates of Nashville is consulting architect.

The exterior granite and limestone are up and a limestone sculpture measuring 48 by 8 ft. at its highest point will be installed this spring over the main entrance.

The 1,900-seat main concert hall will have natural light from 30 soundproof windows. The windows have two panes of glass, 3-in. and 2-in. thick, separated by 2 ft. of air for soundproofing. The window thickness matches that of the exterior walls.

Jackson-Madison County Hospital Patient Care Tower, Jackson. The nine-story Jackson-Madison County Hospital Patient Care Tower, with 240 patient beds, is part of the $90 million expansion under way at Jackson-Madison County Hospital.

In addition to the 356,000-sq.-ft. tower, the West Tennessee facility is almost doubling its emergency room to about 10,000 sq. ft. and moving its helipad.

Centex Construction of Nashville is general contractor and HKS of Dallas is architect.

The job started in June and will be completed in 2007.

The emergency room expansion, which adds 22 treatment rooms, necessitated a relocation of the helipad, which will return to the ER area after construction. The new tower site replaces a visitor parking lot, earlier relocated to a parking garage, hospital officials said.

I-40/Hall of Fame Drive, Knoxville. The biggest road contract let by the Tennessee Department of Highways went to Ray Bell Construction of Nashville for the $85.1 million revampment of the James White Parkway and Hall of Fame Drive in downtown Knoxville.

Both roads are major thoroughfares, running essentially parallel to each other. One will be open while the other is under construction.

The project, started last summer, is scheduled for completion in 2007. It includes cutting out a hillside and building 13 bridges and a tunnel.

Two of the bridges are on Interstate 40, said Bruce Nicely, vice president-transportation division of Ray Bell Construction. One of the bridges, at Hall of Fame Drive and I-40, will be a "signature" structure with light towers that will mark the eastern entrance to the city, he said.

Also included is what Nicely called "a lot of utility relocation."

This job is the first of a two-part road revamp in downtown Knoxville. The other, to be let this spring, includes widening I-40 to three lanes in each direction. For that, traffic will be diverted to Interstate 440.

First Tennessee Bank Headquarters Renovation, Memphis. Renovating a 23-story building while bankers and lawyers are at work mandates staying on schedule, said Brett Grinder, vice president of Grinder, Taber & Grinder Inc. of Memphis.

Looney Ricks Kiss of Memphis is architect for the $37 million renovation of the First Tennessee Bank Headquarters in Memphis, which involves gutting the building one floor at a time and installing a construction elevator on the outside.

Work started in early 2005 and will be finished in 2008, Grinder said.

Because the 411,000-sq.-ft. building is occupied or under construction, there is no laydown space, so all materials must be stored offsite. GTG is removing all overhead mechanical systems, ductwork and asbestos. An asbestos contractor hermetically seals off each floor before removing and disposing of the material.

"When they're done it looks like new construction," Grinder said. "We're ahead of schedule and I intend to keep it that way for the rest of the project."

Public Square Parking Garage and Plaza, Nashville. The $32 million Public Square Parking Garage and Plaza runs above and below ground.

The 1,200-car parking garage drops five levels below the surface. On top is a city park with landscaping, hardscaping and an observation tower that overlooks the Cumberland River, said Hal Matern, project manager for Brasfield & Gorrie of Birmingham.

The Public Square is a city-block-sized space in front of the Metro Courthouse, itself undergoing a $32 million renovation. Both projects are scheduled for completion this summer.

The plaza - to be lined with trees and dotted with several fountains - is a different kind of garage roof. The roof itself is built the same way, but "it has deeper beams and thicker slabs," Matern said. The typical 5.5-in. post-tensioned slab becomes a 10-in. post-tensioned slab here.

"Dealing with rock has been the biggest challenge," he said.

The 200,000 cu. yds. of rock removed had to be blasted out and the site is only a few feet from the courthouse. Two other sides are lined with office buildings.

Crews line-drilled the rock so it would blast away from the courthouse.