Nashville contractor named highest volume builder

Design Systems Builders Inc. of Nashville was recently honored by Butler Manufacturing Company as its highest volume Butler Builder in 2003.

The "Top Volume Builder" award was presented to the design/build contracting company at the recent Butler National Sales Meeting in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. More than 1,200 independent contractors affiliated with Butler serve local trade areas throughout North America.

In 2003, Design Systems Builders applied more than $5.25 million worth of Butler building systems to 21 projects. New construction projects included a 618,000-sq.-ft. porcelain tile plant for Graniti Fiandre in Crossville, Tenn., a 14,000-sq.-ft. aircraft hangar for Nissan North America in Smyrna, Tenn., and a 220,000-sq.-ft. parts logistics center in Canton, Miss., for Nissan.

Design Systems Builders, Inc. is a division of T. W. Frierson Contractor Inc. of Nashville.

Baptist Plaza renovation completed in Nashville

Hoar Construction LLC of Birmingham recently completed the 20,000-sq.-ft. renovation of the existing operating rooms for Baptist Plaza Surgicare in Nashville.

The project involved reducing the number of operating rooms and enlarging some of the rooms to meet new code requirements while keeping some of the operating rooms fully operational.

To accomplish this, the work was planned in three major phases. Keeping the operating rooms sterile and functional required some additional creativity and planning with the majority of the work completed during nights and weekends. Each evening workers in scrubs would construct a sealed four-sided tunnel to the evening's work area.

Workers would travel through the tunnel, complete the work for the day and return via the tunnel. The designated workers would then don scrubs and remove the tunnel, allowing the corridor to be cleaned and prepared for surgery the following day.

Gerald King, vice president, and Jason Bennett, project manager, were responsible for managing the project. Lloyd Youngblood was the project superintendent.

Hoar Construction is headquartered in Birmingham and has offices in Nashville, Orlando and Houston.

Rogers Group wins workzone safety award

The National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA) recently announced that the Rogers Group of Oak Ridge, Tenn., won its Workzone Safety Innovations Award. The company received the award at the association's 49th Annual Convention in Phoenix, Ariz.

This is the second year for the award, which recognizes companies that have used innovative ideas to improve worker safety in workzones and whose overall safety practices are outstanding.

The Rogers Group won the award for its program to increase the visibility of its flaggers. Since April 2003, the company's flaggers have dressed in fluorescent yellow pants and vests with reflective, fluorescent orange tape sewn in. In addition, they have also used stop/slow paddles with imbedded strobe lights for added visibility.

Company employees have attended American Traffic Safety Services Association courses to achieve certifications as registered flaggers.

"We have generated enough awareness of safety among our employees that they actually came to management with some of these suggestions," said Gary Seepe, senior estimator. "The clothing and paddles have definitely helped increase visibility, especially at night."

The National Asphalt Pavement Association represents the interests of the hot mix asphalt producer/contractor on the national level with Congress, government agencies and other national trade and business organizations.

R. C. Mathews honored with ABC award

R.C. Mathews Contractor of Nashville recently received the 2003 Excellence in Construction Eagle Award for its historic renovation of the Montgomery County Courthouse in Clarksville, Tenn., which had been heavily damaged by a tornado in 1999.

R.C. Mathews received first place in the "Historical Renovation, Over $2 Million" award category from Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) at its national convention in Hawaii.

ABC accepts entries nationwide and recognizes outstanding construction projects throughout the United States.

"We are privileged to be recognized by ABC and grateful that our firm was given the opportunity to restore this local treasure to Montgomery County," said Walker Mathews, president of R.C. Mathews Contractor. "R.C. Mathews specializes in renovating historic structures, so it is especially gratifying to be honored for the Montgomery County Courthouse project."

This restoration provided R.C. Mathews an opportunity to utilize its expertise in landmark renovation. Current seismic, building and handicap codes were met by the inclusion of deep concrete caissons, a reinforced concrete rotunda, fire stairs and wheelchair access to the ground floor level.

In addition, a new four-story concrete and steel structure was built within the original masonry walls.