Three Mat Pours Blog Photo Collage - The Conco Companies

Saturday, August 24^th was not your typical day for Conco. While many projects are shutdown for the weekend, this Saturday was one of the busiest Saturdays in Conco’s 60-year history.

The activity began Friday evening in Southern California. Starting at 9:30 PM, Conco began to pump, place, and finish 10,400 cubic yards in downtown Los Angeles on a project known as The Grand. The Grand is a mixed-use project with retail, residential and a hotel across the street from the Disney Concert Hall. The developers for The Grand are The Related Cos. and CORE USA for this Frank Gehry designed structure.

The Grand Concrete Pour

The Grand 10,400 concrete pour was the second of three foundation pours for the structure. Eight concrete pumps were positioned around the foundation to receive concrete at the scheduled delivery rate of 750 cubic yards per hour. In order to supply concrete at this rate, Calportland, with the assistance of Associated Concrete, utilized five batch plants and over 120 concrete mixer trucks.

In addition to the work performed on The Grand, Conco had another large concrete pour on this day in downtown Oakland, CA. Working for the Holland Partner Group, the project located at 24^th & Harrison, site of the old Acura dealership, will comprise of luxury apartments with retail and other amenities.

Before placing the concrete, Conco was responsible for fabricating and installing all the rebar. Comprised of mainly #11 bar, more than 4.1 million pounds were needed for the entire mat foundation.

24th & Harrison Concrete Pour

The 24^th & Harrison project by the Holland Group was the second of two foundation pours at the site, requiring 7,300 cubic yards of concrete supplied by Central Concrete out of five concrete batch plants. Prior to pouring the concrete, Conco provided the fabricated rebar and installation. The challenging site necessitated that six concrete pumps (five were active at any given time) be used with a scheduled delivery rate of 600 cubic yards per hour being delivered by 120 concrete mixer trucks. The concrete pour began at 1:00 AM.

950 Market Street Concrete Pour

Furthermore, in addition to the Los Angeles and Oakland pours, a mat foundation pour also took place simultaneously in San Francisco, CA. The project at 950 Market Street will be a mixed-use development consisting of housing, a hotel, retail, and a dedicated non-profit space. This project is being developed by Group i, a San Francisco-based real estate development company. Working for the general contractor, Pankow Builders, Conco also fabricated and installed the rebar for the foundation. More than 1.7 million pounds were needed to be put in place prior to concrete placement for the entire foundation.

The mat pour for the 950 Market Street project was the first of two for the site and was supplied by CEMEX out of three concrete plants. A total of 3,195 yards of concrete was pumped, placed and finished by Conco through three concrete pumps that were supplied at a scheduled rate of 300 cubic yards per hour.

For the activity in three separate markets to transpire, multiple internal and external meetings were held to discuss every facet of activity associated with making each concrete pour a success. For Conco, success comes from developing the proper plan and executing that plan. Items such as safety, concrete mix designs, pump placement, street closures, individual company responsibilities, and contingencies are just a few of the details that must seamlessly be ironed out.

The resources that were used and vital statistics for Saturday, August 24, 2019 were:

	The Grand Los Angeles	24 & Harrison Oakland	950 Market San Francisco	Total
Concrete Placed	10,400	7,300	3,195	20,895
Concrete YPH Placed	750	600	300	1,650
Square Feet Finished	41,000	44,800	18,000	103,800
Mixer Trucks Used	120	140	60	220

With the combined effort of Conco, our customers and suppliers, all three projects finished on time with only 5 extra yards of concrete for all three projects combined. More importantly, all were completed without so much as a first aid claim.

Large mat foundation pours require extensive planning and collaboration with customers, suppliers, public agencies and various other third parties. Conco’s success is dependent on everyone doing their part and we at Conco are thankful to work with great customers and suppliers day in and day out, who give us the opportunity to succeed.

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The Marriott Hotel is slated to open a new franchise, the Moxy Hotel in Portland, in the Pearl District in summer of 2020. Construction began in June 2019 on the new project and promises to bring a unique, contemporary take on the hotel experience to the lively neighborhood in downtown Portland. Several notable groups have come together to develop and execute the project, including development company Graves Hospitality, DLR Group Architecture, and Portland commercial concrete contractors The Conco Companies.

A Franchise for the Young and Young-at-Heart

As a new franchise from the well-known Marriott Hotel, the Moxy Hotel is looking to attract a new sector of hotel guests. The stylish interiors, contemporary designs, and vibrant urban locations are being offered at an affordable price for leisure travelers and business professionals alike. With the vision of immersing guests in the cityscape around them while providing smart, modern accommodations, the Moxy Hotel boasts several unique features. The 197 guest rooms will offer views of the city and Mt. Hood through floor-to-ceiling glass walls in their corridors, while the hotel’s public spaces will offer a range of sought-after amenities. The Moxy Hotel promises an open and engaging ground floor space that is designed to draw guests out into the surrounding city. The space will feature large operable glass walls, a full-service bar and lounge area, game rooms, and food carts. Additionally, the exterior is designed with deep canopies extending over the sidewalk for food cart goers to enjoy the offerings no matter the weather.

A Challenging Site for The Moxy Hotel

This exciting project is not only unique in its vision, but also in its dimensions. Situated on less than a quarter of a block, the 12-story hotel has a dainty building footprint. Benjamin Graves, the president and CEO of Graves Hospitality said of the project, “We’re creating an amazing addition to this neighborhood by defying the unthinkable and building 71,232 square feet of ground-up construction on an incredibly compact 7,500 square foot site.” In order to overcome this challenge of construction, the Conco Companies was brought on to provide an array of concrete services. Known for their ability to execute complex projects on time and on budget, Conco will provide concrete pumping, concrete reinforcement and rebar, concrete formwork, and shotcrete services for the Moxy Hotel.

The Conco Companies’ mission is to be the best supplier of concrete services in the Western U.S. and to bring expertise and incomparable quality to each project. We continue to upgrade and expand our facilities to better serve the growing market for commercial, educational, parking structures, public works projects, and other development. Contact us to learn more about the services from one of the most trusted concrete contractors in Portland.

Moxy Hotel Portland Commercial Concrete Contractors - The Conco Companies - 3

The Moxy Hotel - Portland commercial concrete contractors - The Conco Companies (3)

Moxy Hotel Portland Commercial Concrete Contractors - The Conco Companies - 2

The Moxy Hotel - Portland commercial concrete contractors - The Conco Companies

Moxy Hotel Portland Commercial Concrete Contractors - The Conco Companies

The Moxy Hotel - Portland commercial concrete contractors - The Conco Companies (2)

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The Grand is an immense, much anticipated mixed-use development project in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Bunker Hill that commenced construction in May 2019. To kick off the project, Los Angeles commercial concrete contractors, The Conco Companies delivered an impressive demonstration of its skills and expertise. For the first of the two towers to be erected for the project, Conco provided the second-largest continuous casting of a foundation in Los Angeles in a mere 15 hours. The project with the top honors in this category and the recipient of Guinness World Record recognition in 2014 was the Wilshire Grand Center, also completed by Conco.

The metrics for the foundation mat pour of this 39-story residential tower designed by Frank Gehry are staggering: 140 skilled Conco employees placed 13,275 cubic yards of concrete at an approximate rate of 1,000 cubic yards per hour. The 39,303 square foot concrete mat varies in thickness from 6 feet to 12 feet and weighs roughly 27,000 tons. Throughout the 15-hour mat pour, eight state-of-the-art concrete pumps worked to pump and place the concrete while 1,348 truck trips to six batch plants were completed.

In addition to the speed of its service delivery and the seamless coordination with multiple stakeholders such as developer Related Companies, the Los Angeles City Council, and the Department of Transportation, Conco also achieved the feat of zero injuries during this first phase of the project. Conco prides itself on prioritizing job site safety, and true to Conco’s focus, despite the dizzying speed of the mat pour, there were no injuries. The experience and expertise behind Conco’s reputation as the top supplier of commercial concrete services – no matter the scale or difficulty of the project – was certainly on full display during this massive mat pour.

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The Grand | Courtesy of Related Companies and COREThe four-block area in the Bunker Hill district of downtown Los Angeles on which The Grand project construction has commenced has been the site of much envisioning, planning, and development over the past 17 years. Once fully completed, the multi-part redevelopment initiative seeks to create a cultural corridor with residences, arts complexes, and retail space. Those involved in the ambitious project, from the city mayor to the architect Frank Gehry to the Los Angeles commercial concrete contractors who built these project, all with the hope to create a cultural hub that invites Los Angeles residents to live, linger, and take in all the downtown neighborhood has to offer.

The Capstone of a Cultural Corridor

The Grand project began construction in May 2019 and will be the capstone in a years-long revitalization and redevelopment initiative for the Bunker Hill district, a joint effort led by private developers and the City and County of Los Angeles. The initiative has already seen several components completed, including the Emerson apartment tower and Grand Park, as well as multiple important cultural institutions such as the Broad Museum, the Grand Avenue branch of the Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Disney Concert Hall. Like the Disney Concert Hall, The Grand is designed by renowned architect Frank Gehry who conceived of the two structures complementing and “talk[ing] to each other” while artfully interacting with the surrounding skyline. As the final component in the redevelopment initiative, The Grand will bring more residences, the Equinox hotel, retail space, and public open space.

The Grand’s Scale

The Grand will feature two immense towers: a 39 story residential tower and a 20 story Equinox Hotel. The vertical surfaces of the towers are broken up and staggered to create a multi-tiered appearance to the towers, which will also be composed of different materials at different levels, such as metallic cladding and vast expanses of glass. The residential tower will have over 400 units with over 80 units set aside for low-income residents, while the Equinox hotel boasts 309 guest rooms. The two towers will be connected by a large central courtyard where public art will be displayed and this outdoor public area will be ringed with 176,000 square feet of retail space that also connects to the sidewalk. After years of anticipation for the commencement of construction, The Grand project has a fast schedule and is relying on contractors that can keep pace while delivering quality outcomes that match the ambitious vision of the project. The Conco Companies was contracted to provide concrete services including structural concrete forming, placement, and finishing, concrete pumping, and shotcrete services. To begin, they’ll be providing three significant mat pours of 14,000 cubic yards, 10,000 cubic yards, and 1,500 cubic yards of concrete.

The Conco Companies’ mission is to be the best supplier of concrete services in the Western U.S. and to bring expertise and incomparable quality to each project. We continue to upgrade and expand our facilities to better serve the growing market for commercial, educational, parking structures, public works projects, and other development. Contact us to learn more about the services from one of the most trusted concrete contractors in Los Angeles

Within the concrete construction industry there are several avenues for recognition for Los Angeles commercial concrete contractors, such as for the design, scope, or execution of a project. And while an award for outstanding concrete work on a restoration project is impressive, awards garnered for the safety of a project or overall operations are particularly important to the industry. One such award is the Albert H. Atwood Safety Achievement Award which seeks to recognize a significant contribution to safety and accident prevention by a company or individual of the Southern California Contractor’s Association (SCCA). For 2019, SCCA announced that the Conco Companies were selected as the winners of Atwood Safety Achievement Award.

Conco Pumping receives the 2019 Albert H. Atwood Safety Achievement Award.
The award is presented in recognition of distinctive achievement by a company, individual, or crew that made a substantial contribution to safety and accident prevention.Pictured left to right: Mike Martinez – Conco Pump Sales; Jon “JP” Madigan – Conco Pump Service Manager; Dora Veronica – Conco SoCal Office Manager; Doug Marquis – Conco Pumping SoCal GM; Gary Brandt – Conco Pump Sales; Robert Thacker – Conco Safety

Conco’s Innovations in Safety Practices

In order to be considered for the Albert H. Atwood Safety Achievement Award, candidates must submit an application to the award committee that outlines the safety issue they worked to address and the practices or initiatives the candidate employed to mitigate the issue, along with the impact of those efforts. As a prominent commercial concrete contractor offering a range of concrete services, Conco Pumping recognized a gap in safety measures with concrete pumping and belting technologies: there was a general absence of fall protection systems on concrete boom pumps, separate placing booms, and Telebelt mobile conveyors. Conco’s concrete pumping safety team worked diligently over the course of four years to address this significant and unnecessary safety risk by partnering with manufacturers to provide fall protection systems on its equipment.

Years of Work to Increase Safety

Conco’s concrete pumping safety team used a combination of approaches to shift the safety provisions of concrete pump and conveyor manufacturers. For new equipment, they ordered and purchased the technology with the contingency that fall protection systems would be provided with the delivered equipment, which was already a common practice in Europe for standard boom pump models. Conco also worked with engineers and manufacturers to develop and test new fall protection systems, and then required that they be installed on the concrete boom and placing pumps and conveyors they utilize. Conco has shared their work openly with the industry at large, leading to a increased adoption of these fall protection systems in the industry.