Concrete Finishers Archives | Page 9 of 9

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Tacoma Convention Center Hotel Rendering, image source: tacomaconventioncenter.org

The Conco Companies will begin work on the new Tacoma Convention Center Hotel in August and we expect our part of the project to take approximately 17 months to complete. The $20 million mixed-use high-rise is located on a Tacoma City-owned site that adjoins the Greater Tacoma Trade and Convention Center and will include condominium and retail space in addition to a 300-room Marriott Hotel. The development company is Yareton Investment & Management LLC and the General Contractor is Absher. Ankrom Moisan Architects, Inc. is the architect and the structural engineer is PCS Structural Solutions.

Conco’s range of services will include concrete pumping, reinforcement, formwork, shotcrete, and finishing. Since the new hotel connects to the existing Convention Center and is an active site, one of our challenges involves safely and efficiently setting up the several placing booms that are required for the job. Our crew will also use a self-climbing core form system provided by FCI that allows us to increase productivity and meet tight timelines.

As the project will be the largest one in the city, Conco was selected for the job due to our extensive portfolio and experience with very large projects as well as our ability to handle an aggressive schedule. Moreover one of our first projects in the Northwest was for the Tacoma Marriott Hotel in 2004, which is located across the street from the new job site.

Designed to enhance the conference amenities currently available in the city, the new Convention Center Hotel includes a 10,000 sq. ft. grand ballroom as well as 9,000 sq. ft. of other function rooms within the hotel. A grand promenade will connect the new building to the Tacoma Convention Center and offers regional views of the area including Mt. Rainer. Scheduled to open in the summer of 2019, the tower will be the second tallest building in the city.

At The Conco Companies, we are one of the leading concrete contractors in the Western U.S. and offer a wide range of quality services and products. Our experience includes providing services for commercial, educational, parking and other construction development as well as public works projects. We serve California, Washington, Oregon, Colorado, and Nevada.

The new VA Mental Health and Research (MH&R) building currently under construction in Seattle, WA is a prime example of the benefits The Conco Companies bring to a project with our ability to provide a full range of quality concrete solutions. Breaking ground in April, 2015, the 6-story project is being developed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and is designed by Stantec Architecture, Inc. and The Design Partnership, LLP. The Clark Construction Group is serving as General Contractor. Highlights of the project include energy-efficient systems, two landscaped indoor courtyards, a grass-covered rooftop and a rainwater-harvesting system for irrigation. The building expects to achieve LEED Silver certification to meet federal mandates.

The Conco Companies Veterans Affairs MH&R Project

Conco is providing all of the concrete pumping, formwork and place and finish services for the project as well as supplying the reinforcement. As the project is on an extremely tight timeline, our unique ability to supply both the rebar and formwork eliminates the need for coordination between several different suppliers and enables the work to move forward in an organized manner. Conco’s shotcrete services will be used for nonstructural site walls.

The MH&R building will be comprised of a steel frame with concrete fill on metal decks at all elevated levels, buckling restrained braced frames grounded on shallow spread footings, concrete cast-in-place walls, and green roofs. Since the entire façade is made up of a customized wall system, the project presents a distinct challenge with its need for high cast in place and architectural walls. To facilitate this, extensive off-site performance mock-up testing and on-site visual mock-up testing was performed.

Scheduled for completion in late 2017, the 203,000 square foot building will house more than 250 mental-health staff members and 60 researchers. Officials at the VA state that the new facility will provide the latest treatment services for veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other mental-health problems. Furthermore, the campus’ outpatient therapy, clinical research and educational programs will all find a new home at the facility. Designed to create a calm and supportive environment for veterans, the MH&R building will also foster a collaborative, team building approach between the clinical and research staff.

The Conco Companies are a leading supplier of concrete services for the Western United States. We have built a reputation on superior concrete formwork, reinforcing, place and finish, shotcrete and other ancillary services that benefit from our vast experience. We have four regional offices to serve Southern and Northern California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada and Colorado.

The Conco Companies Veterans Affairs MH&R Project

The Conco Companies Veterans Affairs MH&R Project2

The Conco Companies Veterans Affairs MH&R Project5

The reality is that tight construction schedules demand coordination between building trades if a project is to be successful. With the recent uptick in building activity, this task has become increasingly more difficult for both the developer and the general contractor.

In order to alleviate such scheduling difficulties, a simple solution that The Conco Companies provides is to be a single source alternative to our customers. When working with Conco, a GC can make one call and get high-quality, formwork, rebar, place and finish, shotcrete and pumping services all in one place.

The advantages of this approach are clear. As business improves, companies are stretched thin as subcontractors must move their crews between several different projects. A single day delay by one subcontractor can delay the work of others by a week or more as each subcontractor has committed crews and resources to other projects. With Conco’s approach of working as a coordinated team, it allows us to anticipate and respond to any problems with formwork, shotcrete or rebar by shuffling crews to accommodate our customers.

Nowhere is the need as critical as with concrete and rebar. Concrete cannot be poured until rebar is complete and demanding schedules mandate minimal delay between rebar inspection and pouring concrete. When one company controls both aspects, the chances of success are greatly increased. Some key benefits of a combined solution include:

Joint management of rebar and concrete generates a holistic approach where decisions are made based on the best end result
Ability to manage crane time between concrete and rebar tasks
Coordination of trades to keep projects on schedule
Joint collaboration between concrete and rebar that identifies opportunities for improvement in design
Reduction of equipment on projects as forklifts, hydro cranes, and power tools are shared between concrete and rebar
Eliminate disputes over scope issues between concrete and rebar and the management time necessary to settle those disputes
Reduce unnecessary paperwork and charges between trades that add no value to a project

The Conco Companies, through Conco Reinforcement and Conco’s Concrete Division, is structured to meet all the concrete needs of a project. We bring decades of experience to provide unsurpassed services to our customers.

Cement masons and concrete finishers are the group of construction workers that place and finish the concrete. Interested persons can enter the field through a comprehensive apprenticeship program which includes technical training as well as on-the-job experience. Apprenticeship programs are usually sponsored by unions and contractor associations and provide participants the opportunity for advancement and higher pay.

A typical cement mason apprenticeship is a three-year program and consists of 4,200 on-the-job hours and over 430 related classroom hours. An applicant must be in good health and physically able to perform all phases of the work. The technical training that an apprentice receives includes understanding the basics of concrete, concrete form work, concrete finishing as well as construction related math skills and blueprint reading. The on-the-job training allows him/her to learn the tools of the trade with plenty of practical experience in finishing sidewalks, curb and gutter, floor slabs, and architectural concrete.

On large commercial concrete projects, cement masons and concrete finishers need to be able to follow directions from their supervisors and work well with the rest of the team on the jobsite. Concrete finishers are often responsible for pouring the concrete into forms and constructing the foundations, slabs, sidewalks, roads, and other ground-level tasks. The cement masons work with the finished forms and construct walls and other above-ground structures. These jobs demand a high level of skill as well as understanding and using jobsite safety procedures.

Job opportunities for cement masons and concrete finishers increase dramatically during growth in building activity, and right now the outlook is extremely positive for steady employment. The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts a 29% increase for cement masons and concrete finishers between the years of 2012 to 2022, which is a total of about 41,700 new jobs.

For more information on joining the Conco team take a look at our career page.

Conco is one of the leading concrete contractors in San Francisco offering a range of innovative, quality services. We have been honored to work on many high-profile projects and were recently awarded the concrete contract for the San Francisco 49ers Stadium. Our concrete services include commercial, educational, parking and other construction development as well as public works projects.