Construction inspection services in State of Indiana

How to Go About Burying 16,000-Ton Tunnel Segments Under a River

Throughout the summer, six large barge-like vessels floated out of Baltimore's harbor. These weren't boats, they were giant concrete tubes, destined for a tunnel in Southern Virginia that will expand a busy subterranean highway that connects two parts of the state. This week, those tunnel segments will start to be installed under the Elizabeth River and engineering firm Skanska has released detailed information about how exactly they are burying those 16,000-ton tunnel segments below a muddy riverbed. The Elizabeth River Tunnels is a transportation project launched in 2011 to double the capacity of the existing Midtown Tunnel, which connects the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth, Virginia by car. It's one of the largest infrastructure projects currently happening in the U.S. But it's also in an extremely sensitive ecological region—the Elizabeth is the same river that's part of a larger restoration program to clean and repair the watershed that I've written about before. The project needs to have as light a touch on the surrounding environment as possible. Since the tunnel segments were cast in Baltimore, the first step for the journey was to transport those segments almost 220 miles away. Obviously the 350-foot-long concrete tubes were far too heavy (and inefficient) to haul via truck, so engineers used the river's natural transportation power. The segments were closed off on one side so they could float like barges, heading out the Chesapeake Bay and back up the Elizabeth River, where a trench awaited the segments' arrival. The rest of the action goes on underwater, so Skanska created an infographic to illustrate the process. First, 40,000 tons of aggregate and sand are dropped into the trench, where they're graded down to a tolerance of one inch by a kind of sand-plow device suspended from above. Then, the actions used to make the [...]

Construction Inspections Explained – Terre Haute, Indiana

Construction inspections explained Inspections required for new construction Updated: Friday, 02 Aug 2013, 6:56 PM EDT Published : Friday, 02 Aug 2013, 4:50 PM EDT TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) - The City of Terre Haute has condemned the building that collapsed Wednesday , injuring two construction workers.  The City now wants some conditions met before construction of Moe's Southwest Grill can resume. "We have notified the contractor and told them before they can proceed and before we can lift the condemnation, we need a plan, their plan for moving forward,” said City Engineer, Chuck Ennis. Once the plan is approved, construction can resume.  At what point in the construction process remains to be seen.  Ennis says it's possible the contractor may be required to tear down the walls already built, and go from there. On Wednesday, the Terre Haute Fire Department told us crews were installing a truss system when the accident happened, bringing down the entire structure. That prompted us to ask Ennis about inspections on the project.  He said the project had passed two initial inspections, but construction had not yet reached the point a third inspection was required. "We did a footing inspection, and we also did an inspection of the underground materials," Ennis said. "The plumbing and electrical was brought in below grade, under the floor.  They were in the process of framing when the accident happened." Meanwhile, OSHA paid a visit to the site Thursday to begin its own investigation into the accident.  Its inspectors will determine whether the contractor followed its guidelines for safe construction. In other words, this investigation is far from over, meaning the aftermath of the accident is all we'll see here for the time being. The designs for all commercial and apartment buildings must first receive state approval before local [...]

Downtown Storm Sewer Work Ready To Rev Up (VIDEO) | Indiana’s NewsCenter: News, Sports, Weather, Fort Wayne WPTA-TV, WISE-TV, and CW | Local

Downtown Storm Sewer Work Ready To Rev Up (VIDEO) By Emma Koch By Jeff Neumeyer July 29, 2013 Updated Jul 29, 2013 at 5:32 PM EDT Powered by Translate FORT WAYNE, Indiana Short-term pain for long-term gain. A major downtown Fort Wayne storm sewer project is about to get launched, reducing sewage overflows into the St. Marys River. Digital Daily – subscribe to our daily newsletter But the work will snarl traffic on many downtown streets for awhile. Impatient motorists may want to take a deep breath before entering the downtown area once this all gets started. A stretch of Fairfield Avenue will be closed down entirely from September through mid-November, as crews dig up several streets to install new sewer pipes. A $2-million contract could be awarded this week to reduce sewage overflows. New sewer pipes will be buried under Main Street, Pearl Street, Harrison and a handful of others. The new lines will hook into a main trunk line that was laid down beneath Ewing Street a few years back. Businesses in the area are bracing for traffic headaches and the potential for lost revenues while the work is underway. The agency named Stop Child Abuse and Neglect, or "SCAN", is very close to where the traffic tie-ups will be happening. About 200 children and their families each week drop in to the agency for court-ordered services. " This is a busy, hopping place right here at the corner of Fairfield and Main, but we will let families know via posting things, sending updates to them," said Jennifer Boen with SCAN. " There will be some issues with traffic, you know, anytime you have progress like this and try to improve things, there's always some downsides temporarily, but it's worth it, it's going to be worth it in [...]

Construction worker rescued from trench in Northern Indiana

Updated: Friday, 05 Jul 2013, 7:36 AM EDT SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) -  Northern Indiana authorities have rescued a construction worker who fell into a trench and became buried in dirt up to his chest. South Bend Fire Chief Steve Cox says Wednesday evening's rescue was a "delicate, deliberate" task because the man had become mired in the trench at a sewer construction site. He tells the South Bend Tribune that after the man fell into the hole and became trapped, emergency crews had to shore up the area around the trapped worker. Cox declined to identify the worker, but he said the man was alert and conscious throughout his ordeal. Cox says the man was taken to a local hospital for observation.

Trial over Carmel’s Palladium defects delayed; new allegations likely | 2013-06-07 | Indianapolis Business Journal | IBJ.com – Construction Inspection

Attorneys for the Michigan contractor being sued over construction defects at Carmel’s Palladium concert hall have asked a Hamilton County court to halt repair work immediately to preserve evidence in the case. Indianapolis-based Kightlinger & Gray LLP filed a motion Thursday in Hamilton Superior Court requesting an emergency order to stop ongoing remediation, saying Steel Supply & Engineering Co.’s engineers need to examine the roof trusses to defend the company against new allegations. A trial on construction defects had been scheduled for next week, but recently was postponed until December. Construction of the $119 million Palladium stopped for about three months in 2009 after an inspection revealed a rip in the structural steel supporting the venue’s domed roof. Work resumed after extensive repairs. The Carmel Redevelopment Commission sued Steel Supply in 2011, alleging that the company failed to properly fabricate steel for the project. The commission is seeking about $5 million in damages. Steel Supply has denied liability, laying the blame on the project engineer’s design, which it says caused some of the steel columns supporting the roof to fail. The defense team discovered and reported new potential problems with the roof trusses in January, during the legal discovery process, and city consultants came up with a remediation plan in March. In April, the city said the venue would undergo another $140,000 in repairs, and crews have been working around its performance schedule to weld stiffeners and small plates into place. That work should be done next week, according to Thursday’s court filing, but Steel Supply has not had access to the engineering analysis that led to the repairs and has not been able to inspect the structural steel. Court records also indicate that fireproofing planned for the area following remediation will prevent further review of the area. [...]

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