UCP Fall 2018 Newsletter

Please Check out our Fall Newsletter!

Project Highlights

We have recently finished many exciting projects here at UCP. See some of the unique precast concrete solutions we created below!

UPRR Metra Counterfort Retaining Wall

Commuters heavily rely on the popular Union Pacific / North Line, a Metra line running through the Chicago metropolitan area. Metra recently commissioned the reconstruction of this line due to the overall age and associated strenuous use. This reconstruction included a retaining wall from Fullerton Avenue to Webster Avenue with the purpose of building up and supporting future railway.

The original engineering plans specified this wall as cast-in-place. Upon learning about Elevate’s precast alternative, the general contractor, Kenny/Granite Construction, proposed the precast option to better align with the project’s accelerated schedule. According to Bill Moore of Kenny/Granite, “Once we learned the Elevate wall system did not require special backfill, we could easily see its advantage.”

Elevate’s innovative, patent-pending, precast counterfort system was designed to support the future embankment using backfill onsite. The system includes a precast concrete base and a precast concrete face with integral counterforts. Low strength material is pumped under the base to ensure proper bearing on the foundation soils while high strength grout is utilized at the joints between the base and face with integral counterfort. This grout mechanically fastens the sections together along with the use of cast-in bar anchors. The overall ease of installation surpassed the expectations of both the general contractor and owner.

Elevate offers various sized pieces depending on a project’s criteria. The pieces used for this project were 12’-11” wide and 15’-0” to 18’-4” in height. Special consideration was given to pieces in close proximity to the existing buildings along Fullerton Avenue, where space was limited. Kenny asked if Elevate could provide lighter weight units due to the restricted access. Since our units are easily customizable, we were able to accommodate, by providing smaller width, lighter units. Bill Moore explained, “It was very easy to work with Elevate’s engineering team to customize the wall during the original design as well as during installation when unique situations occurred due to the nature of this site in a highly established urban environment.”

Click here to see additional Accelerated Bridge Construction projects

Northwestern University Ryan Walter Athletic Center Bench Wall

A prominent feature of Northwestern’s new Ryan Walter Athletic Facility is a unique Retaining Wall which compliments the Wave Wall featured in our 2017 Holiday Newsletter. Although originally designed as cast-in-place, a tight timeline and the recent success of the Wave Wall drove the contractor to decide that precast was the best solution to getting this wall constructed. While its main purpose is to serve as an earth retention system, the high side of the wall adjacent to the building was designed with a bench shape for students and visitors to sit and relax.

Some of the distinct features of this wall are the curvature in multiple planes and the skate deterrent voids, which were created to prevent individuals from damaging the bench sections. The 366’ long wall consists of 38 segments at approximately 10’ long each. Our Self Consolidating Concrete mix design included Scofield SG “Sand Buff” liquid integral color which was altered to match a sample of existing building limestone. The segments were sandblasted by UCP’s skilled architectural finishing team for a final product that achieved the architect’s desired appearance and matched the adjacent Wave Wall.

The Bench Wall also shares a similar connection to that of the Wave Wall, which consists of both column base connectors and splice sleeves. This unique connection was specifically designed by UCP’s engineering team for this project. The column-base connectors are typically used for precast columns, while the splice sleeves are a fairly recent technology coming to the forefront of precast due to Accelerated Bridge Construction. The splice sleeve is a mechanical coupler that is embedded in the precast wall segments and fits over a CIP dowel bar in the field. The sleeve is grouted through PVC ports that extend to the exterior face of the precast wall. Due to our design, the contractor was able to expedite installation by bolting down the wall at the base connectors and continue with the installation instead of using a bracing system and waiting for the grout in the sleeves to set up. Our skilled labor force gave special consideration while securing the connection elements as their locations were extremely critical and required very tight tolerances. As expected, these pieces were set with no issues as precision is a fundamental part of UCP’s quality control plan.

With the opening of the facility dependent on the completion of the Bench Wall, UCP fabricated multiple forms and coordinated with the contractor to accommodate the rapid production schedule. This allowed the contractor to maintain a consistent installation pace and exceed the project’s deadlines while remaining under budget. Our constant drive to push the boundaries of what can be achieved through precast continues to grow over time and is what sets us apart from others.
Click here to watch a video featuring both the Bench Wall & Wave Wall

Click here to see additional Innovative Solutions projects

CTA 95th Street Station

The terminal improvements at the 95 th /Dan Ryan Red Line Station are part of CTA’s “Red Ahead” Program, which is a comprehensive plan for maintaining, modernizing, and expanding Chicago’s most-traveled rail lines. The program includes three major improvement projects on the Red and Purple Lines between the Linden terminal on the North Side and the proposed 130th Street terminal on the South Side. These modifications are part of CTA’s ongoing effort to keep their current infrastructure updated for daily commuters.

The scope of work at the 95 th Station was a massive redesign of the South and North terminals, which included a brand new platform system at the South terminal. The details and specifications called out for these items to be precast, and who better to provide these than Utility Concrete Products with our outstanding record of quality platform systems at several existing CTA stations including CTA Washington Wabash and CTA Wilson .

Unlike the previous CTA platforms, which were installed on steel beams, these platforms are connected on top of a precast trench system that houses utility lines running to the station. Careful consideration was taken during the fabrication process to ensure that all the connections aligned in the field. Strict dimensional tolerances are nothing new to UCP’s quality control/production team, which was evident when the platforms and trenches were assembled without issue.

Another noticeable difference on this station was the alignment of the track, which had a slight radius when adjacent to the platform. Custom block outs were fabricated for each piece to create tapered edges and achieve this curvature across the panels. A total of (73) trenches and (77) platforms, finished with an architectural sandblast finish, were built to encompass this new area. The length of the pieces running parallel with the track varied from 1’-6” to 10’-6” which was driven by site restrictions including tight installation conditions under the 95 th Street bridge.

The project also included (50) moment slab structures which served to extend the bus terminal over the existing retaining walls on both sides of the station. The slabs were 9′-6″ long and included a parapet located on the edge overhanging the Dan Ryan Expressway for the installation of safety fencing. With the parapet having a customized shape, and the haunch height varying to follow the sloped surface of the retaining wall, the forming was modified on a day by day basis to make each customized panel. In addition, coordination with the electrical contractor was crucial for the installation of multiple cast-in conduits that terminated into the equipment that was installed on top of the precast platform.

The installation of the moment slabs and platforms was a remarkable success, and the South terminal is now fully open to the public and will serve the surrounding community for decades to come. UCP looks forward to continuing to provide quality precast solutions for the CTA on future projects.

Click here to see additional Innovative Solutions projects

O’Hare Central Deicing Facility Junction Chambers

Utility Concrete Products recently completed delivery of a Glycol Diversion Structure and (17) Precast Concrete Junction Chambers as part of O’Hare International Airport’s Central Deicing Facility – Paving & Utilities project. The Glycol Diversion Structure weighed over 216,000 lbs and was 14’-4” x 14’-4” x 18’-5” tall when assembled. UCP coordinated with the mechanical contractor on the project and provided integral weir walls in the structure that were required for the installation of a sluice gate.

The (17) Junction Chambers varied in overall size and weight ranging from 11’-0” x 16’-0” x 16’-7” (164,015 lbs) up to 13’-8” x 15’-8” x 22’-8” (233,100 lbs). To assist with the production and delivery of structures, they were designed in multiple segments consisting of a base/wall section, barrels, roof & risers, of which the largest individual base/wall section weighed just under 100,000 lbs. A substantial amount of engineering was required for each junction chamber as they all required an aircraft rated loading design. The majority of the structures had two 90” diameter openings in the walls for large drainage pipes that penetrated the chambers.

By accelerating production with precast, the contractor was able to get the excavations done ahead of time and install multiple structures per day to minimize on-site cost while meeting the tight project schedule. These junction chambers are another successful addition to the hundreds of other structures UCP has provided at O’Hare International Airport.

Click here to see additional Drainage projects

Custom Octagon Manhole

UCP was recently chosen to fabricate and deliver a custom octagonal shaped manhole to East Chicago, Indiana. While this structure would have typically been cast-in-place, the use of precast was utilized to meet the project’s strict construction schedule and reduce cost. This massive structure was produced in three sections including a base/walls, barrel, and a roof. The assembled manhole exceeded 128,000 lbs in weight and was over 16’ wide in both directions. Due to the size and weight, specialized permits and vehicle escorts were required while shipping the structure to the job site.

Click here to see additional Electrical projects

UCP Quality Control Team

Brian DeWalt began his career at UCP in 2013 as a Plant Superintendent. He soon advanced to Plant Manager and then took on the role of Quality Control Manager. Brian is a graduate of Illinois State University with a degree in Construction Management. As the QC Manager, he is responsible for scheduling his team, providing training to the Technicians on new products, creating new mix designs and conducting testing of the concrete mixes. Brian oversees pre and post-pour inspection of every product line, assuring strict adherence to all construction guidelines. He also maintains/updates manuals for the organizations that our structures are produced for (NPCA, PCI, IDOT, INDOT, CDOT, and WISDOT). By continuing his education in the concrete field Brian has attained an IDOT PCC Level III Certificate and PCI Level II Certificate.

Luis Lopez started with UCP (11) years ago as a Production Laborer. Proving he was capable of more responsibility, Luis was promoted to a Quality Control Technician. He oversees the quality control of our Specialty Products, as well as Soundwall and Retaining Wall. Luis graduated from Center of Studies of Technological Industries and Services in Mexico. Luis has also continued his education with Lakeland College and NPCA.

Marcus Stuckey started with us as a Quality Control Technician in 2016 and came to UCP with several years of experience in the concrete field. He handles a majority of the concrete testing for the QC team, including: air tests, slump tests, weekly aggregate gradiation tests, and making and breaking cylinders for strength for various mix designs. He also inspects pre and post-pour of several products, including Counterfort Retaining Wall and Specialty Projects. Marcus has also continued his education with Lakeland College, NPCA, and PCI.

Alex Tibble has been a UCP Quality Control Technician for roughly two years. He inspects inbound and outbound shipments of numerous products, including StormTrap and standard products and oversees pre-pour and post-pour inspections. Alex has also continued his education with Lakeland College and NPCA.

Jose Guardado Rodriguez began working at UCP five years ago as a Production Laborer and progressed to Quality Control. He is currently running QC on our second shift and is responsible for the pre-pour and post-pour of many of our standard and specialty products. He is responsible for all concrete testing on his shift. Jose has also continued his education with Lakeland College and NPCA.

Modular Infrastructure Brochure

We recently created a brochure focusing on Modular Infrastructure, which puts a spotlight on the products UCP produces that incorporate Value Engineering/Design Build and Accelerated Bridge Construction (ABC).
Click here to view a web version of the brochure.
Some of the precast products featured in this pamphlet are:
Bridge Approach Slabs
Deck Panels
Pavement Slabs
Pier Elements
Bridge Abutments, Backwalls, & Wingwalls
Superstructure Systems
Moment Slabs & Copings
Counterfort Retaining Wall
Rail Platforms
Sign Columns
UnderbridgeTubs
Wave Wall

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