Vida Affordable Housing was bordered tightly on three sides by busy city thoroughfares and by private homes on the fourth side. The Vida footprint spanned every available inch of the site, leaving little room for laydown and seriously cramping our abilities to maneuver inside the footprint. To make matters worse, the City and County of Denver effectively prohibited street closures on two of the three streets bordering Vida. And unfortunately, the only street available to close was also the primary emergency access for the retirement community that was directly across the street.
We had to find a way to 1) maximize available space inside the building footprint, 2) develop a just-in-time delivery plan that wouldn’t slow construction or endanger the lives of retirement community residents, and 3) prevent a major Denver street from collapsing into the excavation.
Our just-in-time situation was especially challenging for our metal-stud wall panel delivery, as each individual panel was numbered and precisely sequenced for speed of installation. More about that later.
We maximized efficiencies in deliveries with a scheduling app installed on all driver phones. The app was synced with our look-ahead schedules and allowed us to time deliveries to the minute.
To make the most of very little space, Pinkard conducted a needs assessment of every trade that would work inside the excavation. This micro-evaluation of every need of every trade allowed Pinkard to meticulously fine-tune the schedule and sequencing of every activity in the excavation, including deliveries and concrete pours, caisson drilling, the number of ramps needed for excavation access, dewatering, and much more.
We even used special form-saver rebar that freed-up space to allow trucks more room to turn in the hole without damaging critical structural components.
To save even more space, we used soldier pile retaining wall systems instead of traditional shoring to keep the excavated walls intact. There would be no street collapses on the Vida project.
These early innovative approaches maximized space; allowed for quicker, more efficient construction; ensured caisson structural integrity; and allowed continual emergency nursing home access.
