Providence Hospital Parking Garage, attached to Providence Health Center

6901 Medical Parkway  |  Waco, TX 76712

Ms. Stone provided the Precast Specialty Engineering Services for this parking structure.  The structure included spandrels, columns, double-t’s and inverted T beams.  This structure differed from the typical structure in many ways.  Starting at the top, Ms. Stone designed the double-t’s to accommodate a helipad for the adjacent hospital.  The helipad included requirements for loading but also clearance requirements that shortened the shear walls.  In addition, the helipad was designed as a partial level that restricted access.  The main shear walls did not resist lateral load for the helipad level.  Ms. Stone designed the columns as lateral load resisting members instead of the shear walls.

The owner of the project requested that the parking structure be connected to the existing hospital by a skybridge.  The existing structure dictated the height of the interior floor, while the ambulance crossing underneath restricted the depth of the connection with the parking structure.  Together, these restrictions, combined with the additional restrictions of stair heights and landing requirements inside the parking garage stair towers, made a very complex arrangement.  Ms. Stone, assisted by other staff, carefully considered all factors, including the comfort of the parking structure users, to create a stair tower that met all requirements.

The structure consists of one at grade, plus 3 elevated levels.  Altogether, the parking structure is about 191,000 square feet.

Ms. Stone is pleased to present this parking garage as a shining example of quality design and management.  Careful detailing and checking resulted in only one S Supplementary Structural Information request - an exceedingly low number.

 

Binz-Engleman Road over Salado Creek

The existing crossing of Binz-Engleman Road over Salado Creek experienced frequent over-topping during rain events.  In addition to delaying the driving public, detours forced emergency services vehicles onto already congested and lengthy routes.  Installing an all-weather crossing allowed for safer access to SAMMC by emergency services and also improved traffic flow in the area, both during rain events and regular days.

The scope of work for the project included

• providing construction observations services
• advising the City of San Antonio on whether the condition in the field met the design intent shown in the plans
• identifying conditions where the engineer of record must be consulted for alterations to the plans
• providing written field visit reports to the City Project Manager
• coordinating closely with the City Inspector and the Contractor to observe critical steps in the construction

 

Construction of the Camp Phoenix North Expansion, Phase 4, Kabul, Afghanistan

This project began when the federal Government needed a second opinion on a nearly completed project.  Ms. Stone reviewed available documentation, consisting of rudimentary shop drawings, intermittent inspection reports, and pictures.  The Government was unable to provide further documentation and calculations as they had not been provided to the Government.

The location of the project required learning 2 versions of Unified Facilities Code (UFC) for Federal Government.  Ms. Stone compared and contrasted the version in effect in at the time of Ms. Stone’s involvement in the project (2011) and also the version used for design of the project (2007).  Differences between the two versions of the UFC and the timing of the project and subsequent calculations affected the adherence of the design to the correct version.

The scope of work for the project included:

• Reviewing available documentation
• Defining lacking design documents in the document package
• Defining errors in the original design
• Ranking the errors defined
• Determining if those errors were serious and required evacuating the building
• Reviewing calculations submitted to verify the construction
• Reviewing calculations submitted to verify remedial construction
• Determining when the errors or omissions had been fully addressed
• Advising the Government on all these topics and answering questions about seismic design and code application
• Advising the Government on a path forward for the project
• Advising on which errors must be corrected

Southwest School of Art Retaining Wall

300 Augusta Street   San Antonio, Texas 78205

The existing retaining wall surrounding the Southwest School of Art in downtown San Antonio leaned precariously out over the sidewalk.  Through the City of San Antonio, the Southwest School of Art determined the nearly five-foot structure needed to be replaced.  Additionally, its historic significance demanded a balanced project team, knowledgeable in replacing this structure.  For instance, numerous closely spaced trees directly behind it placed a great deal of load on the wall.  Tree mitigation and protection, in addition to the City of San Antonio Standards, required close coordination with both the City Arborist and the Contractor.  The historic significance of the wall, surrounding the former Ursuline Academy, placed restrictions on both the final shape of the wall and the visual aspects.  Finally, the highly visible location, complete with busy street and pedestrian traffic, demanded a careful and considerate contractor.

The scope of work for the project included:

• relocating the main driveway into the parking lot behind the wall
• removing the existing wall and reusing the limestone, if possible
• designing an appropriate retaining wall
• incorporating the pressures from the trees behind the walls
• removing and upgrading the lighting and irrigation systems
• incorporating increased pedestrian access
• handling tree mitigation and a completing tree survey
• complying with the requirements from the Historical Commission
• working closely with both the City of San Antonio and the Southwest School of Art