Statistics: Overall Height 90 ft. Suspended Slab 780,000 sf. Columns 588 ea. Beams & Girders 700,000 csf.
Client:
Perini Builders / Tompkins / JV MCC Project Manager: Jeff Hooper, Dave Allison MCC Project Engineer:
Jeff Hooper, Roy Cloud, Rob Hinman, Brett Steed MCC Superintendent:
Oscar Ventura, Ken Ridens, Jose Rodriquez
Convention Centers
Example: # 564 - Gaylord National Hotel and Convention Center - Prince Georges County, MD
Project Description:
The Gaylord National Convention Center and Exhibit Hall sits adjacent to the hotel complex along the Maryland shore of the Potomac River just south of Washington DC. The Convention Center / Exhibit Hall is comprised of a number of meeting rooms, offices, utilities and food services in addition to the expansive exhibit and convention areas and central plant complex. This 5-story structure is split into three areas; west, east and central plant.
The majority of the lowest level, approximately 320,000 square feet of slab on grade is exhibit hall with a ceiling height of 40’-0”. The majority of the columns are laid out on a 60’-0” by 60’-0” grid pattern to allow for as much versatility as possible. The perimeter columns under the mezzanine area are at a 30’-0” by 60’-0 grid pattern to allow for increased loading in the service areas above. The long spans in this area in conjunction with the design loads of the ballroom above required the use of large 4’-0” wide by 6’-0” deep post-tensioned (bonded cable) girders. Extensive effort went into the layout and shoring design of these areas to accommodate the substantial shoring loads and to allow the system to be broken down easily when necessary or to remain together and transported to the next shoring location. High-load aluminum shoring frames were utilized to provide the necessary load capacities, sometime reaching 28,000 lbs per leg. Both steel and aluminum strongbacks were used in conjunction with specially manufactured components and high-load aluminum screw jacks to develop a yoke capable of carrying the massive ganged girder forms and deck tables. Located above the exhibit hall and mezzanine areas are the large ballrooms and meeting rooms. The two large ballrooms, one on the east side and one on the west half of the complex are open to the roof level where large glass covered free span steel trusses create enormous skylights over both rooms. These levels still required large, four and five foot deep girders with corresponding beams to support the large transposed loads imposed by the large steel trusses.
All the levels were tied together by numerous concrete stair towers at the perimeter as well as several expansive grand stairways strategically placed in the center of the structure.
Due to the large lateral expanse of the structure and depth of the girders and beam, no shear wall were necessary to combat lateral forces.
The only concrete wall utilized was a precast modular retaining system at the east end of the structure as it cut back into the sloping hillside.
Columns varied widely in size, from 12” square to 48” square. Columns in the exhibit hall area and a few other locations are well in excess of 40’-0” and required the use of large steel plate girder forms and steel tube bracing to allow the columns to be poured full height.
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