Cabarrus County Courthouse

Construction began on the Cabarrus County Courthouse expansion, that will update the 50-year old building and change the architecture in downtown Concord. Our Charlotte BURG’s scope includes foundations, walls, columns, slab on grade, slab on metal deck, and all spoils/backfill management.

The plan and utilization of the tower crane, as well as, our logistics plan, were key to successfully working through inclement weather and working in a basement 16 feet below street level. Three sides of our work area are surrounded by streets and the fourth side is against the existing structure. Messer Construction proactively created access by setting up lane closures and securing a tower crane.

We utilized a temporary ramp to get materials in and out of the basement. Eventually, we built a permanent ramp, which shut the job down for 2 weeks, because we could not access the hole. During project planning, our team realized that slab on metal deck was on top of the new ramp, and the area may not be able to support the load of materials and trucks.  The team met with the Engineer, and he verified the top of the ramp would not support the weight. We worked with the Engineer, Charlie Lawrence, on a new temporary shoring design to accommodate the load during construction.

The team encountered a large amount of rain fall during the foundation phase. It was challenging to manage the quality of spoils and fill materials on site while running three vertical crews and a foundation crew. These teams previously worked together on several projects. Our planning and execution have been paramount to the success of the project. Even with the rain and the logistical issues, our team has exceeded customer expectations and held schedule.