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NCI - Advanced Technology Research Facility (ATRF) - Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research

About this Project

NCI - ATRF consists of multiple three-story buildings totaling 332,000 square feet for future manufacturing and research laboratories for the National Cancer Research Institute.

Challenges

Tight schedule, bad soils, and record snowfall were challenges for this project.  Because of schedule constraints, the structural design of the building was phased in a non-traditional sequence.  Bad soil was encountered throughout the four buildings.

Solutions

The wall panels were designed first to allow the start of construction and avoid winter conditions.  The steel frame was designed next to accelerate mill orders.  The foundations were designed last with 860 geo-piers added due to unsuitable soil.  During the snowstorms, snow was loaded into dump trucks and hauled to another site to keep construction moving.  Casting beds were installed strategically around the site to be used multiple times due to lack of sufficient slab on grade for casting.

Results

NCI - ATRF was a National Award Winner in tilt-up construction and was completed 32 days ahead of schedule.

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