26 CAM MAGAZINE JUNE 2010 “Voice Of The Construction Industry”®

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2008. Students filled the newly built rooms,opening the floodgates and beginning theflow of cash to the owner an entire yearbefore completion of the last two buildingsin fall 2009.

sheathing already installed." In fact, the useof wood panels versus conventional stick-built construction accelerated the pace ofrough carpentry and framing by two tothree months, helping Marsh to finish thefirst building in time for the fall semester of

Wood came to the rescue of a $47million dollar project trappedbetween a confined site and a tight

schedule. The Courtyards is a premierstudent housing development built deep inmaize and blue territory in Ann Arbor. Thenarrow rectangular site, inserted into theexisting fabric of The University ofMichigan's North Campus, lie fallow for over20 years until a Chicago developer namedKensington Realty Advisors, Inc. obtainedthe six-acre parcel for high-end studenthousing. Students can now study andunwind in style with a full complement oftanning domes, a game lounge and even amovie theater. The exterior is not yourtypical academic brick gulag, but a pleasingharmony of hardiplank siding, brick, andstone that says, "welcome home." Beneath the diverse exterior is a single

material that virtually made the projectpossible: custom wood panels that form theentire structural frame and interior studwalls of the four-story buildings. "The three,55-foot-high buildings pushed woodconstruction to its vertical limits," saidAugust F. Kehn, PE, vice president and seniorproject manager of T.H. Marsh Construction,the Royal Oak-based construction managerfor the 360,000-square-foot campus. "Youusually do not see wood framing much overthree stories on a building." Cost was one of the drivers behind this

material selection. At the time of design, "awood frame structure cost less than steel,"said Gene Carroll, AIA, partner, LEED AP,Neumann/Smith Architecture, theSouthfield-based firm responsible for thequality design of the 300-unit development."We did price light-gauge steel stud overwood studs, but the current market pricingwas better for wood." The project team turned to Cedar Creek

Carpentry, a New Baltimore carpentrycontractor, for this undertaking in wood.Designing, fabricating and installing customwood panels is a Cedar Creek specialty."They have engineers that make the panelwork to the criteria established by thestructural engineer," said Kehn. Cedar Creek designed and fabricated the

panels in their New Baltimore shop, creatingdrawings for every panel type. "There areeasily over a hundred different panel typeson each building," said Kehn. Fabricationwas efficient and streamlined, because "thebuildings are very similar in shape, sofabrication became a repetitious item," saidCarroll. "For speed of erection, wall panelswere shop fabricated with windows and

The use of wood panels accelerated construction by two to three months, allowing Marsh to finishthe first of three buildings in record time. Students were able to occupy the first building inSeptember 2008.

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CONSTRUCTION TRAFFIC COPSBeyond cost and schedule, the panels

were a godsend on this narrow, constrictedsite with a single access road for entranceand egress. A crane could pluck the panelsdirectly from a semi-truck and hoist theminto place as a solution to the lack ofmaterial storage space and the congestedwork environment on a site measuring only225 feet in width and 1,000 feet in length. The source of this building bottleneck was

a "tri-party agreement among theowner/developer, U-M, and the City of AnnArbor stating that construction activity andtraffic was not allowed on or across U-Mproperty," according to Marsh-suppliedinformation. Unfortunately for site logistics,the parcel is locked in on three sides byuniversity properties and a border ofuniversity roads. Marsh gained site accessonly at Broadway Street, located at thenorthwest corner of the development. "Wehad only one way in and one way out of thesite, because we were not allowed to use theMurfin Boulevard entry to the northeastuntil the project was completed," said Kehn.With a clearance of only 25 feet between

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Wood panels were used for both the structural frame and the interiorstuds of this 360,000-square-foot development.

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on this narrow lane also includedcoordination of crane set up with panelinstallation. "If we needed to set up a cranefor some other aspect of the job, we hadCedar Creek deliver a couple of extra loadsprior to the crane's arrival," said Kehn. "Withseveral days worth of panels pre-stacked,panel installation did not have to stop andwait for set up of the other crane."

back down, going backwards all the way."There was simply no room for either backingup trucks or laying down materials, becauseof site constraints and foundation work inprogress on the Center Building next door.Marsh worked south to north, building thethree structures in sequence over the courseof 21 months.Marsh's work as a construction traffic cop

The Courtyards and The University ofMichigan North Campus Recreation Buildingto the east, Marsh inserted a narrowtemporary access road running the entirelength of the site's west side. They were ableto slip the 30-foot-wide road into the 45-footclearance between The Courtyards and awooded area and university parking lot tothe west. "We didn't have sufficient room toeven turn around," said Kehn. Forconstruction of the South Building, borderedby the inaccessible Hubbard Street, semi-trucks delivered materials to the very end ofthe site and then had to back down theentire length of the 1,000-foot-longroadway. Marsh carefully planned material delivery

as a counter force to these tight siteconstraints. "The most important element tomaking this project a success was the earlydevelopment of a site logistics andmanagement plan that would allow for siteaccess and movement around the site," saidRick Stanza, Marsh superintendent. As apivotal trade contractor, Cedar Creek wasplaced on the priority site access list fromthe very inception of work on the 120,000-square-foot South Building. "Cedar Creek'sloads were driven to the south end early inthe day at scheduled intervals," said Kehn."We then brought in deliveries for othertrades until Cedar Creek was ready to drive

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A diverse cladding of hardiplank siding, brickand stone blankets the structural wood frame.

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30 CAM MAGAZINE JUNE 2010 “Voice Of The Construction Industry”®

Marsh served as both traffic cop and roadcommission tasked with keeping theroadway safe and clear. "Much of the workwas done in the winter," said Kehn. "Inworking through a winter of record snows,we had to plow and salt the road almostdaily to maintain traffic flow." As a furthercomplication, the site slopes upward 40 feetfrom the northern entry point to the southend, meaning the temporary road had to bepaved or the construction crew wouldliterally face an uphill battle in potentiallymuddy conditions. "This little Matterhorn ofa temporary road was paved to allow fordrainage and to keep mud and ruts frombogging down movement along the road,"said Kehn. Marsh's astute project management came

into play once again on a site offering littleroom to build and no place to park. "Weresolved the parking issue by securing anagreement with a nearby church for use ofits parking lot across Broadway Street," saidKehn. "Our arrangement satisfied the trades'parking needs for about 18 months. I wouldventure to say that having an arrangementwith the church ahead of time may haveeven helped us get the job." Essentially,Marsh had a plan for managing 80 to 100cars off the jobsite before they were even onthe jobsite.

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While Marsh pushed wood construction to its vertical limit, the overall development took high-end student housing to a new level of luxury and class.

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PUTTING THE PIECES INTO PLACE Marsh began working south to north in

summer 2007, because construction of theNorth Building's two-story undergroundparking structure would add six months tothe timeline and make the North Buildingundeliverable by the first day of the fallsemester in 2008. Fortunately, the woodpanels were pivotal in delivering the SouthBuilding to the owner in time for thebeginning of the traditional school year.Every panel was marked, arriving on thejobsite with a companion drawing showingits placement in this structural jigsaw puzzlein wood. Two truck-mounted cranes werepositioned for lifting the panels - an averagepanel measured 20-feet-long x 10-feet-high- and then swinging and hoisting them intoplace. "They installed them like an erectorset, going up one floor at a time," said Kehn.At the peak of the job, Cedar Creek hadabout 30 rough carpenters working on thespread of buildings. Labor savings, quality control, and speed

were the three primary benefits of the panelsystem. "Setting huge panels in place versusnot having to erect every stick or piece ofwood was definitely a labor savings in thefield," said Kehn. "Budget-wise, the costcame out equal. Shop assembly undercontrolled conditions boosts quality,because the carpentry is not impacted byweather or other field conditions. We werenot impacted as much by the weather in thefield either. The panels just made life easier."Last but not least, speed of installation wasgreatly accelerated not only for thestructural frame and interior studs but alsofor the entire South Building. The plumbers,the electricians and all the trades could gettheir work done more quickly and ultimatelyturn the entire building over to the owner.With the use of the panel system, Marshalready had the rough carpentry andframing installed for the Center Building atthe grand opening of the South Building.Both Center and North Buildings werecompleted in late spring 2009 and open tostudents in fall 2009. Both the selection of wood as structural

frame and T.H. Marsh Construction Companyas construction manager delivered a difficultproject that was “a complete success withon-time project delivery, zero lost-timeincidents, and an extremely high-qualityproduct from the very first to the very lastunit,” added Kehn.