Storm season doesn’t wait.
Kestrel Energy needed one hub to stock transformers, poles and line hardware for crews across Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky. Its old warehouses were scattered across five leased buildings, and the new one had to be live before the spring storm season.
- 14 mofrom first sketch to first truck out
- 5leased warehouses to consolidate
- 60 theaviest transformer on the racking plan
Design-bid-build would have taken 22 months and pushed opening past two storm seasons. Kestrel needed one team that could design a heavy-load slab, buy long-lead equipment before the drawings were final and still guarantee the price.
We signed a progressive design-build contract, fixed the GMP at 50% design and ran design, procurement and construction in parallel with weekly owner reviews.
Three moves, one contract.
The schedule was built backward from the storm-season date, with every long-lead item bought before it reached the critical path.
- 01
Design for the load
A 10-inch post-tensioned slab with heavy-haul aprons carried 60-ton transformers without the deep footings of the original concept.
- 02
Buy early
Structural steel, two 40-ton bridge cranes and 48 dock doors were ordered at 30% design, locking prices before the steel market moved.
- 03
Build in parallel
Tilt-up panels were cast on the slab while the roof went on behind them, with two self-perform crews working in opposite directions.