tuAL_BAltA L KE 'S

From boilers and turbines tocars and trucks;

Barthenheier Construction builds parkingramp in abandoned power plant

By Barry Gantenbein, editor, Western Builder

What had been the basement ofan electric and steam powerplant in Downtown Milwau-

kee for more than 90 years will

become a parking facility by theend of the summer.

Barthenheier Construction, Inc.,Milwaukee, is constructing a two-

level parking facility in an aban-doned power plant at 756 N. Mil-waukee Ave. that is being convertedto officeusebyMonroeBuilding,LLC.

To support concrete forms used to build the upper level of the parking faCility, Barthenheier Construction used a shoringsystem rented from Safway Steel Products Inc.

RR4 Western Builder' May 3, 2001

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With revitalization of Down-town Milwaukee, there's a need forparking, especially in buildingsthat are being redeveloped such asthe old power plant, said DennisBarthenheier, owner of Barthen-heier Construction, Milwaukee.

"Parkingis at a premium down-town, and people are willing todeal with cramped quarters for theopportunity to park in a warm,sheltered facility. We're landlockedin this location, and there is reallyno available property nearby tocreate a new parking structure,"Barthenheier said.

So,Barthenheier Construction isconverting the basement into aparking facility. With columns in agrid pattern across the entirebasement, it took real skill tosqueeze a parking facility into thepower plant.

Barthenheier Construction hascreated parking facilities for anumber of downtown buildingsthat have been redeveloped, in-cluding the Milwaukee Ale House.

"For that job we had to create anopening and a ramp system, andthe column spacings were eventighter than this project. I've donetigh ter situations than this,"Barthenheier said.

The construction of the parkingfacility in the basement of thepower plant is a design-build job,with Barthenheier Constructiondoing both the design and the con-struction of the parking facility.

BeforeBarthenheier took the job,the Milwaukee engineering firmComputerized Structural Designwas hired to do calculations to de-termine if the building was strongenough to support an additional

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concrete slab that would be thesecond level of the parking facility.

With the OK of Computer-ized Structural Design, the projectwas a go.

Demolition began beforeBarthenheier arrived on the jobin February, with the old boilersand turbines removed fromthe basement.

The crew from Barthenheiercontinued demolition work, re-moving walls that separated theboiler rooms from the turbine area,as well as pits and abandoned sole-plates for boilers and turbines.

Equipment used by Barthen-heier was lowered into the worksite through an alcove of thebuilding, which has access tothe basement.

Crews removed a section of theexisting concrete slab large enough

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With a lot of hard work and sweat, eightBarthenheier Construction employeespieced together a 9,OOO-square-footshoring system in one week.

to drop heavy equipment into thebasement, and a crane loweredequipment, which included a highreach lift, skid steers, backhoe, anda fork lift.

"They're smaller tools, and theycan do the work, just a littleslower," Barthenheier said."With the attachments that goalong with the skid steer loaders,you can do a lot of work with onepiece of equipment."

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Besides demolition, which in-cluded the removal of the existingslab, Barthenheier crews alsograded, compacted, formed andpoured a new ground floor con-crete slab in the basement.

Support systemTo support the concrete forms

used to build the upper level of theparking facility, Barthenheier Con-struction used a shoring systemrented from Safway Steel ProductsInc., headquartered in Waukesha,Wis.

Barthenheier Construction usedthe shoring system to hold formsfor a I7,OOO-square-footsuspendedslab, which was done in four pours.

"Weconstruct the shoring, crawlspaces and aluminum planks suffi-cient to hold the weight of the 7-1/2-inch reinforced concrete slab,"Barthenheier said.

After a concrete pour had cured,sections of the system supporting

the pour were removed and re-as-sembled for the next pour.

"The shoring is easily adaptablefor variations in construction, so itcould be removed after the pourhas cured properly, and then re-used in a new area," said Barthen-heier. "That's what makes thesystem the most economical andeasy to work with."

Staff at Safway worked withBarthenheier to select a system tobuild the deck.

"Safway has a system thatworks quite easy and fast to form asuspended slab off of their shoringtowers," said Barthenheier. "We'revery comfortable with their sys-tems. Theywork quite smooth andare easy to work with."

Using preliminary plans andvisiting the site, a Safway staffmember worked with Barthenheierto create a system strong enough tosupport forms used to pour a sus-

pended slab I2-feet off the base-ment floor.

"When you work with Safwayon a job of this magnitude, theycome on the job site and we discussand plan how we'll approach this.They provided me with drawingsof the shoring system, we madesome modifications we thoughtwere necessary, and then we go forit," Barthenheier said.

The shoring system and plankswere placed around the grid ofcolumns in the basement.

"That's why we plan and reviewbefore we start anything. Theshoring system and the planksystem they provided aremod ular sizes that fit wi thinexisting structures.

"All the things we're workingaround are already anticipated andfigured in as we go into the project.It's all calculated out, and we getthe right shapes and sizes for the

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10 fA L RUJjJ_6D.l

The Barthenheier Construction crew posed for a photo in front of a section of theshoring system.

to have the job finished by the endof July.

"We've been working an aver-age of eight hours a day, five days aweek. With the proper, efficientcrews, we've been making greatheadway," he said.

Family businessThree generations of the

Barthenheier family are at work on.the job. Besides Dennis, the crewincludes Dennis Barthenheier'sfather, Charles, 73, as well asDennis's son, Eric, 24.

All three are cement finishers,masons and carpenters by trade.Between the three Barthenheiers,they have more than 100 years ofconstruction experience. Charleshas been working constructionsince 1946,Dennis got his start inconstruction in 1962when he was12 years old, and Eric has beenworking construction for the past10years.

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job. After that it goes togetherpretty easy," said Barthenheier.

Safway transported the materi-als to the site, using a crane tolower planks, shoring, and othermaterials into the basement.

In just one week, eight Barthen-heier employees pieced together ashoring system covering 9,000square feet.

"It's no different than when youwere five or 10 years old workingwith your erector set at home. Iused to love doing that when I wasa kid, and I guess that's how thiscame about," Barthenheier said ofpiecing together the shoring systemfor the job.

The materials used to constructthe shoring system are relativelylight weight.

"Two people work together as ateam, and the pieces go togetherquite easily," Barthenheier said.

Although Barthenheier Constr-uction has until the endof August to complete the work,Dennis Barthenheier expected

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May 3, 2001 • We s t ern B u i Ide r RRll

Barthenheier Construction employees worked as a team to piece together theshoring system.

Barthenheier Construction is ageneral contractor specializing instructural concrete, carpentry, andmasonry. Another line of workdone by the company is pile recon-struction and foundation work.

"We come into existing build-ings, and do pile foundation repair

work," Dennis Barthenheier said.Dennis Barthenheier started the

family business in 1974,and it wasincorporated in 1980. The firm gotits start doing residential work,and now does mostly commercialwork. Barthenheier Constructionis a union contractor.•

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