Category 3 Commercial / Institutional Model – Concrete 

Coreslab Structures (Tampa)

The channelside garage expansion was completed to increase parking in the channel district of Tampa. The solution was a total precast structure that added over 130 parking spaces as well as loading and unloading for the adjacent cruise terminals. The channelside garage consists of 640 precast pieces ranging from a park bench to double tees nearly 100' long. The garage ramp is a helix design with 3 different slopes. The driving surface of the ramp consists of pie shaped "flat" slabs. The slabs were cast in custom forms that were sloped and warped. This enabled the slabs to be cast as erected. Adjacent walls and related spandrels were also cast on custom forms with a 36'-0" or 18'-0" radius. To support inner slabs, a 36" r-beam was designed with a 36' radius and slope of 15". Another design aspect was that the perimeter double tees were to overhang the  sidewalks and road below. The solution was to create monolithicly poured exterior columns with arms that protrude out 8'-0" from the edge of the column.

By using Tekla Structures on this AIA award winning project we were able to insert the architects Revit model as a reference model to use as a starting block. As piece breaks were establised in the helix, and the warped slabs were finalized, we were able to exchange this data back to the architect. Tekla was also pivotal in designing and building the custom forms needed for the warped slabs and radius walls. Without Tekla, numerous calculations and many ZD views would have been needed for the form work. Although there was a great deal of complex pieces coming together, there were no fit issues associated to this project.

The Cross County Shopping Center Parking Garage is a four-level parking structure consisting of 709 parking spaces and 211, 086 sq. ft. of supported area. Features include: 3 framed stair towers, 1 framed single bank elevator tower, a half helix ramp at each level, a pedestrian bridge leading to the shopping center, as well as various pan and reveal details. It has also been designed for expansion. This expandable design includes L beams and removable spandrels for connection to a future structure. The greatest challenge of this project was the half helix ramp which is made up of curved ramped spandrels and single tees with curved and tapered surfaces.

This project showcases how Tekla Structures can be used to solve complex geometries like those required in the helix ramp. A multi cross-sectional profile was created for the single tees to allow for varied pitch and tapered flanges in the casting form. The model was also used in the early stages of the design process for the Cross County Shopping Center logo. In the final model, the pattern changed from a series of reveals to a pan recess system. 3D modeling was necessary to visualize and coordinate this effort.

Jumbo Luperon is a commercial project built within a 365,000 sq ft area.  The retail store area required approximately 230,000 sq ft. of this space.  It has two levels of underground parking. Both levels of elevated concrete slabs were built using cast in place concrete; including the columns and the beams.   The structure was capped off with a structural steel roof system.
 
One of the entrances is built with a combination of panels: spandrel panels (for architectural reasons) and cantilever panels. An access tunnel, constructed from precast, was built with a gravity retaining wall designed to resist soil pressures.  A bearing slab also served as a bridge for the truck trailers to access the distribution center during the entire period of construction.

The standing seam roof is supported by purlins which are supported on a 20 gage galvanized steel decking. The entire deck is supported by structural steel framing and joists.

This project utilized nearly all of Tekla’s BIM offerings, i.e. structural steel, cast-in-place concrete, precast concrete, and tilt-up. In addition to having each of these disciplines using Tekla Structures to improve the productivity of their own processes, the sharing of each model with other disciplines raised the project team’s productivity to new heights.

This  fast-track project spanned a period of 14 months.  The detailing process completed a mere 6 weeks before the substantial completion of the project’s substantial completion.

Jumbo Luperon is an award winning project (TCA, Cemex) due to its inherent complexity and its successful use of technology to mitigate the risks associated with this complexity. It was also presented at the ACI Spring Convention 2010.