The Connecticut Food Bank is currently constructing an 82,000 square foot warehouse facility in Wallingford using Tilt-Up Concrete panels, reports NRMCA Senior Director, National Resources, Doug O'Neill. Local representatives from the design community, business owners and elected officials were invited by Claris Construction, Inc., a tilt-up concrete contractor based in Newtown, CT, to attend a "panel raising" (shown here) to show the ease at which tilt-up concrete construction projects move along to completion. Close to 3,000 yards of concrete was delivered by NRMCA Producer member F&F Concrete based in Plantsville, CT, which included both the floor slab and the cast in place tilt-up walls. Each panel consists of an interior and exterior wall section separated by foam insulation and a plastic moisture barrier. These panels, approximately 30 feet high, were cast horizontally and then tilted up into place using a crane. The erection team can tilt-up one panel every 15-30 minutes, which allows for the facility to be totally enclosed in a matter of a few days, noted O'Neill.

 

In attendance were several representatives of NRMCA Associate member A.H. Harris including President Kim Corwin who is also the current president of the Tilt-Up Concrete Association. Ms. Corwin is an advocate for promoting the use of tilt-up concrete construction across the country; the team at A.H. Harris are eager to collaborate with NRMCA members and partners to advance the use of tilt-up concrete construction methods. In addition to O'Neill, his Connecticut promotion colleague Jim Langlois, executive director of the Connecticut Concrete Promotion Council, were also in attendance.

For more information on this project and on tilt-up concrete construction in your area, contact Doug O’Neill at doneill@nrmca.org.