Raising the bar on luxury high-rise living, Houston, Texas, is welcoming Belfiore, a deluxe 26-story condo described as the most significant residential tower ever built in Houston. To ensure greater efficiency from the ground up, newer Putzmeister concrete placing equipment, featuring the latest technological advances, is being utilized on the upscale project.
The 336,000-square-foot residential condominium will be situated on a two-acre Uptown tract in the Galleria district and offer modern floor plans larger than any other in the city. Belfiore will add 46 residences with only two 4,650-square-foot condos per floor.
Every detail has been meticulously considered and planned: from the 11-foot ceiling heights, to floor-to-ceiling glass, to the concealed parking garage located underground. The same meticulous planning holds true for the concrete placement, starting with the mat pour for its 14,150-square-foot foundation. To proficiently handle the pour, a trio of Putzmeister truck-mounted concrete boom pumps placed 3,190 cubic yards of concrete for 8 hours nonstop.
TURNKEY
Responsible for the concrete placement is ACPA member Keystone Structural Concrete, LLC, the structural concrete division of Keystone Concrete Placement headquartered in Houston. The parent company was established in 1992 by the Stewart family and places over one million cubic yards of concrete annually.
The company’s structural concrete division was established in 2000 to specialize in turnkey multi-story, cast-in-place concrete buildings and has successfully constructed over $350 million in contracts over the past decade. The company has performed large volume concrete placements for major foundation slabs, spread footings and pile caps previously, but the size and difficulty of the more recent concrete placements has increased significantly.
STRATEGIC SETUP
For the Belfiore project, general contractor Ludlow & Associates Houston selected Keystone as the turnkey concrete contractor to place an estimated 26,200 cubic yards of concrete upon completion.
Starting with the significant mat pour in early May to competently handle the pumping, Keystone selected key Putzmeister models just added to its 16-unit fleet. This included a recently manufacturer-introduced 56Z-meter truck-mounted concrete boom pump, which incorporates all the latest technological advances known as Generation 2. The model was needed for its long 180-foot, 10-inch boom reach on the mat pour; however, the unit’s five-section Z-Fold boom will offer great flexibility by maneuvering its arm sections exactly where it’s needed to pump the lower floors of the high-rise before a placing boom is installed.
The contractor’s new and highly compact 38Z-meter, with similar Z boom versatility and an effective 121-foot, 9-inch reach, was also on-site, pumping at high outputs.
The third unit assisting with the mat pour was the largest boom pump in the Houston area, the Putzmeister 63Z-meter, supplied from the fleet of Hi-Tech Concrete Pumping Services, LLC. The model, capable of reaching 207 feet, also offers a high output .20H pump that can deliver up to 260 cubic yards an hour. In addition, a fourth unit was on standby but not needed.
To avoid relocating any equipment, a short amount of delivery line was used to reach a far corner of the mat; otherwise, the three pumps could access all other parts. Each pump averaged over 130 cubic yards an hour output, even with the slower receipt of concrete nearing completion.
The concrete, supplied locally by Campbell Concrete & Materials, had a 50 percent fly ash mix to reduce the heat of hydration, and the mixer trucks continuously rotated to and from the jobsite to feed the three pumps, which placed concrete to a 4.5 foot depth.
TEAM EFFORT
Although Keystone utilizes its fleet of concrete pumps exclusively for its own projects, the contractor does at times rely on Hi-Tech for longer reaching boom pump sizes than exist in the Keystone fleet.
“We established a relationship with Hi-Tech a few years ago. The performance and features of their Putzmeister pumps to efficiently handle a few of our key projects helped influence us to switch to Putzmeister equipment instead of staying with the competitive brand we’ve purchased for the past 20 years,” claims Scott Anderson, Keystone vice president and general manager.
“We’re always happy to help out on Keystone projects,” notes Monty Mullenix, general manager of Hi-Tech, a concrete placing company established in 2003 under the 35 years concrete pumping experience of Bobby Abatecola. Today, Hi-Tech, an ACPA member, operates from two locations with a 26-unit fleet, encompassing trailer pumps, truck-mounted boom pumps, and separate placing booms.
TIMELINE
Belfiore is a development of Belfiore Developers, LLC, a joint venture led by Giorgio Borlenghi, between The Interfin Companies and Pierpoint Capital, together with the McNair Group and Hudson Brothers Real Estate Limited Partnership. The developers announced plans for the high-rise residential building in June 2013, construction began in early 2014, and completion is targeted for spring 2016. The building is already 70 percent sold. ■
For More Information Putzmeister America, Inc. manufactures a complete line of truck-mounted concrete boom pumps, separate placing booms, truck-mounted telescopic belt conveyors, ready mix trucks, and trailer-mounted concrete pumps, as well as mortar, grout, shotcrete, plaster, and fireproofing pumps and mixers, industrial pumps, tunneling machinery, and pipeline systems.
Modern Contractor Solutions, October 2014
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