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U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
LZA has performed many value engineering studies for the Corps of Engineers since the early 1980s. These efforts have included military and civil works designs ranging from barracks to elements of the National Missile Defense System to dams and flood protection projects.
A recent project conducted with Project Time & Cost is the Bluestone Dam & Debris Project, Hinton, W.Va. whose goal is to release drift through the Dam year-round in a safe and environmentally sound manner. The drift currently accumulates behind the dam until the waters lower and the drift can be manually dropped through existing sluice gates. A new intake structure will be constructed with nine gates located at various elevations through which drift can be released at most water elevations. This new concrete intake structure will be doweled to the face of the dam. A new 10-ft.-diameter tunnel will be constructed under the dam. The tunnel will be roughly 110 feet long and will be lined with steel to resist abrasion. The cost for this portion (tunnel and intake structure) of the project is $5,718,376.
The VE team developed alternatives to relocate the intake structure and use the existing sluice gates, thus eliminating the need for the new tunnel. Other alternative reviewed and modified the operation of the gates and their locations and maintainability.
GSA Sunbelt Region, U.S. Federal Courthouse, Miami
LZA performed two VE studies on the new U.S. Federal Courthouse for the U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida in Miami. The program manager is WELBRO/Ellis-Don Construction. The project is being designed by the team of Arquitectonica and Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum and associated firms.
This new, twin-tower, 13-floor structure comprises 50,500 square meters and a secure basement parking deck. Between the north and south towers a tilted, multi-story, cone-formed glass atrium extends from Level 7 and penetrates the roof at Level 13 in the form of an above-roof skylight. The towers are wrapped in a heavily articulated glass curtain wall known as the crystal, permitting natural light into the building while providing an interesting articulation of the exterior fenestration.
The estimated cost of construction at design development was approximately $99,650,000. Almost $6 million in savings was implemented as a result of the VE study performed on the Design Development submittal.
National Constitution Center, National Park Service, Philadelphia
LZA, in association with Day & Zimmermann, facilitated a VE study on the National Constitution Center, to be built near Independence Hall, Philadelphia. The project is being designed by PEI Cobb Freed and Partners and associated firms.
The National Constitution Center will be both a museum and an education outreach center. The museum will be an interactive visitor facility, the first of its kind in the world, telling the story of the American system of government in the City of its birth. The architectural program includes approximately 140,000 gross square feet, in addition to underground parking for 200 cars, an on-grade tour bus facility, and an underground National Park Service multi-purpose facility of approximately 10,000 net square feet.
Concerns addressed by the VE team included budget and square footage overruns and the 200-year expected life cycle of the facility.
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