FEATURE ARTICLES in this edition include:

Design Build: The Owner’s Role in Successful Outcomes
The Design (Pre-shovel) Phase
by Jim Mynott, McCarthy Vice President, Design Management

To get the best results on a design-build project, the owner’s role is as important as that of the design-builder. Read more to discover six areas where an owner’s early involvement is critical to realize ultimate success.

Achieving Effective Operation of Your Systems
by Chad Dorgan, McCarthy Vice President, Quality and Sustainability

The focus during final project turnover is often on operations and maintenance documentation and training of an owner’s personnel. Read more to learn about the key activities owners, designers and contractors need to take to ensure a smooth, effective transition.

See the WINTER 2013 EDITION

Readers can also view region-specific content by selecting from the drop down menu titled View Other Editions. These include Central, Nevada/Utah, Southern California, Northern Pacific, Southwest, Southeast and Texas.

FEATURE ARTICLES in this edition include:

When Prices Rise, Will You Be Ready?
Prepare now for the coming escalation
by Mike Bolen, McCarthy Chairman and CEO

Rising construction prices may be on the horizon. How can owners budget today for the construction components they’ll need to buy a year or two from now? Read on to find out.

Funding Finesse
by Paul Erb, LEED AP BD+C, McCarthy Project Director

Projects today are often funded from a combination of sources secured at different times. Learn how the University of California, Berkeley managed this uncertainty on the new Li Ka Shing Center for Biomedical & Health Sciences.

See the Fall 2012 Edition

Readers can also view region-specific content by selecting from the drop down menu titled View Other Editions. These include Central, Nevada/Utah, Southern California, Northern Pacific, Southwest, Southeast and Texas.

Presented during the Training 2013 Conference & Expo in Orlando, the award recognizes the top training organizations based on excellence in employer-sponsored training and development programs across all industries. McCarthy was again honored with placement on the prestigious list, moving up from 10^th to 6^th place in this year’s ranking. This result positioned the firm as the highest ranked construction company on the list for the second year in a row, supporting a national effort to provide high quality development opportunities for those pursuing careers in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields.

“To deliver exceptional construction results for our clients, we know we must develop the best true builders in the industry,” commented McCarthy Chairman and CEO Mike Bolen. “And, as an employee-owned company, these builders also need to understand the intricacies of our business to bring real value to our clients and partners. It is truly an honor to be included among America’s best on the Training 125.”

Founded as a family-owned business almost 150 years ago, McCarthy is one of the largest 100% employee-owned companies in America today. The firm has long fostered a culture dedicated to continuous improvement, and “Learning” represents one of McCarthy’s six company Core Values. While a formal McCarthy Training Program had been in place for decades, McCarthy launched an entirely revamped training program in 2008 under McCarthy Build U^®. Unusual in the construction industry and among best-in-class training programs outside of the construction industry, McCarthy Build U is a personalized approach to employee development. Through a comprehensive array of in-person, online and self-directed training opportunities, employees are empowered to take control of their personal and professional development. Ensuring the safety of all individuals who work on or near all McCarthy project sites is the firm’s number one priority. This vigilant approach to safety is supported by McCarthy’s comprehensive Safety Training Program. Further, employees have access to an extensive on-the-job training program, as well as more than 325 instructor-led classroom sessions, 135 instructor-led virtual classroom sessions and 250 online, self-paced modules focused on building, business and management skills.

“Our focus on developing the best builders and industry professionals in the business starts from Day One,” explained McCarthy President and Chief Operating Officer Derek Glanvill. “With a training investment three times the construction industry average, we are serious about this effort. This approach enables us to attract and retain the best talent, execute work that others say is ‘impossible,’ and ultimately develop future company and industry leaders.”

 About the Training 125
Now in its 13^th year, the Training Top 125 ranking is based on a variety of benchmarking statistics such as total training budget; percentage of payroll; number of training hours per employee program; goals, evaluation, measurement, and workplace surveys; hours of training per employee annually; and detailed formal programs. The ranking is determined by assessing a range of qualitative and quantitative factors, including financial investment in employee development, the scope of development programs, and how closely such development efforts are linked to business goals and objectives. More information about the 2013 Training Top 125 Award winners may be obtained online at www.trainingmag.com.

About McCarthy
McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. is one of the nation’s oldest and largest commercial builders. Committed to the construction of high performance green buildings, progressive job site technology, and safer, faster and more cost-effective execution, the company provides general contracting, construction management, and design-build services for healthcare, educational, commercial, parking structures, science and technology facilities; office buildings; tenant interiors; mixed-use; bridges; and highways. Repeatedly honored as a Best Place to Work, McCarthy is a 100 percent employee-owned private company, or “S corporation employee stock ownership plan” (S ESOP). More information about the company is available online at www.mccarthy.com.

FEATURE ARTICLES in this edition include:

Building Before the Bell Rings
How to do a major school renovation on the fast track
by Justin Kelton, McCarthy Vice President, Education Services

Whatever project type, be it a school, hospital, laboratory, entertainment venue or civil project, time is often of the essence. What does it take to beat the schedule?

 The Three Frontiers of BIM
by John Grady, McCarthy BIM Manager

A paradigm shift is underway enabling owners to benefit from information-rich models during construction and throughout the building lifecycle. Find out how to get your team started.

 See the Summer 2012 Edition now.

Readers can also view region-specific content by selecting from the drop down menu titled View Other Editions. These include Central, Nevada/Utah, Southern California, Northern Pacific, Southwest, Southeast, Texas and MC Industrial.

McCarthy is serving as general contractor and will be self-performing the structural and architectural concrete work on the facility, which is located on a 7.5-acre site at the northeast corner of Vignes Street and Cesar E. Chavez Avenue in an industrial area in downtown Los Angeles. The 442,265-square-foot project began construction in October 2012 and is scheduled to complete in summer 2014.

McCarthy’s contract entails construction of a three-level, cast-in-place concrete parking structure to house the Metro buses with an attached two-level, 21,000-square-foot transportation building on the structure’s northwest corner. McCarthy will also tie into an existing two-level maintenance building at the east side of the parking structure.  An operational Metro Support Services Center is located adjacent to the construction site.

Service and vehicle equipment maintenance bays are located on the first level and include lifts with modern, computer controlled automated adjustment, a bus wash system, chassis and non-revenue vehicle wash systems, three-axis lift systems for accessing roof mounted equipment on buses, mobile work platforms at lower level work areas, high-density palletized stacking systems, carousel and vertical retrieval modules for parts.

Designed to meet LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold certification standards, sustainable construction methods will be used throughout construction such as maintaining proper indoor air quality; utilizing local labor and materials and recycling construction waste. Furthermore, the facility, which was designed by RNL of Los Angeles, will incorporate construction materials that are regionally sourced and/or have a high recycled content. Water conservations features include a bus wash system that uses reclaimed storm water and a chassis and non-revenue vehicle wash system that uses 100% recycled water. The project landscape features low maintenance native vegetation, and a green roof will be installed on the Transportation Building to reduce cooling costs, minimize storm water run-off and to mitigate the urban heat island effect.

 McCarthy Project Director Khatchig Tchapadarian noted that the most challenging aspect of this project is the site location and logistics due to the location of the County jail to the north and busy traffic on the streets at the south and west sides of the project. “McCarthy will work with the appropriate entities to alleviate traffic disruptions and to allow access for the County jail buses and security vehicles throughout construction,” said Tchapadarian.

“Tying into and modifying the existing maintenance building on the eastside of the structure will present further challenges,” explained Tchapadarian. “McCarthy will be removing some of the maintenance building’s exterior skin, concrete decks and bathrooms and reconfiguring the welding shop. We will coordinate closely with the ongoing shop operations in order to mitigate any disruptions to the shop when conducting these construction operations.”

The project consultants involved in the Metro Division 13 Bus Maintenance and Operations Facility project include: MARRS  – resident engineer ; Maintenance Design Group – design team manager and maintenance facility designer; RNL – architect; McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. – general contractor; Nabih Youssef Associates – structural engineer; W2 Design and Huitt-Zollars –civil engineer; C&J Technical Solutions & Services, Inc. – electrical and mechanical engineers; Fuel Solutions – fueling; Ambient Energy – LEED advisor.

About McCarthy
Recognized as one of the nation’s few true builders, McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. is one of the nation’s oldest, privately held construction firms and the largest general building contractor in California (ENR California, July 2012).  The company is committed to the construction of high performance green buildings; progressive job site technology; and safer, faster and more cost-effective execution. In addition to Newport Beach, McCarthy has offices in San Diego, Sacramento and San Francisco, Calif.; Phoenix; Las Vegas; St. Louis; Collinsville, Ill.; Dallas; Houston and Atlanta. McCarthy is 100 percent employee owned.  More information about the company is available online at www.mccarthy.com.

About RNL
RNL is a global, full-service design firm specializing in sustainable, integrated design.  Founded in 1956, RNL offers a continuum of design services, including architecture, interior design, landscape architecture, urban design and planning.  RNL has offices in Denver, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Washington DC, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates and Singapore.  In September of 2012, RNL was ranked #5 for sustainability and #20 overall on Architect magazine’s The Architect 50, an annual ranking of American architecture firms.  For more information, please visit www.rnldesign.com.

FEATURE ARTICLES in this edition include:

Weathering the Storm
How Mercy and McCarthy are collaborating to rebuild healthcare in Joplin
by Stephen Meuschke, McCarthy Project Manager

What Mercy is accomplishing following last year’s EF5 tornado in Joplin, Mo., has never been done before. And, the inspirational story of Mercy Hospital Joplin is really just getting started.

Don’t Forget to Look Down – A Case for Floor Flatness
by Chris Pechacek, McCarthy Virtual Design and Construction Director

Imperfections in floor flatness can have significant impacts on operational efficiencies. To deliver superior floor flatness levels requires a detailed plan like that being implemented for Kaiser Permanente.

Aligning Sustainability Construction Goals with an Owner’s Mission
by Nate Ray, McCarthy Senior Project Manager

When Soka University of America challenged McCarthy to build a new performing arts center in line with the university’s Buddhist mission, the team knew this was more than simply achieving LEED status.

See the Spring 2012 Edition

Readers can also view region-specific content by selecting from the drop down menu titled View Other Editions. These include Central, Nevada/Utah, Southern California, Northern Pacific, Southwest, Southeast, Texas and MC Industrial.

The 520,000-square-foot project includes construction of a three-level consolidated rental car parking structure with a car wash and fueling system; a rental car customer service building; and a ground level bus transit station for MTA, Burbank Bus, Amtrak and charter/shuttle buses. The bus station features an open air design complemented by 16 art panels adorning all three levels of the structure.

Work also entails construction of an elevated, 1,100-foot-long moving walkway, which will transport rental car customers and rail and bus passengers between the RITC and airport terminal.

“For the Airport Authority, this project represents our ongoing commitment to improving convenience for our passengers and Southern California, while at the same time improving quality of life for our neighbors,” said Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority President Chris Holden. “This project will reduce traffic and promote use of alternative public transportation while providing a state-of-the-art rental car facility for our airport patrons.”

As part of the project design intended to meet LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Silver certification standards, sustainable construction methods such as maintaining proper indoor air quality, utilizing local labor and materials and recycling construction waste will be employed. Solar panels generating roughly 1.5 megawatts of clean energy will be installed on top of the RITC by the city of Burbank.

McCarthy Senior Project Manager Andy Liu noted that environmental stewardship also includes crushing and reusing approximately 13,630 tons of asphalt concrete taken from the parking lot during the grading operation for the new facility. Furthermore, 1,600 tons of demolished concrete slab and 70 tons of miscellaneous metal were recycled offsite.

The design-build RITC project features a pre-engineered metal roof, and two post-tensioned concrete deck and beam systems, each approximately 185,000 square feet. Like the moving walkway, it will be base-isolated with triple-pendulum bearings designed to resist a maximum credible earthquake. In the event of a disaster, the facility will serve as an emergency response center.  

The 141 isolators will be placed about 10 feet above ground, which Liu said will not only be rare, but also challenging. “We usually encounter earthquake isolator installation at grade level,” he said. “Having the isolator 10 feet in the air will make the setting and grouting more challenging. The bearing plate has to be set perfectly level and the bolt holes on the base plate have a very tight tolerance. Close supervision on leveling and alignment of the plates are critical to ensure quality and accuracy as repair can be costly.” 

“Another interesting project element is the span between columns, which is 65 feet instead of a typical 18-foot span in similar structures,” explained Liu. “We will be constructing larger girders, approximately four feet deep, with handset formwork conducted by McCarthy’s concrete crews.”

Scheduled for completion in summer 2014, the project is located along Empire Avenue directly across from the Bob Hope Airport Train Station, on a 20-acre site formerly used as a parking lot. A separate parking structure (not a part of McCarthy’s RITC project) is being built at the airport to replace auto parking spaces currently located on land that will become the site of the center.

Some of the major project consultants involved in the Bob Hope Airport Regional Intermodal Transportation Center include: GKK/STV – Construction Manager; PGAL (Pierce Goodwin Alexander & Linville) – Architect; McCarthy Building Companies – General Contractor; Miyamoto – Structural Engineer; Saiful Bouquet – Design/Build Structural Engineer; JMC2 Civic Engineering & Surveying – Civil Engineer; PBS Mechanical and Electrical Consulting Engineers – Electrical Engineer; PBS Mechanical and Electrical Consulting Engineers – Mechanical Engineer; and Anil Verma Associates, Inc. – Landscape Architect.

About McCarthy
McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. is the nation’s eighth largest domestic general contractor (Engineering News-Record, May 2012). With nearly 150 years of experience, McCarthy is one of the nation’s oldest, privately held construction firms and the largest general building contractor in California (ENR California, July 2012).  Committed to the construction of high performance buildings, the company provides general contracting, construction management, program management and design-build services for airport, parking structure, healthcare, education, entertainment, retail, laboratory, biotechnical, microelectronic, and industrial facilities; office buildings; tenant interiors; mixed-use; multifamily residential and bridges and highways. In addition to Newport Beach, McCarthy has offices in San Diego, Sacramento and San Francisco, Calif.; Phoenix; Las Vegas; Albuquerque; Dallas; Houston; St. Louis; Collinsville, Ill.; and Atlanta.  McCarthy is 100 percent employee owned.  More information about the company is available online at www.mccarthy.com.

The McCarthy projects honored by the CMAA include: Soka University Performing Arts Center and Associated Academic Facility; John Wayne Airport Terminal C; Westminster Police Department Headquarters; and Methodist Hospital of Southern California’s new North Tower and Central Utility Plant upgrade.

Among the award winning projects is Soka University of America’s new Soka Performing Arts Center and Academic Building project. The new center, which opened in September 2011, is located on 1.9 acres of the Soka University campus in Aliso Viejo, Calif. The LEED Gold certified project serves as a venue in South Orange County for concerts, theater productions, lectures and assemblies, furthering Soka University’s role as a cultural center and community gathering place. McCarthy, serving as construction manager for the project, received the CMAA Project Achievement Award. The $73 million project included construction of a three-level, 47,836-square-foot Soka Performing Arts Center housing a reception lobby, various support spaces and a 1,000 seat auditorium. McCarthy also built a 48,974-square-foot Academic Building which is located next to and provides support for the Soka Performing Arts Center. The new four-level academic building houses 11 classrooms, 29 faculty offices, a 150-seat black box theater, four dressing rooms, a rehearsal/dance studio, musician warm-up spaces and other support areas. Other project team members included R.W. Buck and Associates, program manager; Zimmer Gunsul Frasca, architect; JAMA of Los Angeles, structural engineer; RBF of Irvine, civil engineer; Syska of Los Angeles, electrical and mechanical engineer; and SWA of Laguna Beach, landscape architect.

John Wayne Airport’s (JWA’s) new Terminal C, which opened to passengers on November 14, 2011, also received a CMAA award. The new terminal increases JWA’s capacity from 8.4 million annual passengers to 10.8 million. It also provides the airport with the ability to operate international flights. The $211.5 million facility was part of the $543 million Airport Improvement Program (AIP) – one of Orange County’s largest-ever public works programs – which created approximately 6,670 jobs over the life of the project. The project included adding a 282,000-square-foot, three-level terminal building plus a basement, to the existing 448,000 square feet in Terminals A and B at the Thomas F. Riley Terminal. The project also included upgrades and renovations to the existing terminals including the installation of a new paging/communications and information technology system in both terminals. The reconfiguration of three gates (two for international flights and one for the Common Use Passenger Processing System) as well as the remodel of select airline offices in Terminal B was also completed. Arcadis/Pinnacle One was the construction manager who received the CMAA Project Achievement Award for the JWA Terminal C project. Other project team members included: Parsons, program manager; McCarthy, general contractor; Gensler, architect; Jacobs, civil & MEP engineer; and IDS Group, structural engineer.

Griffin Structures received the CMAA award for the $65 million (development cost) Westminster Police Department Headquarters project. The project entailed construction of a 91,000-square-foot police building housing an upgraded 911 communications center, a new forensic lab, increased evidence storage capacity, an Emergency Operations Center, a Type I jail facility and administrative work space. The project also included site work such as driveways, surface parking, a sally port, landscape and fire access lane improvements.  Griffin Structures was program manager and McCarthy served as construction manager for the LEED Gold designed police headquarters which was completed in May 2011. AECOM of Orange, Calif. was the architect for the facility.

McCarthy’s fourth award winning project is the new north tower and central plant upgrade at Methodist Hospital of Southern California.  Jacobs, who served as construction manager for the project, received the CMAA award. Although this was a complex and challenging project, it was completed approximately two months ahead of schedule and several million dollars under budget. The $140 million project, which opened in September 2011, included construction of a 154,486-square-foot patient tower on the existing 127-acre Methodist Hospital campus. Comprised of five levels plus a basement, the new tower features the Hollfelder Emergency Care Center and a main entrance on the first floor; a 20-bed ICU and pharmacy on the second floor; identically designed units on the top three floors with 40 medical/surgical beds each; and a new kitchen, dining area and support services on the basement level for patient, visitor and staff dining. The new building’s basement is connected to the existing building by a 90-foot long tunnel constructed beneath an operational emergency department. Inside, the tower drastically increases the hospital’s capabilities, both in terms of technological ability and size — the number of emergency department beds has increased approximately 65 percent, and the intensive care unit is one-third larger. The program also included the seismic upgrade of the existing central plant to ensure structural compliance with SB 1953 through 2030. The equipment upgrades included adding two emergency generators and a replacement chiller to serve the new patient tower. NTD Architecture was the project architect; McCarthy was the general contractor; TMAD Taylor & Gaines was the structural engineer; JT Engineering was the civil engineer; M E Engineers was the mechanical engineer and N.A. Cohen Group Inc. was the MEP engineer.

About McCarthy
McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. is the nation’s eighth largest domestic general contractor (Engineering News-Record, May 2012) and Orange County’s largest commercial builder (Orange County Business Journal, June 2011). With nearly 150 years of experience, McCarthy is one of the nation’s oldest, privately held construction firms and the largest general building contractor in California (ENR California, August 2011). In addition to Newport Beach, McCarthy has offices in San Diego, Sacramento and San Francisco, Calif.; Albuquerque; Phoenix; Las Vegas; Dallas; Houston; St. Louis; Collinsville, Ill.; and Atlanta.  McCarthy is 100 percent employee owned. More information is available at www.mccarthy.com.

FEATURE ARTICLES in this edition include:

Thinking like Owners
How Integrated Project Delivery Helps Achieve the Best Final Outcome
by Doug Mangers, McCarthy Project Director

Integrated Project Delivery breaks down traditional silos, exposing and connecting each team member to the entire building process. Read on to learn more.

Maximum Mobility Maximizes Productivity
The State of Mobile Technology is Taking Construction to a New Level
by Michael Oster, McCarthy Vice President, Information Technology

Technology innovations are hitting jobsites at a fast and furious pace. Here are some exciting technology trends to watch.

BIM in Action: LAX Central Utility Plant
by Ryan Clark, McCarthy Virtual Design & Construction Manager

Building a new 75,000-square-foot, steel-framed replacement central utility plant at the world’s seventh busiest airport is no easy feat. Find out how it’s being done.

Impossible Project?
Planning Makes Perfect at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
by Ben Johanneman, McCarthy Project Director

Faced with extremely tight site space, catastrophic weather conditions, and ongoing active hospital operations, the team implemented nine specific actions to make this project a success. See how these may apply to your next project.

See the Winter 2012 Edition.

Readers can also view region-specific content by selecting from the drop down menu titled View Other Editions. These include Central, Nevada, Southern California, Northern Pacific, Southwest, Southeast, Texas and MC Industrial.

The project will provide long-term safe lay-berthing facilities for eight large, medium-speed, roll-on/roll-off (LMSR) vessels. It will include fixed concrete berths with mooring structures for the vessels, dredging, electrical service, shore side lighting, communication and basic utility services, such as water, a fire suppression system and sewage connections. McCarthy will also construct a road, parking lots, a perimeter fence and a controlled access gate.

“McCarthy is proud to add this design-build project to our Texas marine resume,” said McCarthy Texas Division President Mike McWay. “The MARAD project will strengthen McCarthy’s position as a premier marine builder along the Gulf Coast. We look forward to working on yet another federal project and see a lot of opportunity in this market as we look to the future.” 

MARAD is a division of the U.S. Department of Transportation responsible for maintenance of a U.S. merchant marine fleet sufficient to support the nation’s waterborne commerce. MARAD supports U.S. waterborne foreign commerce and is capable of service as a naval and military auxiliary in time of war or national emergency.

McCarthy has been a leading civil contractor in the Gulf Coast region for more than 30 years and has built numerous marine related projects including major port projects for the Port of Houston, Port of Port Arthur and the Port of Freeport.

Construction is scheduled to begin in October 2012, with completion anticipated in July 2013. HDR Engineering, Inc. is the lead design engineer for the project.

About McCarthy
Celebrating 33 years of building in Texas, McCarthy is the nation’s 8th largest domestic general contractor (Engineering News-Record, May 2012) and a leading federal builder. An employee-owned company, McCarthy performs general contractor, construction management and design-build services for the following project types: port/marine, federal, healthcare, educational, entertainment, parking structures, office buildings, bridges and highways, laboratory, biotechnology, retail, microelectronic, industrial facilities, tenant interiors, and mixed-use project construction. In addition to Houston, McCarthy has offices in Dallas; Sacramento, San Francisco, San Diego and Newport Beach, Calif.; Phoenix; Las Vegas; St. Louis, Collinsville, Ill.; and Atlanta. For more information please visit www.mccarthy.com.

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