PP CC AA NN YY November 2002 Volume 13, No 11PRECAST CONCRETE ASSOCIATION OF NEW YORK, INC.

MONTHLYNEWSLETTER

Precast Concrete Associationof New York, Inc. 706 Quaker Lane, Delanson, New York 12053 Tel: 518-895-8352 Facs: 518-895-2329 Email: pcany@aol.com Web: www.pcany.org

Carl Buchman, PE: Exec DirectorMary Ellen Yankosky: Admin DirectorEdward Hourigan, PE: Tech DirectorHarold Nelson, PE: News Editor

Deep relief of cornice and base spandrels compliment design of new ENCON office building in Albany.Garage was constructed under a design-build contract. photo by PCANY

DB garage for new ENCON buildingcompliments color and profile,and is finished on time for opening

When the Department of EnvironmentalConservation (ENCON) Office Building re-cently opened in Albany, visitors and workersalike were able to park in an attached 500 carall precast parking garage that had beenconstructed under a design-build contract.

Architectural precast spandrels and col-umn covers on the new garage complimentthe ENCON building both in color and profile.The deep cornice beams and spandrels pro-vide an interesting facade with changes inlight and shadow. The tinted concrete matchesthe exposed brick and limestone of the officebuilding. Precise color control of the architec-tural precast was achieved by computerizedbatching of materials and computer tinting ofcement used in the concrete.

By contracting with a precast fabricatorbefore final design of the garage, the con-struction manager was able to fast-track theschedule, meet the opening deadline, andincorporate significant changes related tochanges in the office building.

The seven story structure includes precastspliced columns, (and column covers), in-verted T girders, L beams, double T floormembers, spandrel beams, wall panels, stairelements, and special lite wall shear panels inthe transverse and longitudinal direction ofthe garage.

The heaviest end spandrel beams weighedover 75,000 pounds. All of the members witharchitectural finishes received a light to me-dium sand blast finish to expose the fineaggregate and enhance the color. Taupecolored panels to match brick panels on theoffice building were cast continued on page 2

Garage systems,better, faster andmore economical

Precast garage systems with dual purposestructural / architectural members offer a num-ber of benefits for the owner, developer, archi-tect, and engineer. Systems are better, fasterand more economical. Two garages reportedin this letter are good examples of the advan-tages that systems offer.

Design flexibility and efficiency• Clear interior space with long floor spans.• No structural or installation redundancies.• Dual-Purpose load bearing exterior members.• Superior load bearing capacity.• Flexible bay sizes.• Time-tested proven performance.

Aesthetic quality and freedom of expression• Choice of color and texture.• Ability to match nearby buildings.• Choice of stone, brick or tile veneers.

A low maintenance, durable structure• A new look for decades. No significant discoloration, staining, or corrosion.

Structural Integrity• Inherently noncombustible.• Earthquake resistant.• Good acoustical performance.• Vibration resistance.• Stabilized frames with precast shear walls.• Blast resistant exteriors.

Precast garage systems offer smooth andreliable scheduling and all weather construc-tion. This translates to unrivaled speed ofconstruction, with the foundation, superstruc-ture and enclosure times reduced by up to55%, and the occupancy time reduced by upto 30%. Using a single-source precast pro-vider, eliminates hassles and delays whileallowing other trades to work as each sectionis "dried up" or completed.

Reduced construction time translates tosignificant savings on interim financing. Earlyoccupancy means more revenue through earlyoccupancy by the user or tenant. Fewercontractors on the project results in savingson foundation, superstructure and enclosurecosts. With fewer contractors, there is lessrisk, coordination, and mobilization costs.

Finally, reduced operating costs can beanticipated with an increased service life,reduced long-term maintenance costs andreduced property insurance rates. For moreinformation on garage systems visit the pciweb site at www.pci.org and consult with alocal precaster for specific details. ❏

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PRECAST CONCRETE ASSOCIATION OF NEW YORK November 2002 MONTHLY NEWSLETTER Page 2

The owner and architects for the newQuackenbush Garage in downtown Albany,New York, chose a warm off-white color forspandrels and shear walls and full brick facingfor offices and stair towers to highlight thestructure located in the historic North End ofthe city. The seven story 880 car structure issituated off Broadway, near the new ENCONOffice Building, and adjacent to entry and exitramps for I-787.

The City of Albany Parking Authority is theowner of the new structure. They wanted aclean looking garage that would blend withthe neighborhood, meet their budget, housetheir offices, and provide retail space for gen-erating income. They also wanted a durablestructure that would guarantee maximum ser-vice life for the investment.

The mix design for the off-white concreteused in the architectural members, includedwhite cement and a blend of red and buff sandand course aggregate that are found in West-ern Massachusetts. Numerous samples weremade and submitted to the owner for consid-eration before selection. A light to mediumsand blast finish was applied to expose colorof the fine aggregate.

Stainless steel accessories including "Vec-tor" double tee flange to flange connectorsand "BSF" stair to wall connectors manufac-tured by the JVI Corp were used in the struc-ture. "BSF" connectors eliminate the need forcorbels or exposed steel brackets.

Off-white concrete and full brickhighlight garage & offices in Albany

The striking affect of white spandrel beams and exterior shear walls and the contrasting red brick usedon the stair towers and offices highlight this new garage in Albany. photo by PCANY

As noted above, the City of Albany is theowner of the structure. Desman Associateswas the Engineer and John Fujiwara theArchitect. Both are located in New York City.U. W. Marx from Troy, NY was the Construc-tion Manager. Unistress Corp was the Pre-cast Prestressed Fabricator. Their plant islocated in Pittsfield, MA. ❏

DB garage for newENCON building

continued from page 1

with concrete using a gray cement. Thelimestone colored panels were cast with whitecement. The garage was configured on a 10'module with typical 10' x 60' bays, 10' wide x34" deep double tee members and 10' widevertical shear wall panels.

Picotte Management Co. is the Owner/Developer of both the office building andgarage for ENCON. Beltrone ConstructionCo was the Construction Manager. GregoryJ. Selemen, PC was the Architect. Selnick /Harwood Consulting Engineers, was the En-gineer of Record.

Ross Bryan and Assoc. was the SpecialtyEngineer for the Precast Work including thetransverse wind and seismic analysis. TheWilliam E. Dailey Co. was the Precast Pre-stressed Fabricator. Their plant is located inShaftsbury, VT. ❏

Changing coloron architecturalpanel finishes

The "Architectural Precast Concrete"handbook, published by PCI is a resource forinformation on the color and texture of archi-tectural panel finishes. Color can be changedby varying the aggregate and paste color ofthe mix, size of the aggregates, and the finishor exposure of the aggregates.

Cement color is the primary influence on asmooth finish because it coats the exposedsurface. As the surface is progressively re-moved and the aggregates are exposed, thepanel color increasingly reflects the fine andthen the coarse aggregate colors.

Cement color variationCement may be gray, white or buff. All

cements have inherent color and shadingdifferences depending on their source. Afinely ground gray or white cement is normallylighter in color than a coarse ground cementof the same composition. Gray cements willhave greater color variation than white ce-ments even from a single source.

Production variables such as changes inwater content, variations in curing tempera-ture and humidity and exposure to climaticconditions at varying strength levels, all tendto cause greater color variations in a graycement than a white cement concrete. A lowwater-cement paste is almost always darkerthan a high water-cement paste made withthe same cement.

Color variations with pigmentsPigments can be added to a paste to obtain

colors that could not be obtained throughcombinations of cement and fine aggregatesalone. A computerized pigment dispensingsystem was used for panels on the ENRONGarage noted on page 1. The system usesblack, yellow and red primary colors orpreblended colors in combination with grayand white cements.

Texture also affects color. A matte finishresults in a different color panel than a smoothfinish. Fine aggregates have a major effect onthe color of white and buff colored concrete.Where color depends primarily on the fineaggregates, gradation control is important.

Aggregate exposure and colorThe colors in coarse aggregates will be

affected by the exposure process. Sand-blasting will dull the aggregate, while acidetching may increase their brightness. Expo-sure by retardation, normally leaves the ag-gregates unchanged. For information on ag-gregates and variations in exposure, visit thePCI website at www.pci.org. ❏

PRECAST CONCRETE ASSOCIATION OF NEW YORK November 2002 MONTHLY NEWSLETTER Page 3

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Maintenance andcare of precastparking garages

Precast parking garages require minimumbut specific periodic maintenance and care. Aguide entitled Concrete Parking StructuresMaintenance, published by PCI, provides ba-sic housekeeping and preventive maintenanceschedules. The following is taken in part fromthe guide, with a focus to minimize intrusion ofwater and deicing salts.

Semiannually:• Flush all floors with a minimum 1.25" hosestarting at the top and working down. A springflush should be made immediately after the springthaw.• Inspect floor surfaces for spalls, excessive wearand cracking. Patches should be made withmaterials having concrete compatible thermalproperties such as a latex modified concrete.Cracks should be routed and sealed with a highquality sealant. If reinforcing steel or steel platesare exposed, they should be cleaned of rust downto bright metal by sand blasting or power wirebrushing and coated with epoxy paint prior topatching.• Inspect floor expansion and control joints fordeterioration, wear or abuse from snow plowsand repair as required.• Inspect and clean floor drains, and repairdownspouts where required.

Once Each Year: (Preferably Spring)• Inspect each sealant joint and replace sealantas required.• Inspect all structural connections and surround-ing concrete area. Seal cracks with epoxy injec-tion and/or clean out loose concrete and rebuildwith appropriate material. If crack is a "moving"crack, an engineer should be consulted.• Inspect parapets and guard rails for impactdamage and repair as necessary. Tighten railbolts and strand guard rails.• Inspect all elastomeric bearing pads. If padsare deteriorating or if concrete is cracked in thevicinity an engineer should be consulted.• Check for rust. Clean and recoat all exposedmetals with epoxy or zinc rich coating. Rust isusually and indication that moisture intrusion isoccurring.

Periodically:• If a penetrating silane or siloxene sealer wasapplied during construction, it should be reap-plied every 7-10 years with reapplication moreoften in the abrasion areas.

Parking Condition Audit:A condition audit by an engineer experienced inparking structure design and restoration is stronglyrecommended at a minimum of once every threeyears. Some owners have a "walk-through"condition audit on an annual basis.

Snow removal and ice control are a fre-quent cause of damage to joint sealants andexpansion joints. A heavy rubber cuttingedge fitted to the bottom of a plow blade isrecommended. Salt should be limited to 3 to6 % by weight of sand if applied for tractionand ice control. ❏

Pretopped or topped double teealternates for garage decks

Garage decks are normally framed witheither pretopped double tees or standarddouble tees and a field placed compositetopping. Today the pretopped alternative isthe preferred and most common system withmost garage designers.

Flanges of a pretopped double tee are 4"thick and are simply butted edge to edge forthe finished deck. The tooled joint betweenflanges is primed and filled with an elasto-meric sealant after the flange welded connec-tions have been made. Connectors are fre-quently fabricated from stainless steel to mini-mize corrosion.

The big advantage of this system is that itproduces an excellent, high strength (6,000 to8,000 psi) plant produced wearing surfaceversus a typical field placed concrete toppingwith lower strengths. The top surface istypically broomed during casting, in the trans-verse direction of the deck, to provide im-proved traction.

The thickness of the structural concretetopping should be no less than 3". Thethickness may also be governed by fireratings, floor diaphragm stresses or flexureunder large concentrated loads such as firetrucks. When reinforcing bars are placed inthe topping for continuity or a connection, thethickness may be determined by the size andcover of the reinforcing bars.

PCI recommends a 4,000 psi minimumconcrete strength and a low water/cementratio of 0.40 to 0.45. The topping must behand tooled over the flange joints rather thansawn to control reflective cracking. Moistcuring is critical to minimize shrinkage crack-ing and ensure durability.

Pretopped double tees were first used inparking garages in the early 1970's. The firstpretopped double tee garage in the East wasthe Ten Eyck Garage on Lodge Street inAlbany that was designed and constructed byUnistress Corp in 1976. ❏

Double Tee Flange to Flange Connector Details:from Precast Parking Structures, Recommended Practice for Design and Construction, by PCI

November 2002 PCANY MONTHLY NEWSLETTER Page 4

Producer Member Companies:AFCO Precast, East Patchogue, NY 11772A & R Conc Specialties, New Windsor, NY 12550Bayshore Conc Prod, Cape Charles, VA 23310Binghamton Precast Supply, Binghamton, NY 13901Blakeslee Prestress, Branford, CT 06405Carrara & Sons, Middlebury, VT 05753Coastal Pipeline Products, Calverton, NY 11933William E. Dailey, Shaftsbury, VT 05262The Fort Miller Co, Schuylerville, NY 12871Hanson Pipe and Products, Pottstown, PA 19464Jefferson Concrete, Watertown, NY 13601Kistner Conc Products, East Pembroke, NY 14056Northeast Conc Products, Plainville, MA 02762Oldcastle Precast, Manchester, NY 14504Oldcastle Precast, South Bethlehem, NY 12161Riefler Concrete Products, Hamburg, NY 14075Roman Stone Construction Co, Bay Shore, NY 11706Rotondo Precast, Avon, CT 06001Schuylkill Products, Cresona, PA 17929Unistress Corp., Pittsfield, MA 01201LC Whitford Co., Wellsville, NY 14895Zeiser Wilburt Vault, Elmira NY 14904

Associate Member Companies:Advanced Testing, West Stockbridge, MA 01266A-Lok Products, Tullytown, PA 19007Amcrete Products, Newburgh, NY 12550Concrete Prod Solutions, Houston, TX 77084Concrete Sealants, Royersford, PA 19468Con/Span Bridge Systems, Dayton, OH 45420Cresset Chemical Co, Weston, OH 43569Dayton Richmond Corp, Collinsville, CT 06022Engineered Wire Prod, Upper Sandusky, OH 43351GNR Technology, Sauquoit, NY 13456W R Grace, Cambridge, MA 02140Hail Mary Rubber Co, Warrington, PA 18976Helser Industries, Tualatin, OR 97062Henry Co Sealants, Houston, TX 77020H & H Hulls, Hudson, NY 12534Insteel Wire Products, Blairstown, NJ 07825International Precast Supply, Haverill, MA 01838The James Co, Guilford, CT 06437JVI Inc, Pittsfield, MA 01201M A Industries, Peachtree City, GA 30269Master Builders-Preco, Lexington, KY 40509Mixer Systems, Pewaukee, WI 53072NPC Inc, Milford, NH 03055Parsons Diamond Prod, W Hartford, CT 06110A L Patterson, Fallsington, PA 19054Polylok Inc, Yalesville, CT 06492Sika Chemical, Trenton, NJ 08619Spillman Company, Columbus, OH 43207Splice Sleeve N A, Bonita Springs, FL 34134Struc Reinf Products, Hazleton, PA 18201Syracuse Castings Sales Corp, Cicero, NY 13039USF Fabrication, Hialeah, FL 33018

Professional Member Firms:Abate Engineers, Buffalo, NY 14225Baker Engineering, Elmsford, NY 10523Barton & Loguidice, Syracuse, NY 13220Bergmann Associates, Rochester, NY 14614A L Blades, Hornell, NY 14843Clough Harbour & Assoc, Albany, NY 12205Consulting Engrs Group, Mt Prospect, IL 60056John S Deerkoski & Assoc, Warwick, NY 10990Delta Engineers, Binghamton, NY 13901DiDonato Associates, Buffalo, NY 14224Finley McNary Engineers, Essex, CT 06426FRA Engineering, Henrietta, NY 14467Goodkind & O'Dea, Rochester, NY 14604Harza Northeast, Utica, NY 13501Hunt Engineers & Archs, Horseheads, NY 14845Integrated Engineering, Bellingham, WA 98228LaBella Associates PC, Rochester, NY 14614LEAP Assoc International, Tampa, FL 16007Maser Consulting, West Nyack, NY 10994McFarland Johnson, Binghamton, NY 13902O'Neill Consulting, Spring Lake Hts, NJ 07762PCI-New England, Belmont, MA 02178Pratt & Huth, Williamsville, NY 14221Prymus Consulting, Bayport, NY 11705Ryan Biggs Associates, Troy, NY 12180A H Sample Engineers, Ottsville, PA 18942R Samsel Engineers, Henrietta, NY 14467Simpson Gumpertz & Heger, Arlington, MA 02174Spectra Engineering, Latham, NY 12110Edward Watts Engrs, Williamsville, NY 14221Wilbur Smith Assoc, Latham, NY 12110H Wilden Assoc, Allentown, PA 18106

PCANY Officers, Directors and StaffPresident: Jay Abbey, Binghamton PrecastVice President: Joe Nagle, Schuylkill ProductsSecretary: Scott Harrigan, The Fort Miller CoTreasurer: Bill Agustus, Northeast Concrete ProductsAssociate Director: Andy LaMothe, A L PattersonProf Director: Scott Chenet, Barton & LaGuidiceImmediate Past Pres: Tony Mazzeo, Oldcastle PrecastExecutive Director: Carl BuchmanAdministrative Director: Mary Ellen YankowskyTechnical Director: Ed HouriganNewsletter Editor: Harold Nelson

Precast Concrete Associationof New York, Inc.706 Quaker LaneDelanson, NY 12053

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Evolution with GFRP and CFRPviews from the editor

Glass-fiber-reinforced polymers (GFRP)and Carbon-fiber-reinforced polymers (CFRP)are in the limelight this month with innovativebridge projects in Vermont and Michigan.

The first is a new 120' simple span bridge innorthern Vermont that has a double mat ofGFRP bars in the deck slab. We presume itis a composite deck on steel girders. The barsweigh about one quarter that of conventionalrebar, with a yield strength of 91 ksi versus 60ksi for steel. Most important they do notcorrode from exposure to deicing salts.

An article in Civil Engineering, notes thebars are vulnerable to sunlight however, be-fore they are embedded in the slab. VTrans,the Vermont Agency of Transportation, antici-pates a service life at least twice that ofconventional steel. GFRP has added $50,000to the $1.4 million total cost of the bridge.

The second is a new 204' three span bridgein Michigan with four precast prestresseddouble tee girders in each span. The mem-bers are pre and post-tensioned with CFRPtendons and reinforced with carbon fiber bars.

The CFRP bridge was constructed adja-cent to a new conventional structure withAASHTO Type 3 girders and a cast-in-placecomposite slab. The two structures have thesame span, skew, and depth and will bemonitored separately for their performanceunder similar exposure and traffic.

An article in the Sept/October issue of thePCI Journal describes details of the design,and construction of the bridge. The City ofSouthfield, MI is the owner and they claim it tobe the first vehicular bridge in the UnitedStates with CFRP material as the principalstructural reinforcement.

A full scale sample of the girders wasfabricated and tested to failure prior to castingof girders, to confirm design assumptions.Both projects have been instrumented andwill be monitored over the next five years.

It will be interesting to watch these innova-tive projects under loads and exposure of thereal world. We expect polymers will play animportant role in the evolution of precast prod-ucts and systems. ❏