Over the past month the H. J. High team has worked closely with the Volusia County School District through several matters involving interpretations of the Florida Building Code. Most notably, when the building inspectors raised concern with the required support of the brick masonry, the H. J. High team worked diligently with the Structural Engineer of Record and the Building Official to meet all of the requirements of the building code. And when the resolution required materials that appeared to be unavailable to the subcontractor, the H. J. High team pooled its resources and procured the new items without delay to the schedule.

When the budget constraints for the Owner’s residential appliances appeared to limit their purchase, the H. J. High team consulted with the Architect and appliance distributors to make slight modifications in the specifications that allowed the purchase of the complete residential appliance package without sacrificing the ability to use the appliances as the school’s educational programming required.

Career Education Building:

On the exterior of the building, the brick masonry work is complete, the architectural standing seam metal roofing continues and the windows have been installed. The interior has the final touches to the mechanical and electrical utility rough-ins complete and the first finish coat of paint is being applied. 

The upcoming month will include the ceiling grid and beginning of the flooring work on the inside, and the final touches and adjustments to the site utilities and fine grading around the perimeter of the building. The interior cabinetry and casework will soon follow.

Classroom/Lab Building:

On the exterior of the building the roof truss erection is complete, the roof is now dried-in and the brick masonry has commenced. The interior first floor utility rough-ins are complete and the metal framing for the smoke partition walls and ceilings are nearing completion. The masonry walls are being painted as the overhead systems work is in progress. On the second floor gypsum partitions are being framed and utility rough-ins are preparing to start.  

The upcoming month will include the standing seam metal roofing and the brick masonry will continue to make significant progress. Work on the first floor will enter the finishes stage of the project with the priming and first coats of wall paint just ahead of installation of the ceiling grid. The second floor utility rough-ins will make significant progress.

The construction industry is commonly considered the most litigious industry in the nation. Contractual relationships are generally structured to “pit” designers, owners, and construction managers against each other in a misguided effort to create a checks and balances atmosphere. In today’s market environment, it’s common for new project Requests for Qualifications to ask contractors for the number of lawsuits they have had with clients in the last five years.

H. J. High has never been involved in litigation with a client. This is absolutely unheard of! Let me state that again. In our 76-year history, H. J. High has never been involved in a lawsuit with a client. And not because all our jobs go smoothly. Not because we don’t have disputes. Not because we’ve always been paid on time or we are always compensated fairly on added scope. Not because we haven’t had clients conduct themselves in unscrupulous ways.

The reason why we’ve never been involved in litigation with a client is simple: we work out a solution, forgive, forget, and move on. Life is short.

Sure, our lawyers miss out on the chance for a windfall of fees, but this isn’t about making it easy for lawyers, it’s about settling arguments quickly and getting the project done. Litigation is one thing we don’t do well, and we are very proud we don’t.

As of mid-February exterior wall panels for the new cooler have arrived onsite. The pre-engineered metal building (PEMB) roof is complete and sprinkler piping is now 50% roughed in inside the new cooler. Refrigeration equipment is currently being installed and is on target, along with the HVAC system, for equipment startup at the end of this month. Interior finishes and MEP rough ins continue in the build-out portion of the building. Ceiling grid and paint in the office areas and future retail spaces are all complete. Overhead doors have arrived and are currently being installed. The bollards and structural “goal post” will be installed later this month. On the building exterior, painting has started, the irrigation system is about 90% complete, and all sidewalks are complete. A slight delay to the sanitary sewer system was experienced when an existing 42” concrete storm line was encountered that was not indicated in the original site drawings. Our design-build team reacted quickly, designing a conflict manhole currently in for permitting, with no delay to the project anticipated.

This project is being designed and built around an existing distribution facility previously owned by a milk company. Harvill’s Produce selected the site not only because of the space, but also because of the existing building’s aesthetic homage to the farming industry which the company firmly supports. The building included a silo and had cement board siding, giving the facility a “barn” look. Harvill’s Produce has further enhanced this aesthetic by selecting a red wall with white trim color scheme on the cement board siding. Not only was the color selection successful in amplifying the barn appearance, but the building is now the most prominent structure in a mostly industrial area. Passers-by can’t help but look their way when they drive by and the color selection has turned out to be a great unforeseen marketing tool.

Click the link below for an interesting article about H. J. High’s recently completed Indian River State College Brown Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship featured in Indian River Magazine’s January/February 2012 Edition.

Indian River Magazine_BCIE Article

The joint venture team of Batson-Cook and H. J. High has completed construction of Bay 4 which is the latest addition to the project. With bays 1-4 and the office building at the front of the project complete we have constructed approximately 325,000 sf. This includes bays for refurbishing parts of the compressors and bays for assembling entire gas turbines. Bay 4 is unique in that we installed (2) 250T bridge cranes that contain (2) auxiliary 50T cranes. These will allow the user to make tandem picks in excess of 400T. All the foundations, building steel and crane runways were sized for this loading. The bay also has (2) 30T cranes for general use.

A large portion of the floor has 2” steel plates installed with concrete in filled around them. This area will be covered with scaffold that will allow the user to vertically align the turbines to very minute tolerances. The 200 plates have to be set dead level.

The balance bunker is proceeding as well. The steel chamber is now outlined with vertical steel and will soon have the roof steel in place. Once this is complete we will weld steel plating inside the chamber on the walls and ceiling. All welds are inspected for leakage as this room will be drawn down in a vacuum. The last act will be welding the same steel plates outside the chamber and then filling the inside void with concrete. When finished it will provide a 7’ thick steel and concrete wall. Needless to say, what is in the room is going to stay in the room.

The Gulf Coast State College Advanced Technology Center is well underway as pile caps and grade beams continue to be formed, reinforced and placed. Underground sub-slab rough in work is continuing as well and is complete on the west third of the building. GAC/H. J. High anticipates placing the west portion of the post-tensioned slab on grade in mid-February. The first shipment of structural steel is scheduled to be delivered on February 20^th with steel erection to follow shortly behind delivery.

Building 6:
On the exterior of the building the architectural metal roofing is beginning and brick masonry is approximately 50% complete. The interior has the mechanical and electrical utility rough-ins nearing completion as the masonry wall painting has begun. 

The upcoming month will include completion of the metal panel roofing and brick masonry as well as the installation of the windows. On the interior all of the utility rough-ins including the fire suppression system will be completed and the gypsum partitions will be hung. Finish coats of painting will continue as the project moves towards the finishes stage of construction.

Building 3:
The first floor utility rough-ins are complete and the metal framing for the smoke partition walls and ceilings are nearing completion. The roof trusses are nearing completion and the roof deck is following. Architectural metal roofing will begin soon. Roofing dry-in and metal panel installation will start in mid-January which will free up the second floor for the utility installations. The exterior brick masonry has started.

The upcoming month will include the beginning of the finishes stage for the first floor as the walls will begin to take color. The exterior brick masonry will make significant progress, and the second floor utility rough-ins will begin in full force.

The pre-engineered metal building (PEMB) has been delivered and erected. The insulated wall panels have arrived on the jobsite today for the PEMB and installation will commence immediately. All interior insulated metal panel walls are installed. The ripening room equipment has been installed. Final tie ins to the various systems will occur at the end of the job. Low- Temp’s refrigeration equipment is arriving on the job weekly. The balance of their equipment will arrive at the end of January, 2012. All the office framing and drywall is complete. These walls have been taped, finished and primed with the ceiling grid starting this week. The curtain wall installation has started this week as well. The remaining exterior sanitary system work is on hold until the new sanitary structure is delivered at the end of the month. MEP rough in continues on the inside of the existing building. Temporary permanent power should be achieved by next week.

We are entering the final months of construction at Bay Street Baptist Church. All site work and paving has been completed with the installation of the septic field finishing up. The cross was raised just before Christmas on the exterior and is easily visible from the road. Inside we have finished all framing and drywall installation allowing the painter to work on the walls and ceiling. All ductwork and lighting has been installed. The church has authorized the installation of finishes that will commence at the end of January. Bay Street Baptist will utilize a crew of volunteers to install the irrigation and landscaping beginning the first week of February. 

Excitement from the congregation and community is growing as the project nears completion.

While our economy has been grounded, H. J. High Chairman, Steve High has been flying high for those in need for more than 20 years. Steve has been an integral part of Angel Flight Southeast, a 501(c)(3) organization of volunteer pilots who utilize their own aircraft, fuel and time to provide free air transportation to medical facilities for families that are financially distressed or otherwise unable to travel on public transportation. 

This journey with Angel Flight began after Steve’s own medical scare in the early 1990’s. While recovering from surgery, Steve found an article that mentioned air ambulance operations and Angel Flight Southeast. As a pilot for over 40 years, he realized he could help the organization. “I feel that God has given me the ability to own an airplane and have a company that supports my flying. He was gracious enough to allow me to live, so I feel I ought to do something in return.” As soon as Steve was fully recovered he signed up for his first flight and the rest is history.

There have been hundreds of missions over the years and each one holds a special significance. In Steve’s own words, “There have been many memorable flights. The ones I remember most are flown with young children. Seeing them in a helpless state, depending on medical miracles to keep them alive and the trials they have to endure is pretty rough. Thank God for all those who participate in Angel Flight.” 

Steve now flies an average of 25 Angel Flight missions a year and in 2010 was ranked 3^rd in the Southeast for the most legs flown with 28. This selfless giving helped to inspire H. J. High’s charity initiative that was started in 2008.

To learn more about Angel Flight Southeast or to donate to this worthy cause, please visit their website as www.angelflightse.org