Meadow Burke to Supply Lifting and Bracing Design and Accessories for Hurricane Sandy Memorial
October 5, 2015 6:19 pm
On October 29th, 2012, New Jersey was severely impacted by one of the worst hurricanes to hit the state. Hurricane Sandy swept through New Jersey bringing high winds and over 11 inches of rain. Loss of power, damaged businesses and homes, as well as dozens of people who lost their lives or were injured were just some of the after effects of Super Storm Sandy. Since the hurricane hit three years ago, New Jersey has made tremendous recovery however the destruction left behind and the perseverance to rebuild will never be forgotten.
As a way to reflect and remember the unity that resulted from the Hurricane Sandy tragedy, a team of construction professionals have joined together to design and build a monument located in Highlands, New Jersey that will serve as the memorial. The memorial was constructed out of site-cast tilt-up concrete and consists of a combination of surface as well as three conical oculi in the roof panel. The memorial is held up by three panels that were lifted into place while the roof sits on the three panels.
As part of the project team, Meadow Burke, a leader in manufacturing and design in the tilt-up industry, supplied the lifting and bracing design as well as the accessories. The roof panel, which weighs approximately 360,000 lbs., and broke the record for the heaviest panel lifted, required the use of Meadow Burke’s patented Burke Super Lift III Inserts. The Burke Super Lift III Insert is a dependable and economical combination of three parts: a two-part sturdy base, a high strength steel anchor and a three-part, snap-together recess former. With a 2.5:1 safety factor, the Burke Super Lift III Insert can safely lift more than any other tilt-up insert in the marketplace. Meadow Burke is the only tilt-up manufacturer to go above the OSHA minimum requirement of 2:1 safety factor. Also used were the inverted brace inserts and 8-14 HD adjustable braces.
Roof Panel – Sketch Provided by Scott Collins
At Meadow Burke, the team behind the complex design and lift engineering of the Memorial included tilt-up engineer manager Scott Collins and product designer Zach Petersen. Because of the record breaking weight of the roof panel and its extremely complex shape, both Zach and Scott had to work carefully through the design and engineering process. “The use of 3D modeling software was required to calculate the center of gravity. Architectural drawings were turned into 3D images using Autodesk Inventor. By adding real materials into the model, the weight and the center of gravity was able to be calculated. The information was then provided to Scott to create the panel using Meadow Burke’s proprietary engineering software in order to successfully design and engineer the lift for the memorial panel,” commented Zach.
The Tilt-Up Concrete Association (TCA), a nonprofit international organization dedicated to the advancement of the tilt-up concrete construction industry, is leading the project through the TCA Community Project Program. The Community Project Program brings members together to give back to the community through projects that are chosen by a local committee and TCA’s International Convention that is held each year. Scott Collins of Meadow Burke commented “It’s nice to be involved in a project that plays a part in remembering the devastation from Hurricane Sandy. This is definitely the most ambitious community project TCA has ever undertaken. It’s also kind of neat to be involved with the team that breaks a record for lifting the heaviest panel”.
