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Descriptive:
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Roger
Hickel Contracting constructed this new 145,000 SF store
on a 14.5 acre site. The work on this project was concurrent
with a similarly sized Lowe's store RHC is building in Wasilla.
The two projects started a few days apart and are presently
in nearly identical stages of completion. Both schedules are
aggressive - less than six months from contract signing to
construction completion. Prior to signing construction contracts
for both projects, RHC assisted Lowe's in adapting their nationwide
prototype designs to meet Alaska conditions.
The
Fairbanks site is a portion of the pipe storage yard used during
construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline in the mid-1970's.
The first development in this area took place in 2001 when RHC
constructed a 135,000 SF Home Depot store in the northeast corner
of the former pipeyard. The area has since boomed with retail
development. Last year a Wal-Mart was built across the street
from Home Depot and this year, in addition to the Lowe's project,
a new Fred Meyer store is going up. What was just alder covered
flat real estate four years ago will have over 700,000 SF of
retail development on it before the end of 2004.
The
site had been cleared and somewhat leveled during pipeline days
but had since been overrun by native plant species. After clearing
and grubbing work had been completed, on-site cuts and fills
further leveled the Lowe's site prior to importing about 130,000
tons of gravel fill. On-site water, sanitary sewer, natural
gas, electric, and telecommunications services were brought
to the building from mains in adjacent streets. The area is
not served by a piped storm water system so on-site retention
basins were constructed to handle rainwater runoff and snowmelt
from the 305,000 SF of asphalt parking lot, 67,000 SF of site
concrete slabs, and the building roof.
In addition
to the 145,000 main building, there is a 6,000 SF enclosed and
heated greenhouse, a 1,425 SF shade structure for nursery sales,
and another 7,500 SF covered outdoor storage area for a total
of almost 160,000 SF under roof. The main building has concrete
tilt-up exterior walls and interior tube steel columns supporting
a steel joist and metal decking roof structure covered by an
insulated (R-38) single-ply membrane roofing system. Interior
perimeter walls are painted plywood over metal stud framing
filled with batt insulation (R-19). Facades on the front of
the building are EFIS over metal stud framing. Twenty natural
gas fired rooftop units, supplemented by area specific radiant
and unit heaters, meet the building heating and cooling needs.
The building has automatic fire sprinklers throughout - wet
systems in heated areas and dry systems in unheated ones. High
efficiency fluorescent fixtures illuminate most of the interior
spaces. Those fixtures are mounted directly beneath the metal
decking in the sales area and are part of the acoustic ceiling
system in office areas. Lowe's requires a 20' minimum clear
height so all mechanical, sprinkler, and electrical components
had to be installed higher than the roof joist bottom chords.
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