Centennial Place Phase I Sets Milestone in Western Canada July 2007

Largest Concrete Pour in Calgary Relies on Largest Boom Pump in Canada

STURTEVANT, WI (July 30, 2007) – On a beautiful Friday night in July, Canada One and four other truck-mounted concrete boom pumps began a monumental pour for the 30,000 square foot (2,787 square meter) raft slab that will serve as part of the foundation for Calgary’s new office showpiece, Centennial Place East Tower. Consuming nearly 13,000 cubic yards (9,800 cubic meters) of concrete, this is the largest continuous mass pour – raft foundation not only in Calgary, but in Canada. It is also among the largest in North America and the world.

The large scale of the pour was a perfect fit for Calgary-based Viper Concrete 2000 LP (Viper), who maintains a fleet of Putzmeister pumps including Canada’s largest, a 61-meter roll-and-fold model known as Canada One. With 197' 2" (60.10m) of vertical reach and up to 210 cubic yards (160 cubic meters) an hour outputs from its .16H pump cell, Canada One led four 42-meter truck-mounted concrete boom pumps, three of which operated continuously throughout the pour.

“Throughout the 51-hour pour, the pumps were taking the concrete faster than it could be supplied,” says Mike Maksymic, general manager at Viper. “Their reliability and performance was exceptional. We had 98 percent pump efficiency during the entire duration of the pour. In addition to virtually no downtime, the equipment was maintenance-free. We only had to replenish fuel every eight hours and monitor the essential fluids and levels.”

Located in the Eau Claire district of Calgary, Centennial Place East Tower is Phase I of what will be a 1.2 million square foot (111,484 square meter) office development built by Oxford Properties Group, Inc. (Oxford). The name of the new development, Centennial Place, celebrates Alberta's Centennial year (2005), and recognizes the history of Calgary and Eau Claire's contribution to the business community during the past one hundred years.

Construction of the 40-story, 800,000-square foot (74,322 square meter) tower began in October 2006 and is expected to be complete in fall 2009. The facility will include an underground parking facility and is being built in accordance with Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) guidelines to meet a high standard of indoor environmental quality.

According to Maksymic, “Eau Claire is a very trendy area near the Bow River, historically known for upscale residential buildings. There is now a movement to bring office developments like Centennial Place closer to the river and develop apartments and condos usually found near the river in areas traditionally known for offices.”

In a press release on Centennial Place, David Routledge, vice president of Oxford Real Estate Management – West commented on the need for office development in the city. “There is significant demand for large blocks of contiguous space in Calgary's core and vacancy rates for class A office space are currently at a historic low.”

One of North America's largest commercial real estate investment firms, Oxford Properties Group owns and manages a portfolio of prime income producing and development properties across Canada and holds interests in real estate assets abroad.

“The Calgary office market remains the most vibrant of all major North American centers right now,” Routledge mentions in the release. “Oxford is pleased to be in the position of adding top-tier product into the mix."

Pumping Perfection Placing such a large volume of concrete for the Centennial Place East Tower slab meant pumping was the only viable alternative, according to Derek Pearce, project manager at PCL Construction Management of Calgary.

“The unusually deep 12-foot (3.6-meter) thick grid combined with the 220-feet by 138-feet (67-meter by 42-meter) dimensions of the slab was an extreme concrete placing situation,” says Pearce. “To meet lane closure restrictions, we had to get the enormous volume into the hole over a weekend time frame. We had four ready mix plants supplying the pumps with 1,100 trucks of concrete. All the pumps, particularly the 61-meter, were incredibly beneficial to the success of this pour.”

Viper began pumping smaller mud slabs for PCL in May. “We really appreciated the extra effort on Viper’s part in working on the planning of the concrete placement for this project,” comments Pearce. “Viper will also pump, place and finish a 2,600 cubic yard (2,000 cubic meter) raft slab adjacent to Centennial Place East Tower which will help support Phase 2 of the project.”

Based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, PCL is a group of independent construction companies working out of major offices in twenty-seven locations across Canada, the continental United States, the Hawaiian Islands and the Bahamas.

Large Site Means Well-Planned Logistics Bordered by 2nd and 3rd Avenue S.W. and 4th and 5th Street S.W., Phase I of Centennial Place occupies a full city block. Two roads were closed during the entire pour to supply the pumps with concrete. Arranging the vast number of ready mix trucks from Lafarge North America (Lafarge) was a particularly interesting logistical challenge, as hundreds of thousands of people converged each day on the city for the Calgary Stampede over the July 6th weekend. “The annual rodeo and entertainment festival made ready mix logistics a challenge even with pre-planned truck routes in place,” says Maksymic.

The mass of the building and ground conditions dictated the rebar grid thickness. “Lafarge supplied a 56-day strength, 5,000-psi mix with a 12-hour set time,” notes Pearce. “This meant keeping fresh slump at all parts of the pour. Each grid pumped by Viper met the requirement.”

Founded in 1974, Viper Concrete’s parent company, the Giusti Group of Companies, has evolved from a British Columbia, based custom homebuilder into a corporation that specializes in cribbing multi-family parkade structures and prefab wall panels. In addition to Viper Concrete 2000 Limited Partnership which pumps, places and finishes concrete for the commercial, industrial and residential sectors in Southern Alberta, the Giusti Group of Companies operates Giusti Group Limited Partnership (cribbing), Giusti Wall Tech Limited (prefab), Tuscany Drywall and Julian Ceramic Tile Incorporated. “The Giusti Group of Companies strives to service the market by being the best in what we do,” says Dr. Ermenegildo (Joe) Giusti, CEO of Giusti Group of Companies. “Through dedication, innovative management and integrity we aim to deliver quality products and services exceeding our customers’ expectations.”

“We continue to work with PCL on a variety of projects,” notes Maksymic, “including three other jobs here in Calgary.”

Large pours in Western Canada seem to be the trend. Since the Centennial Place East Tower pour in early July, a 19,500 cubic yard (15,000 cubic meter) job has been announced.