Franklin County Engineer West Outpost

Owner: Franklin County, Ohio

Hilliard, OHIO--The Ohio Valley Chapter of the Associated Builders and Contractors, Inc. gave Ferguson Construction Company their "Award of Excellence" for the Franklin County Engineer West Outpost.

Michael Dant, vice president of Ferguson Construction, said, "This project presented some real challenges. The company who manufactured the pre-engineered building system went into bankruptcy. As general contractor, our solution was to work with the architect to redesign the office portion as a conventional steel building. Siding and roofing for the maintenance bay area were changed. Modified plans were developed and quickly approved, keeping the schedule as close to the original as possible. In the end, the solution ultimately provided for better materials than as originally conceived."

The Franklin County Engineer West Outpost facility was designed as a primary maintenance facility for county vehicles. The building includes a 27,500 square foot maintenance garage with twelve service bays, and 4,200 square foot two-story office facility. Design elements were chosen to match elements of the Franklin County engineer's headquarters.

Design and construction cost efficiencies were gained by using a pre-engineered building system, a building design which is 98 percent efficient (there is only two percent of the facility which does not have a specific functional use), and other methods not typically incorporated into similar facilities. A $400,000 savings in construction costs were realized through this design, with additional annual utility savings.

Masonry and stone veneer were used at the base of the building to protect the steel frame and wall panels from the corrosive nature of the 7,000 tones of road salt and chemicals that are stored on the site.

In the maintenance bay, 100 windows surround the structure, flooding the work area with an abundance of natural light. Twenty-five large overhead doors flank both sides of the building. Lifts and a manual bridge crane aid with heavy lifting.

The campus has been fully completed and the county is utilizing all aspects of the complex. The efficiencies planned into the building are being realized. The project was completed on February 1, 2006.