Humble Construction Co.

Owner:

Humble Construction Co.

Scope Of Work

As the Humble Construction name suggests, we’re not ones to spend time in the limelight, but this project ended up being one of the most highly visible projects we’ve ever completed. It was highly visible because that was the whole reason for the project. Nearly 350,000 motorists driving along I-670 East and West, SR-315 South and US-33 in Columbus, Ohio will see the three, 160-foot tall concrete towers we constructed. Our client, a national media company, had us construct the towers to display highly visible wallscape advertising.

The extreme height of this project was unique for Humble Construction (we more commonly pour concrete below grade for machine foundations and press pits). But because the entire structure was planned to be structural concrete and high end office space, Humble Construction was a natural choice. We were selected for the job because of the specialized concrete skills we’ve developed over the past few decades. We are a recognized authority in specialized concrete and tenant improvement construction projects.

The three towers went up simultaneously, 20 feet at a time. So each time we poured concrete, we added 20 feet to all three towers. That required 130 yards of concrete (13 trucks) each day we poured. Fortunately, we were able to use a concrete pump to get the material to the top of the towers. That saved hours and increased the safety on the job.

When the towers were at half height (80 feet) we paused the concrete work and added the first steel cross beam supports. The support beams were positioned every 40 feet along the height of the towers. This added the necessary stability to continue the rest of the concrete work.

With the three concrete towers completed, we then assembled the steel that would hold the advertising banners. This is where all of the precise concrete work paid off. Without painstaking precision on each tower, the cross beams wouldn’t have lined up properly as they span the 50+ feet between the towers.

The three towers are configured in a triangle shape, each tower being one of the points of the triangle. Each banner is 53 feet wide x 120 feet tall, and they cover two of the sides of the triangle. The third side holds solar panels that provide electricity to light the banners.

In addition to the sign towers that stretch hundreds of feet into the air, this particular project also involved a three-story structure that is constructed entirely with concrete supported, suspended slabs. We did some research and found the best system for the concrete forms, and we self-performed all of the work.