Newness. . .

This is Jackson's newest landmark building, the United States Federal Courthouse. We have been working on this project for three years and in my book, one of our finest achievements.

At a contract cost of $155,000,000, this behemoth of heavily reinforced high strength concrete and steel is a work of art and engineering design.

Beneath the building, some 30 feet below street level is a massive mat foundation approximately 55,000 square feet in area and over three feet thick. It took 28 hours to place, which I was there through the whole ordeal, and the foundation contains over 6000 cubic yards of concrete. That's over 26,000,000 pounds of concrete. Yes, it was a miserable experience, especially in the dead of a December winter. It was nearly six months before I regained feeling in one of my big toes.

I assume that the government learned tremendously from the Oklahoma City bombing as this new facility features the latest in engineering safety design.

Bomb-proof bay windows, louvered pre-cast concrete panels to deflect a potential blast, 12 inch thick reinforced floor slabs, and mechanically-reinforced column connections that contains rebar 1 1/2 inch thick and greater.














It is massive.

I wasn't really sure that I liked the look of this building initially, but it's growing on me and I'll never pass by it without feeling a certain sense of pride of our accomplishment. Just another on a long list of successful projects.

- Sent from my iPhone