A group of 13 graduating students from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock Department of Construction Management and Civil and Construction Engineering faced a unique problem for their senior design project. Continue reading “UA Little Rock students design hospital, school, and office building for senior class project”
Two programs from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock Donaghey College of Engineering and Information Technology have received accreditation from ABET. Continue reading “Two UA Little Rock programs earn accreditation”
In 2000, Jack Kinnaman, founder of Kinko Constructors Inc., became enamored with a sculpture Kevin Kresse, a family friend, created for his daughter. The sculpture was so beautiful that Kinnaman asked Kresse to create a life-size sculpture for his home. Continue reading “Groundbreaking sculpture finds new home at UA Little Rock”
The University of Arkansas at Little Rock construction engineering team took third place at the TEXO/Associated Schools of Construction Region 5 competition on Feb. 19 in Dallas.
The team, led by Larry Blackmon, faculty coach, represented the UA Little Rock Department of Construction Management and Civil and Construction Engineering.
UA Little Rock students Casey Baker of Benton, John Coleman of Malvern, David Greenwood of Benton, Jonathan Henderson of China, Texas, Johnny Picking of Hot Springs, and Julie Sanders of Saltillo represented UA Little Rock in the Heavy Civil category.
The construction problem involved delivering a budget, schedule, and proposal for a rehabilitation and upgrade for the Dallas County Park Municipal Water Treatment Plant.
Archer Western, the sponsoring company, originally bid the project for $33.7 million in 2010. Archer Western played the role of the customer while teams from Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas took the role of construction manager at risk.
The competition took place over three days. Teams from each school received documents in advance from Archer Western on Saturday, Feb. 17, and had only 16 hours to complete them and finalize their bidding estimate, worth 70 percent of their overall score. On Sunday, Feb. 18, the team traveled to Dallas to prepare their presentations, worth 30 percent of the final score, which they delivered on Monday, Feb. 19.
The team earned third place with a bid of $33.1 million.
In the upper right photo, the team (L to R) includes John Coleman, Jonathan Henderson, Julie Sanders, Casey Baker, Jonathan Picking, and David Greenwood.
Michael Tramel, chair of the Department of Construction Management and Civil and Construction Engineering at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, has been named the 2018 recipient of the Champion of Construction Award. Continue reading ” Tramel to receive Champion of Construction Award “
After spending 14 years working in retail, Heather Hightower saw her move to Arkansas to be closer to her wife’s family as an opportunity to go back to school and start a new career. Continue reading “Graduating student finds passion for construction management at UA Little Rock”
The University of Arkansas at Little Rock construction management baccalaureate program has received accreditation from the Applied and Natural Science Accreditation Commission (ANSAC) of ABET. Continue reading “UA Little Rock construction management program gets added accreditation”
The University of Arkansas at Little Rock has launched a new graduate certificate program in a growing field in the construction industry. Continue reading “UA Little Rock offers new graduate certificate on estimating management”
A University of Arkansas at Little Rock student is vying for $10,000 and the title of Construction Intern of the Year. Continue reading “UA Little Rock student competing for Construction Intern of the Year”
Arkansas lies in a region susceptible to the country’s highest tornado wind speeds — up to 250 miles per hour, according to FEMA.
Twelve students from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock Department of Construction Management and Civil and Construction Engineering faced a unique problem for their senior design project.
“We were presented with the challenge of designing a tornado shelter that would be between the Engineering and Information Technology building and the Business building,” Dan Blair, a UA Little Rock senior, said. “The goal is to design a building that could resist tornado wind speeds and projectiles.”
Senior class members include Abdulaziz Alanazi, Daniel Blair, Julian Castillo, Jeff Choate, Marie Kabera, Matt Mitchell, Drew Potter, Ross Phillips, Norbert Rungano, Dylan Singleton, David Stinnett, and Jessica Vinson. Professors Dr. Nick Jovanovic and Dr. Hank Bray teach the professional engineering seminar and engineering design project courses and serve as faculty advisers for the project.
Industry sponsors from Cromwell Architects Engineers and CDI Contractors created the design challenge for the seniors. Participating Cromwell members include Joe Hilliard, director of engineering; Mike Callahan, lead structural engineer; Paul Timko, structural engineer; and Larry Newkirk, structural designer. Estimator Daniel Bowen and Senior Project Manager David Cooan joined the team from CDI Contractors.
During the school year, the industry sponsors meet with the students every two weeks to meet project deadlines. They also serve as project supervisors and mentors to the students.
“We build on the skills they learn all year at UA Little Rock,” said Mike Callahan, lead structural engineer at Cromwell Architects Engineers. “We give the design team a project, and then we guide them from the beginning to the end of the project. We love helping the students see how all the pieces of a puzzle come together in the end.”
Cromwell and CDI have been industry sponsors for the senior design project for the past five years with the goal of serving the community.
“It’s a good way to give back to the community,” Callahan said. “It also helps us to develop a strong workforce. We have a vested interest in making sure students come out of school well trained.”
Split into three teams, the seniors took up the challenge of designing shelters to withstand wind speeds of 160, 200, and 250 miles per hour. Over the course of a year, the teams completed everything from comparing structural framing and foundation systems to developing a construction cost estimate and schedule.
The final designs contained buildings that could accommodate up to 894 people during a tornado with bathrooms, a kitchen, a training room, and a computer server room.
The cost of the buildings rose with wind speed protection. The building that protected against wind speeds up to 160 miles per hour would cost approximately $2.7 million and take 165 working days to build. The building that protects against 200 mile-per-hour wind speeds costs around $2.76 million and takes 261 days to build. Finally, the building that protects against 250 mile-per-hour wind speeds costs around $3.2 million and takes 267 days to complete.
The project won first place in the engineering/technology division of the UA Little Rock Student Research and Creative Works Expo and is being submitted for other contests.