Managing a Big Project on a Little Island
When talking about the team’s work at the Golden Grove Prison on the island of St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Brent Smith comes across as professional and resolute. You can still sense the determination that helped the project manager from Perini Management Services see the completion of the $24.3 million project in November 2000. That determination was needed to bring the project-both an addition and new construction consisting of three prisons, two new jail buildings, a control tower, an administration building, and some infrastructure work-in on time and under budget. "Virtually all government contracts on the Virgin Islands have scheduling and budget problems," explains Smith, who was absolute in his desire to be the exception to that rule.
Additional persuasion came from a guaranteed maximum contract that stipulated if the project was brought in under budget, they would get 40 percent of savings; the owner-the U.S. Virgin Islands Dept. of Corrections-gets 60 percent.
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GOLDEN GROVE Location: St. Croix U.S. Virgin Islands Completion date: November 7, 2000 Construction budget: $24.3 million |
However, working on the tropical island, even the largest of the three U.S. island territories, presented limited resources and unique challenges that, if not understood or planned for, could have meant certain failure in terms of cost and time overruns. Smith, and Perini’s construction manager Robert Naylor, made it their mission, then, to see that the assembled team, including Telford, Pa.-based Oldcastle Precast Modular Group and architects Vitetta Group of Philadelphia, work seamlessly and that the company closely monitor and support the project’s subcontractors. He wanted to ensure the project ran as smoothly and as efficiently as any jail construction project in the states-despite the obvious differences, including the transport of 164 precast cells from Florida and the need to import a 480-ton crane from the mainland to erect the modular units. Of course, Smith had little control over the three tropical storms and one hurricane that battered the island during the course of construction.
The Golden Grove Complex
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PROJECT DATA Owner: U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Corrections |
The Golden Grove prison complex occupies approximately 10 acres and is the only major detention area on the island. The limited number of prison beds forced the island government to spend large sums of money housing many of its prisoners "off island." They wanted to expand the facility and bring back prisoners housed in the United States while at the same time add enough beds to accommodate future inmate populations. The joint venture of Hyde Park/Perini won the construction contract in early 1999 with Oldcastle Precast Modular Group and Vitetta part of the design/build bid. "The notice of award for the design/build was March 1999 and we were mobilized to go in June 1999," notes Smith. The team immediately started working on their respective pieces.
Hyde Park Enterprises is based in the U.S. Virgin Islands and was the liaison to the St. Croix government, handling the business development end and helping secure the contract.
The Design
As soon as the contract was awarded, Al Comly, Jr., program director of justice facilities for Vitetta Group, was busy working on final designs for the facility’s expansion and new construction. The design process was finished within four to six weeks and called for a near doubling in size of the prison complex; the project encompassed approximately 75,000-square-foot.
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PRODUCT SUPPLIERS Correctional Furniture: KLN Steel Products |
Comly says he "kept the design pretty simple, with a little island character;" it was more important to keep the facility functional and within budget than to try to replicate tropical architecture. The design also was kept simple to ease maintenance, although Comly was surprised to find that expertise existed on the island that allowed them to incorporate some sophisticated and state-of-the-art systems in the building, including security electronics.
The layout of the facility is, as Comly describes it, quasi-direct supervision. "It was designed as much as possible to operate and function like a direct supervision facility," he says. Although construction was to take place outside of the United States, Comly designed a "facility that could be every bit of what you find in the states." He says the facility was designed to U.S. standards using Florida building codes as a basis for the buildings.
The Precast Modular Cells
Also mobilized was Doak Conn, project manager for Oldcastle Precast Modular, who was working many long weeks, commuting from Pennsylvania to Florida, overseeing an 80-day production process where 164 precast modules-two cells per module for a total of 328 cells-were cast. The cells had to be finished in time to be loaded on a freighter in Jacksonville, Fla., shipped more than 1,000 miles to the island, and be at the site when installation was to occur.
The precast, pre-finished modular units produced by Oldcastle differed only slightly from the units produced for use in the United States. The units include increased structural reinforcing and all-welded connections so they are better able to withstand a severe earthquake; St. Croix is located near a major fault, putting it in a seismic zone five-the highest zone possible. Another change involved casting non-insulated back walls because the facility has no heating or air conditioning. The chase inside the cell acts as a ventilation plenum and screened window openings aid in the building’s circulation. Oldcastle Precast Modular worked with Hope’s Windows to create a long but slender window with heavy-gauge screen mesh instead of security glass; the mesh maintains the level of security required for a medium- to maximum-security facility. Operable louvers block against wind and rain.
The first shipment of modules occurred in October 1999 and consisted of 64 units. The second-and last-shipment set sail at the end of December 1999 with 100 units; originally the contract called for 96 units, but two replacement cells and two "just in case" modules were included with the second shipment.
Island Construction
With Vitetta handling the design and Oldcastle handling the precast units, Perini’s Smith was making it his business to understand-and accept-the capabilities of the subcontractors working the job. That knowledge and understanding is especially important working on an island where resources and labor are different than those available in the states. Smith, in an effort to stimulate the local economy, sought out island subcontractors to perform as many of the jobs as possible. "We pumped about $15 million into the local economy," Smith points out.
In a very matter-of-fact way, Smith explains that Perini did self-perform some of the work after stepping in for subcontractors who were unable to fulfill their contracts. "The secret to performing is understanding what local contractors are capable of," notes Smith. "The reason the job was so successful is that we knew the subs’ weaknesses and abilities and supported them," he says. "We didn’t beat them up when they couldn’t perform. We helped them." Smith, for example, discovered the subcontractor hired to perform the interior masonry portion of the project couldn’t perform the job so, Smith simply imported a dozen masons from Florida who tackled the task.
And it was that sense of teamwork and determination that smoothed over the biggest-or in this case the heaviest-challenges. There was no crane on the island capable of erecting the precast cells-each weighing approximately 56,000 pounds-so a 480-ton crane was shipped over from Florida. An unexpected challenge occurred when the modules were being delivered to the site from the port four miles away. The local contractor transporting the cells-with a police escort-accidentally rolled one of the units, damaging two cells. The damaged cells were part of the first shipment and replacements were deftly handled by Oldcastle who sent them over with the second shipment-along with two extra units, "just in case." Toward the end of the construction project, Smith found himself challenged by another large construction project on the island and was put in the position of having to compete for already limited labor and resources.
The Weather Forecast: Storms
As expert as the team was in working the Golden Grove project, they were forced to weather conditions they had no control over-three tropical depressions and one hurricane that pounded the island during construction. "In the tropics you expect rain," Smith explains, "but we had buckets, and buckets, and buckets of rain." Although the storms caused no damage to the buildings, "we did get into hurricane mode," says Smith, meaning that they lost time battening down the hatches, waiting out the storm, and then getting everything and everyone back into construction mode. The storms forced them to secure a three-week force majeure-an extension due to acts of God. This situation provided Smith only with extra time, not extra money.
And while the unusual amount of precipitation affected the building during construction, a unusual design feature-on this building as well as most other buildings and houses on the island-welcomed the heavy rain. A special membrane is sprayed on the roof to collect and harvest rainwater that is then treated and used as the facility’s main water supply.
A Successful Completion
In the end, the team completed the project on time and under budget so significant savings was incurred by the owners, who are said to be very happy with the project.
And when other members of the team are asked about their final impressions of the project, they mention how excited they felt to be part of the project and how surprised they were by how smoothly the process ran. Upon further reflection, however, team members Doak Conn, Al Comly Jr., Brent Smith, the subcontractors, and everyone else involved in the project, have themselves to thank for the professional manner in which this facility found its many pieces put together on a sometimes stormy, always tropical island.