ConXtech leverages IPD, BIM for U.S. Navy structural steel project

HAYWARD, CALIF. — Leveraging integrated project delivery (IPD) and building information modeling (BIM), ConXtech Space Frame Systems has completed structural steel erection on a 152,000 gsf lodge for the U.S. Navy at the Naval Base on North Island, Coronado, Calif.

Delivery of the project, which utilized IPD and BIM, was made significantly more efficient by utilizing the ConX system and was erected in just 25 working days. In addition to speed of delivery, benefits of the ConX System versus structural alternatives for this project were superior structural performance, cost neutrality versus wood frame construction, safety, and inherent progressive collapse and blast resistance, the company said.

The ConX structural steel framing system was chosen over an original wood frame design by Carlsbad, Calif.-based RQ Construction (RQC), the design-build prime contactor selected by the Navy to deliver the new facility. RQC specializes in fast-track projects for clients in both the public and private sectors and has been involved in many Department of Defense projects.

"Our commitment to improve quality, reduce costs and decrease cycle time for our clients made the ConX system the optimal choice for this Navy project," said George H. Rogers, III, CEO of RQC. "ConXtech delivers a superior structural system, along with unbeatable schedule, quality, safety and cost advantages. These all contribute to reducing our overall risk as a design-build prime contractor and help us deliver a better more durable finished facility for our military personnel."

The ConX building system utilizes an innovative bi-axial Special Moment Frame (SMF) connection which is mass produced in a highly automated manufacturing facility. The connection meets the most current Department of Defense Anti Terrorism Force Protection (ATFP) standards which mandate progressive collapse and blast resistance for military, embassy, federal courthouses and other essential government facilities.

These robust connections are redundantly distributed throughout a building frame resulting in a nodal space-frame structure free of shear walls or braces. The connection’s ability to perform bi-axially, equally in both directions, is unmatched in the industry.

The Navy Lodge structural system was engineered by Santa Clara, Calif.-based Gregory P. Luth and Associates (GPLA) who had successfully integrated ConX into an Army Readiness Facility built in 2009 at Moffett Field, Calif. The entire Navy Lodge project team, including architects, mechanical and electrical engineers, as well as fire protection and other trade contractors, collaborated with the Tekla model prepared by GPLA to coordinate the different trades and minimize construction interferences.

Working within the Tekla structural model and a coordinated whole building model in Navisworks, the project team used the initial ConX structural model generated digitally by GPLA as the "chassis" of the building to efficiently integrate systems and finishes within the structure.

"The automated welding and machining processes used in fabrication provide unparalleled precision and quality. ConX provides redundancy and reliability in spades, inherently satisfying the most stringent alternate path progressive collapse requirements on this project with no premium over the base structure," said Greg Luth, president, GPLA. "The geometric discipline that underlies the ConX structural concept enhances our ability to foresee and resolve potential conflicts with all trades and on this project resulted in taking the BIM coordination to another level of detail. The pro-active can-do problem-solving style and attitude of the ConXtech team together with the diverse construction knowledge they bring to the project results in IPD on steroids. We were solving integration problems at the kickoff meeting that most teams don’t realize exist until they get blindsided by them in the field."

ConXtech manufactures "Full-Scale Erector Set"-like structures in its automated factory in Hayward, Calif., where process and manufacturing technologies accelerate delivery and greatly reduce waste. CNC machining, cut and drill lines driven from the Tekla model, and robotic welding of connectors to beam assemblies, are just a few of the technologies employed there. ConXtech’s manufacturing technologies and processes ensure quality in the fabrication phase and the system’s "lower and locking" connectors safely accelerate work on site by eliminating field welding.

"Our military relies upon technology, standards, and process to remain agile, strong and organized. ConXtech’s technologies are very well suited for military facilities because of those same characteristics. Our company is all about bringing technology to the building industry and leveraging that to its greatest potential,” Simmons said. “Our standardized connections ensure unprecedented structural robustness and premium structures at no cost premium. These connections would be impossible to achieve as a one-off; therefore organizing around a manufacturable connection and repeatable processes from design through delivery brings agility, strength, and a vastly more streamlined delivery. That is exactly what our military demands and deserves, and we were honored to have the opportunity to deliver.”

For more information about ConXtech Inc., please visit www.ConXtech.com.