Situation:

To prepare for a celebration unlike the city had ever seen before, Indianapolis rehabilitated a threeblock stretch of downtown for Super Bowl XLVI, The city’s new pedestrian promenade became the focal point for a week of pre-game activities leading up to the Big Game. While the game and party occurred above ground, one of the most unique aspects of the project was buried underground—an innovative, water-recycling stormwater sluiceway constructed from a series of custom-designed precast concrete elements. In the initial plans, cast-in-place utility vaults and stormwater culverts were specified, and only the grade beams were precast concrete. The precaster for the project proposed a precast solution that saved time and enabled the contractor to easily meet an aggressive construction schedule.

Solution:

“As producers, it is a daily challenge for our sales force to educate specifiers and owners on the advantages of precast components versus cast-in-place construction,” said the precaster. While looking at the drawings, he saw that precast utility structures would require a smaller excavation, decrease installation time, and incur much less site disruption. The precaster used this consulting opportunity to present an all-precast solution.
“Designers often specify cast-in-place concrete because they don’t fully understand the added value and construction savings that may result from using precast,” the precaster said. By involving the precaster at the early planning stages, the contractor found a better solution that delivered championship results.