Construction has begun at Talbott Springs Elementary replacement school in Howard County.  The new school is a 2-story, 88,000 square foot, steel framed structure supported by masonry bearing walls.  The structural steel roof framing and exterior walls are currently being installed.  MC is happy to see another successful project with TCA Architects, James Posey Associates, and Dustin Construction come together.  Stay tuned for future updates!

Morabito Consultants is proud to team with Concrete Protection & Restoration (CP&R) in the repair and reconstruction of this two-level and partial basement parking garage located adjacent to the Headquarters of Mid-Atlantic Properties in Towson, MD. The 55-year-old unique building and parking structure consists of a mixture of precast concrete, masonry “dox plank”, and conventional cast-in-place concrete. Based on the condition of the parking garage’s asphalt wearing surface over dox plank structure, it was determined that the appropriate and cost-effective repair would be to demolish the masonry plank deck and reconstruct with a post-tension one-way concrete slab. Advantages of the post-tensioned slab solution include superior resistance to water-intrusion as well as no need for a wearing surface, except a conventional urethane traffic coating. Construction is underway and expected to be completed in summer of 2021. Stay tuned for additional updates.

Construction is well underway at Brightview Innovation Center (located in Herndon, VA). MC is honored to have teamed with Hord Coplan Macht and Brightview Senior Living yet again as this is our eighth Brightview Facility that is under construction.  Foundations, retaining walls, and concrete columns have been constructed. Portions of the second-floor podium slab have been poured, and formwork and rebar are currently being installed for the remainder. Substantial completion is currently estimated for January 2023.

Morabito Consultants would like to share some spectacular news to end this week.  Please join us in congratulating Chris Frederick on passing the Professional Engineer exam!  We now have 16 incredibly talented PE’s on staff ready to assist owners, architects, and developers to bring their visions to life!

Chris is a 2016 graduate of Drexel University where he also starred on the lacrosse team.  Currently, his most exciting project is located just a stone’s throw from his alma mater, right outside of Philadelphia.  Chris has been integral in the transformation of a historic power plant into a modern, upscale apartment complex called The Battery.

Check his bio page for more info!

Brinkmann Constructors is closing in on completion for the newest addition to the Fox Run Senior Living Community in Novi, Michigan. Morabito Consultants teamed with Hord Coplan Macht and Century Engineering on this newest addition to the Erickson Senior Living Community. The project included the 3-story ‘Z’ shaped addition to the existing Rose Court building and the design of a new precast concrete bridge connecting the new addition to the adjacent Twin Pines building.

Framing is well underway for a new Nursing Home facility at Sacred Heart Home in Hyattsville, MD.  MC teamed with Hord Coplan Macht, Inc. and SRBR to design a state of the art 2-story facility and attached chapel.  Morgan Keller is working on steel framing for the main floor of this 46,000 square foot structure.  We are excited to see this project taking shape.  It will serve as much needed replacement for the aging Sacred Heart Home which has been providing nursing care, spiritual care, and other services for the elderly for the past 95 years!

See this article from the Catholic Standard for more info – https://cathstan.org/news/local/sisters-building-new-sacred-heart-nursing-home-to-serve-god-through-the-frail-and-vulnerable

Concrete podium structures have become an increasingly popular construction type for mixed-use buildings. Structural engineers are tasked with optimizing the thickness of concrete podium “transfer” slabs to provide as much floor-to-floor height as possible. In the Maryland area, post-tensioning is often utilized in podium slabs as it is popular with local contractors, structurally efficient, and an extremely effective means of minimizing the required thickness of the reinforced concrete. One challenge that results from thin podium slabs (especially those supporting 4 or more stories) is the need to resist anchoring forces at the ends of wood and light-gauge steel shear walls. Tension forces in shear wall anchors can easily surpass 100,000-pounds, and this often necessitates developing the full strength of the anchor rods embedded in the podium slab. Development of the full strength of the anchor rods requires significant length and hooks that cannot be accommodated in a thin concrete slab using conventional design calculations.

As a solution to this problem, a well-known structural connections fabricator, Simpson Strong-Tie, has developed a pre-engineered anchoring system capable of developing 120,000 psi high-strength steel rods in 10 to 14-inch-thick slabs. The “ATS Shallow Podium Anchor” system has been empirically validated by Strong-Tie at their Tye Gilb Laboratory in Stockton, California. Based on extensive destructive testing, Simpson Strong-Tie has developed and published tabulated wind and seismic design capacities for use by structural engineers. Innovations like the Shallow Podium Anchor serve as a reminder that it is critical to hire a structural engineering firm who has proven experience in optimizing structural floor thicknesses while also utilizing state-of-the-art technology to assist in satisfying prescribed building loads and other code requirements.

For more information on this anchoring technology, visit Simpson Strong-Tie’s structural engineering blog on anchor reinforcement for concrete podium slabs.  https://seblog.strongtie.com/2015/06/anchor-reinforcement-for-concrete-podium-slabs/ 

Construction is progressing at the Ocean City (MD) Convention Center.  This is the third phase of renovations and expansions at the Convention Center upon which MC has teamed with Becker Morgan Group, Inc.  The current phase consists of a loading dock expansion, extension of the Bayfront Gallery, and a brand new 30,000 sq.ft. Exhibit Hall on the north side of the building.  Barton Malow has nearly completed the structural work at the loading dock and Bayfront Gallery, and steel erection is underway for the new Exhibit Hall.   Be sure to check back for future updates!

Construction of the new Brightview Senior Living Community in Columbia, MD has been progressing quickly! Check out this recent drone footage courtesy of Harkins Builders, Inc.  

Architect:  Hord Coplan Macht, Inc.

MEP:  Kibart, Inc.

To obtain a PDF or laminated hard copies of our new structural engineering reference guide, or to express interest in scheduling a future presentation, please reach out to us at [email protected].  

Today we also sent out the latest edition of our company newsletter.  Check the link below! 

Morabito Consultants Newsletter – Company Highlights, April 2021