Kern Center

Putzmeister concrete pumps played a significant role in recent construction work at the $31-million Kern Center on the campus of the Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE). The 211,000-square-foot recreation, athletic and wellness center was designed to provide MSOE with ample access to fitness facilities under one roof.

Groundbreaking ceremonies took place last year, and subsequent excavation work revealed some unexpected surprises. The earth beneath what was most recently a parking lot and previously a Blatz brewery building was contaminated with varying amounts of coal ash and oil. It took approximately 6,000 dump trucks to remove the contaminated earth before construction could resume. As a result of the unforeseen delay, the project (already on a fast-track pace) was put into even a higher gear.

The concrete pumping contractor for the project started its portion of the job with a Putzmeister Thom-Katt 50 trailer-pump, handling soil-nailing. After that, the pumping contractor, Gordy's Concrete Pumping, Sussex, Wis., used every model in their fleet from a 32-meter unit to a 52-meter boom pump, handling footings, foundation walls, sheer walls, gym floors, and interior decks.

The nearly 100-foot-tall and 2-foot-thick sheer wall stands in the center of the building and serves as the building's main support and acts as a fire-protection wall between the hockey arena on the east and a parking ramp on the west.

"About 85 percent of the pumping occurred from setup on the street," said Jim Walters of Gordy's Concrete Pumping. "That was because of unbelievable construction on-site. We had to use our larger models, the 42-, 46-, and 52-meter pumps for added reach from the street."

Heavy traffic in downtown Milwaukee was a continual issue, as adjacent streets remained open to the public during pumping operations.