Like much of Dallas, The Kay Bailey Hutchison Center is big. Referred to as the Dallas Convention Center, it has a total of 2,000,000 square feet (185,806 m²) with 1,000,000 square feet (92,903 m²) of exhibit hall space. Yes, you read those correctly; it says million.
Named after the former U.S. Senator, the center claims to be the first major facility to be named after a woman. But the building was built in 1957, and it was in dire need of some repairs. That’s where the crew from Chamberlin Roofing & Waterproofing came in.
Around the Center
Chamberlin, which has an office in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area, came in to help with waterproofing some of the concrete surrounding the building, which was leaking and needed an updated storm drain system. A 13-person crew, led by Senior Project Manager Ryan Grigsby, installed hot-fluid rubberized asphalt waterproofing onto a new concrete slab and below grade waterproofing to the existing foundation wall.
The project included the loading dock area, A/B Hall, The Black Academy of Arts and Letters Building, the Arena Building, and Ceremonial Drive.
At the 18,000-square-foot (1,672 m²) loading dock and the 10,000-square-foot (929 m²) A/B Hall, the crew first removed the old system. They used a skid steer and hand scrape to do that. Then they poured out Tremco’s Tremproof 6100, the waterproofing membrane. On top of that, Tremdrain S drain mat was installed along with rebar and new concrete. Then, they squeegeed on two 50-mil (1,270 microns) layers of Sikadur 22 epoxy with aggregate broadcast into it. The crew sealed all joints with THC900 and, on the loading dock only, another crew restriped the surface.
“The ease of application makes the Sikadur 22 Lo-Mod system a pleasure to work with. The quick cure time and fast installation make it superior to use in a place where time is of the essence,” explained Grigsby.
To access the below-grade areas of the Black Academy of Arts and Letters Building, the crew had to wait until the 40-foot-deep (12 m) excavation was complete. Then they were able to install Polyguard 650 and Flow 15P Drainage Composite, which worked to waterproof the vertical areas. Once the crew laid out the sheet materials on all 5,000 square feet (465 m²), a new drain and expanded irrigation system were added. To top off the site, sidewalks and landscaping were then installed.
Coordination Is Key
The Chamberlin crew completed the project over the course of a year and a half. But it wasn’t easy coordinating the schedule of a project as big as this, especially considering that the center stayed busy throughout the project. After all, this is the convention hall that’s hosted the NFL Fan Experience, National Association of Home Builders’ International Builders’ Show, and the Great American Trucking Show, just to name a few. “The Dallas Convention Center hosts some of the world’s highest profile companies and organizations, and any lost time could mean bad news. So the critical nature of getting traffic back on the loading docks in a timely fashion was enhanced by this fast-cure coating,” Grigsby said.
A project taking place at a busy center also meant working around stops and starts, managing noise, and dealing with accessibility issues. To help mitigate any problems, Grigsby met biweekly with the architect and an owner rep to coordinate schedules. One strategy was to work on the loading dock in two stages rather than all at once. Although there were 14 other loading docks at the convention center, they knew that if they kept this one open, it could help minimize how the shows coming and going were affected by the concrete work in that area.
Grigsby also coordinated schedules with the other trades working nearby. This wasn’t just a coatings job, after all. It required new concrete and storm drains, landscaping, and paint striping. On top of that, the coatings crew had to coordinate internally.
The crew not only did the major recoating of the loading dock, A/B Hall, etc., but they worked on other tasks throughout the center as well. They repaired some of the existing concrete with The Euclid Chemical Company’s Eucopoxy Injection Resin and Euco #452 Gel, grout injection called DeNeef Flex LV PURe, Tremco Spectrum 3 caulk, and joint sealant replacement. They also had to waterproof one of the newly poured landings. This was a tailor-made job for sure!
Safety Means Success
The safety strategy also had to be tailor made on this jobsite. Under the leadership of Grigsby, the crew wore long sleeves and leather gloves while working with the hot asphalt, monitored oxygen levels and completed confined space training while working in the trench, and wore hard hats at all times. The team met weekly to discuss safety suggestions moving forward, and they also had regular safety audits.
With a seasoned and diligent crew such as this one from Chamberlin, it makes sense that even on a job of this size and requiring that many moving pieces, there were zero safety-related incidents. And with the project completed appropriately, this crew can consider this a Texas-sized, successful project!
