MTE's Involvement
The intention was for the expansion to connect to the existing building to allow open, unimpeded access for people and process infrastructure. Structurally, our team separated the buildings with an expansion joint in order to prevent the transfer of lateral loads between new and existing. We completed a detailed structural analysis of the existing building, which included a review of drawings and documents and a thorough site investigation to verify the existing conditions.
To accommodate the expansion and upgrades, we designed reinforcement for parts of the existing structure, including gravity and seismic elements. We designed mezzanines, platforms, and equipment supports within the existing building; it was critical for our design to limit the disruption to the building operation.
A constraint of the project was that the existing site was very congested. The site was bound by a tight property line on one side, with existing buildings and equipment on two other. We successfully navigated weak soil conditions, existing foundations, buried services, and equipment in order to design foundations for the new building and new heavy vibrating equipment.