Building UAB's New Biomedical Research Building.(University of Alabama at Birmingham)(Shelby Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research Building)

By Steve Hudson

In Birmingham, Ala., construction is moving ahead on a complex and challenging project for the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

As many contractors will affirm, urban projects frequently bring challenges to the teams charged with building them. Tight working areas and minimal storage space are the norm, and contractors working in downtown areas have become adept at dealing with the constraints that urban sites inevitably seem to bring.

But sometimes it gets even more complex -- and one case in point is the University of Alabama at Birmingham's Shelby Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research Building, a $100-million-plus facility now under construction in downtown Birmingham. Besides the usual challenges of urban construction, this site has brought everything from the need to work around critical utility lines to unexpected challenges during the foundation phase.

The construction team -- general contractor Hoar Construction and project executive Glenn Harris, plus numerous specialty subcontractors, UAB project manager and owner's rep Jerry Corvin, senior project engineer James Gilliam, field project manager Ken Potter, Bob Karlsen of construction consultant Boyken International, and many others -- has been more than up to the task. CUH2A, Princeton, N.J., is architect/engineer; structural engineering has been provided by Birmingham-based LBYD Inc., a local firm with extensive experience working with the university. Birmingham-based Bhate Geosciences handled subsurface evaluation and subsequent foundation design, as well as concrete and materials testing. Additionally, Dr. Richard Marchase, assistant vice president of biomedical for research for UAB, has been closely involved in the project. …

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