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Weeks Ahead of Schedule Tilt-up Concrete Construction ArticlesTilt-up
Construction Delivers Theater Two Weeks Ahead of ScheduleThe Martians
were coming on June 29 and the city of Mansfield, Texas had no place for them
to show up. The solution? Tilt-up Construction. Cinemark USA was
in the midst of building its 302nd theater in Mansfield, a suburb of Dallas /
Fort Worth, Texas and everything was on schedule. Then Cinemark realized the theater
wouldn't be complete in time for the release of the summer blockbuster War
of the Worlds. This was the first theater ever in Mansfield so there was no
place else in the city to run the movie. The schedule had to change. "It
was a big deal for us to get the theater done in time for War of the Worlds,"
said Chris Cline, Project Manager for Cinemark USA. "We originally planned
to open July 10. The City of Mansfield wanted us to open by July 4. Then with
the release of War of the Worlds, we wanted to move up the opening to June
29." A two week jump in the schedule after ground had been broken presented
a challenge to Bob Moore Construction, a leading commercial general contractor
in Texas. Fortunately this general contractor was using tilt-up concrete construction
for this project. Tilt-up construction normally provides for a shorter project
schedule than traditional construction, and the fact that tilt-up allows the trades
to overlap their work to further compress the schedule suddenly became a critical
benefit to this building methodology. As a result, this Mansfield theater
was one of the fastest construction projects Cinemark has ever built. Remarkably,
the amount of time from when the tilt-up construction concrete panels were stood
to the project's completion was shorter than any other theater in the company's
history. The theater was actually completed on June 28, in time for a special
"film-cutting" ceremony for local dignitaries and representatives from
Cinemark, the general contractor and the developer. While the theater scrimped
on the schedule, it is still lavish and cutting-edge. The new 42,265 square-foot
facility features a large concession area and seating for 2,010 patrons. The exterior
features a dramatic full-height stone veneer, the first time this finish has ever
been used on a Cinemark theater. All 12 screens employ top quality Christie projectors,
wall-to-wall screens and Dolby digital sound. "The compressed schedule
forced everyone on this project to collaborate even more closely than we normally
do," said Curt Hellen, Senior Project Manager for Bob Moore Construction
Company. "The fact that this was a tilt-up concrete project made all the
difference, in terms of building the shell quickly and then overlapping our trades
to finish it out on time. Tiltwall gave us the quality and speed we needed. The
pride and teamwork showed by everyone involved, combined with the advantages of
tilt-up construction, resulted in a superb project we were able to deliver ahead
of schedule." The Martians arrived as expected on June 29. While the
space invaders were a bit belligerent, the standing-room-only crowds in Mansfield
welcomed them - and the beautiful new theater - with great enthusiasm. "It
meant a lot to us and to the city and everyone else that we could do that,"
said Cline. Return
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