Industrial Warehousing & Enclosures

BKI was contracted by the Alabama State Docks to provide architectural and site engineering design for a 360,000-square-foot forest products warehouse to serve the Port of Mobile. 

BKI designed the complete demolition of the existing warehouse and the construction of a modern industrial warehouse. The new Pier “C” warehouse can hold approximately 120,000 tons of forest products. The facility has berths for three vessels and 80-foot wharf aprons to provide ample room for handling cargo.

BKI’s architectural design included roofing, flashing, ventilation, door and window openings, fire protection sprinkler system, wall sections, finish schedules, and mechanical and latrine facilities. 
The site development included water supply and waste water collection and transmission, including a complete sewer lift station to serve the Pier “C” complex.

Construction cost was approximately $9 million.

BKI was contracted by Ingalls Shipbuilding, Inc. to provide design and construction administration services for the replacement of the existing Eastbank machine shop, which was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. The new machine shop was constructed in an existing 66,000 SF. building.

Extensive building modifications were required to support the installation of 80 new pieces of equipment and utility services. Foundations were designed and constructed inside the existing building. Many of the new foundations were pile supported, and the piles were driven in segments due to the existing building structure height restrictions.

Modifications were made to the existing building structure to allow for increased overhead crane capacity and wind load resistance. Modifications were also made to the building structure’s foundations.

The existing building’s walls and roof systems were upgraded to meet the latest wind and building codes requirements. A new two-story, 5,000 SF structure was constructed adjacent to the existing building to provide restrooms and office space for the production operations.

The renovations to the building also included a fire protection system (alarm and suppression) HVAC system, plumbing, utility piping, lighting, and power distribution.

The power distribution for the new facility required design and construction of three 13.8kV unit substations.

All electrical equipment was installed above the new base flood elevation set by the local governing body and flood vents were installed to allow water to escape the building if ever trapped inside.

BKI provided design and construction management services for a new 560’ x 75’ (42,000 SF) transit shed warehouse building. 

The structure was designed for a 1,000 PSF slab live load, 140 MPH (3 second gust) wind load and the dead load of the existing building and concrete structure. The foundation was a 12” thick cast-in-place reinforced concrete slab and grade beam system supported by 76’ long precast concrete pilings (42,700 total linear feet of pile). 

The finished floor of the slab was designed four feet above the existing grade of the site to meet the new building code requirements. BKI provided the design for a 42,000 SF building with an eave height of 22’, a truck loading ramp and three truck loading bays. BKI designed the necessary electrical and mechanical requirements including a fire sprinkler system and five chemical shower and eyewash stations.

A new 670’ long storm drain system was installed on the east side of the building and connected into the existing storm drain system of the facility. The existing concrete roadway (770’ long x 39’ wide) and surrounding site (12,000 square yards) to access the new transit shed was demolished and reconstructed. BKI provided construction administration services for this project including submittal and shop drawing review, pay application review and processing, site inspections, as built services and close out of the project using LADOTD capital project requirements. BKI also provided all the necessary permits for construction of the project from the Corps of Engineers, Levee Board and other regulatory agencies.

Total construction value $6,000,000.00.