2012 Concrete Canoe Luncheon

A concrete canoe? And it floats? Doesn’t seem possible, does it? 

On Saturday April 20, GBA sponsored a luncheon for the 25th Annual ASCE Concrete Canoe Competition. Students from the Mid-Continent Conference gathered at Holmes Lake Park in Lincoln, Neb. to test their engineering skills and paddled their concrete canoes. The canoes were a concrete mixture that was light enough to float and strong enough to carry two engineering students.

Nine volunteers from GBA made the trip to Lincoln and provided a Bar-B-Que lunch for the 250 students, volunteers, and professors. Lunch included pulled pork made by the GBA BBQ team, brats, baked beans, chips, and cookies. The weather didn’t seem like it was going to cooperate at the beginning of the day, but the sun finally broke through the clouds and the wind died down. It turned out to be a beautiful afternoon.

This was the fifth time GBA sponsored the luncheon at the event and the students that ate the food on Saturday hoped it would not be the last.

Volunteers from l to r: Adam Stodola, Keri McGill, Jennifer Gunby, Kiel Johnson, Cheri Schoenhals, Matt Fowler, Molly Oller, Erin Moeder, and Scott Moeder

East Village Parking Structure - Opening for Business

Construction has been completed on the 340-stall parking structure located between 9th and 10th Streets on Cherry, which serves the needs of the adjacent building leased to the FAA and other nearby tenants.

The structure, built within a budget of $5.1 million, adds a great amenity to East Village with a design as aesthetically appealing as it is practical and cost-effective. GBA’s economical design reduced the overall pricetag of $15,000 per stall.

“Compared with other recently constructed parking garages in the vicinity for more than $20,000 per stall, we were very happy to deliver this project to our client within their budget,” according to Craig Rogge, AIA, LEED AP, GBA’s project manager.

Design features include cast-in-place, post-tensioned concrete, decorative architectural precast and anodized aluminum perforated panels for screening. The single-threaded helix design contributes greatly to the cost efficiency on the project. Particular attention also has been paid to streetscaping and landscape around the entire perimeter next to the downtown streets.

GBA was selected by GF Properties, a subsidiary of the Southern Ute Indian Tribe, to provide architecture, engineering, landscape architecture, and traffic studies.

"Working with the GBA team was a key factor in the success of the East Village Parking Structure. The exterior appearance, efficient design, and cost of the structure exceeded our expectations. It is also nice to work with people who have such a professional attitude. Throughout the design and construction process, I always knew GBA was looking out for our best interests. We hope to work with GBA again in the future." - Linda Kaboth, Vice President - National Division, GF Properties

GBA Opens Office in Broomfield, Colorado

GBA has opened an office at 12303 Airport Way, Suite 105 in Broomfield, Colorado.  The office will focus on providing GBA’s multi-disciplined services for building projects in the life sciences industry, as well as data centers and telecommunications to clients in the region. 

GBA's Life Sciences Group has been serving clients in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries for over 20 years and will be expanding services in this office with the addition of Joe Winslo on staff. Winslow, who has more than 20 years of experience in the industry, will oversee the GBA Colorado operations. "We are very excited. For the past several years our Life Sciences Group has been working with clients in Colorado. To allow us to better serve that market, we have opened an office in Broomfield," says Dan Abitz, PE, Senior Vice President and Principal.