169.5-Ton Panel Tops Tilt-Up List

A 339,000-lb. wall panel for the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach, Fla., is the new titleholder on Tilt-Up Concrete Association’s top 10 ranking of tilt-up

A 339,000-lb. wall panel for the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach, Fla., is the new titleholder on Tilt-Up Concrete Association’s top 10 ranking of tilt-up members by weight (full list can be viewed at www.tilt-up.org/toptendefault.htm). The heavy panel was set to span the width of the glass wall south entrance of the building, says Trentis Durden, president of Sunshine Specialties, Inc., erection contractor. The project had to have a critical lift plan in place, because of the zero tolerance for movement and very high-risk assessment while the erection was in process, he adds. We had to set two 200-ton crawler cranes in a two-lane road. It was 529 feet long from the center of the south end of the building in either direction.

Tilt-Up continues to grow into a wide variety of markets and this project demonstrates all that innovative design and construction teams are doing to make projects a reality, says TCA Technical Director Jim Baty. As a convention center, it was important this facility have open spaces. The use of this panel made that possible.