Hernandez Consulting & Construction acquired a sole source contract to purchase and build a new pre-fabricated building shelter for the Louisiana Air National Guard in New Orleans, Louisiana. The building will was built on a pre-existing concrete slab and will be 45-feet wide and 111-feet long. This building is hurricane rated with a Low Rigid Frame (LFR) and will consist of a rigid frame with tapered exterior columns and tapered roof beams. The endwall of the structural systems consist of beam and post frames. The primary framework is to supports the roof and wall structurals, which, in turn, support the roof panels and wall panels, respectively. Roof structurals consist of steel bar joists appropriately designed to meet design criteria. The wall structurals consist of cold form Z’s or C’s designed to resist horizontal loads from the walls.
As part of the design-build process, the building was constructed on a custom foundation cut into the existing slab and supported by 42 friction piles that were each 42’ long. Ground penetrating radar was used prior to driving the piles to ensure no existing underground infrastructure was damaged. The 31’ tall metal building was built to withstand winds of up to 148mph, and included 2 each 12×12 automatic coiling doors, 2 personnel doors, louvered intake vents, wall mounted exhaust vents, full electrical systems, lightning protection and a fire alarm with a solar-powered battery back-up. The electrical systems also included a transfer switch to allow the building to operate by way of a generator during sustained power outages.
