In Memoriam: Al Engelman
April 23, 1934 – July 27, 2007 By: David P. Tomasula, P.E. LJB Inc. It is with great sadness that the TCA informs you that Al Engelman, owner and CEO of Engelman Construction and past-president of the TCA, passed away on July 27, 2007. A true industry leader, Al was a dedicated advocate for the Tilt-Up […]
Convention Wrap-Up
The 2007 Tilt-Up Convention, “Tilt- Up: It’s a System,” held in College Park, Maryland was an outstanding educational and networking event. As the TCA continues to grow, so does the size and importance of this annual event. Contractors, engineers, architects, marketers and managers spent the days in education sessions, focusing on Tilt-Up as a system […]
Message From the President: BIM in a Tilt-Up World
If you have read any AEC trade magazines in the past few years, you have probably seen the acronym BIM – which stands for Building Information Modeling. At the recent TCA Convention in College Park, Md, speaker Jeff Needham described BIM as a three- dimensional, a four-dimensional, or even a five-dimensional database. Yet, the present-day reality […]
Message From the Director: The TCA — What Can We Do Better? Tell Us!!!!
Every so often – in particular when due notices go out – we get the question: “What have you done for me lately?” or “What are you doing to justify the cost of membership?” It’s a valid question and we constantly ask ourselves if we are providing value. Are our programs and efforts serving the […]
Tilt-Up Engineering A-Z
By Laurence Smith, P.E., J.W. Lindsay Enterprises ljsmith@jwlindsay.com Site cast Tilt-Up – a construction method in which concrete wall panels are cast on-site and tilted into place – has gained rapid acceptance in recent years due to its speed of construction, cost-efficiency and advanced architectural treatments. However, like all other aspects of the concrete industry, it is […]
Tilt-Up Repairs and Connections: Your Guide to Repair of Common Field Challenges
By: Jim Baty, Technical Director of the Tilt-Up Concrete Association and Jim Ness, P.E., Monroe & Newell Engineers, Inc. jness@monroe-newell.com. “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail” is certainly an appropriate mantra for site-cast Tilt-Up construction. While Tilt-Up is known for its streamlined efficiencies and use of non-skilled labor, the investment of time […]
Safety Important to the Growing Tilt-Up Industry
By: Jim Baty, Tilt-Up Concrete Association. He can be reached at jbaty@tilt-up.org. Tilt-Up construction continues to lead in growth as a wide-spread building solution due to its advantages of efficiency, economy and effectiveness. In fact, Tilt-Up construction has grown at an annual volume of more than a quarter billion square feet of wall, outperforming the general building […]
Tilt-Up, Sustainability, and the Environment
By Ashley Kizzire, Constructive Communication, Inc. akizzire@constructivecommunication.com Q&A WITH JIM BATY For a few years now, green building and sustainability have been two buzzwords often touted in the design and construction industry. As more owners and designers explore this trend, it is important to understand the benefits that the Tilt-Up system provides. Jim Baty, TCA […]
The Application of Tilt-Up Construction to Public School Buildings in the Leander Independent School District
By: D. Gary Pickett, P.E., Pickett, Kelm & Associates, Inc. gpickett@pkainc.com. In recent years, particularly in central Texas, Tilt-Up wall construction has gained momentum in public school construction. Case in point is the Leander Independent School District, located northwest of Austin and in the southwest corner of Williamson County. The district has become an innovative […]
Deflection Limits for Tilt-Up Wall Serviceability
By: John Lawson, SE, Kramer & Lawson, Inc. john@kramerandlawson.com While contractors are accustomed to viewing building standards as static, set-in-stone guidelines, the truth is that the development of these codes is often a constantly changing process. As new technologies develop, standards must shift to reflect this—and for emerging sections of the industry, this means current guidelines […]
Message From the President: Tilt-Up Technology Complements Craftsmanship
Over the past 80 years, the technology of Tilt-Up construction has changed dramatically. Some of the first Tilt-Up construction, performed by Robert Aiken in the 1920s, involved casting entire walls on a tilt table with screw-jacks, and then tilting the walls into place by turning the jacks. Nowadays, Tilt- Up crews erect walls one panel at a […]
Message From the Director: Technology is Tilt-Up
Technology — it’s hard to live with it, but impossible to live without it. Within six months of purchasing a new computer or learning how to run an operating system, they update and “improve” it. But can you imagine your business without a computer, without a fax machine, without a cell phone, without a digital […]
