Kenneth Hahn Hall of Adminstration Parking Structure Expansion Joint Replacement
500 W. Temple St.
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Construction start: 1952
Construction finish: 1960
Type: Government Building
Originally constructed in 1960, the Kenneth Hahn Hall of Adminstration Parking structure sits beneath the adminstration seat of Los Angeles county adminstration building. Serving neighboring facilties including, The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, The Ahmanson Theater, Los Angeles Music Center, Mark Taper Forum, The Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles High School for the Visual and Performing Arts, Stanley Mosk Courthouse, Walt Disney Concert Hall, John Ferraro Office Building, and the Los Angeles United States Courthouse, the Kenneth Hahn Hall of Adminstration Parking Structure, is in operations somedays 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
This high use and traffic placed increased burdens on the aging structure and the seismic expansion joints located in the sub-terranean parking levels. Moreover, since the orginal structure was built, additional services were added to park and maintain several hundred fleet vehicles used by the county and workers located in the nearby adminstration offices.
When County Engineers contacted Architectural Accent asking for technical guidance and recomendations on replacing the out-of-date expansion joint plates, needs were assessed and solutions were presented. Among the concerns of the ISP (Los Angeles County’s Internal Service staff) was the water intrusion issues affecting many of the clients (County Board of Supervisors) vehicles. In addition to the existing plates buckling in many areas, moisture from rains and automobile washing equipment located within the parking structure, was cascading down into the sub-terranean parking decks.
Working closely with Architectural Accent and Watson Bowman, one of the largest manufactures of open-air and bridge and highway expansion joint products, County Architects were able to propose design solutions which included the removal of older metal plate covers and replacing them with newer rubber encased expansion joint plates and water-seals.
Removing expansion joint plates along 300 foot long runs in three seperate areas was no easy task considering the number of vehicles that were parked in the structure on any given day or night.
Two different contracting companies – Contech of Santa Ana and Structural Group of Huntington Beach California – were selected by the County to provide services to remove, restore, and introduce new water-seals and expansion joint cover plates.
Original ExpansionCover Plates consisting of steel channel embeds and newels and welded 1/2″ plate are shown in this photograph.
Picture Below shows the proposed Rubber Encased Watson Bowman Safety-Flex Model SFP 1000 expansion joint cover plate.
Wabo®SafetyFlex is a hinged, rubber encapsulated, steel cover system that is ideal for pedestrian walkways and slow speed vehicular traffic areas. The design of the system reduces potential tripping hazards by providing a smooth, slip resistant transition over expansion joint openings. Independent metal plates integral to the rubber cover allows the system to flex in response to changes in vertical displacement between opposing slabs. In addition, the use of metal plates provides load carrying capability across the joint opening and can be used in low-speed vehicular traffic areas. The rubber cover also reduces the sound caused by vehicular traffic as they travel across the expansion joint opening.
Wabo®SafetyFlex is available in four different models; SFP-600, SFP-1000, SFP-1200, and SFP-1800. Each model is designed to accommodate both pedestrian and slow speed (< 10mph) vehicular loading. SFP-600 can accommodate pedestrian and vehicular traffic up to a maximum 6 inches. SFP-1000 can accommodate pedestrian traffic up to a maximum 10 inches and vehicular traffic up to a maximum 6 inches. SFP-1200 can accommodate pedestrian and vehicular traffic up to a maximum 12 inches. SFP-1800 can accommodate pedestrian and vehicular traffic up to a maximum 18 inches. The product is provided with a standard 1/2” x 3 7/8” Heavy Duty Concrete Expansion anchor for pedestrian and vehicular applications. The system can accommodate a maximum vertical displacement of 1-inch.
In addition the Watson Bowman Safetyflex, the 4″ Watson Bowman Nitrogen Blown, adhered in-place “Evazoate” was also installed to act as a waterproofing seal below the rubber encased cover plate.
Wabo®Evazote UV is preformed low density closed cell cross-linked ethylene vinyl acetate polyethylene copolymer nitrogen blown joint seal that is bonded into place with a two component 100% solids modified epoxy adhesive. Wabo®Evazote is capable of accommodating movements and variations in joint widths through compression and tension. The seal has a working ranging of 60% compression, 30% tension and 120% shear. The UV stability of Wabo®Evazote allows the seal to be resistant to abrasion, oxidation, oils, salt and other materials that are spilled on or applied to the surface. Grooves are placed along its edges to ensure and enhance its bond strength.
Upon completion, portions of the expanion joint cover plate were painted safety yellow.
_____________________________________________________________
Architectural Accent Marketing/Service areas include but are not limited to:
Southern California, Los Angeles, L.A., Downtown, Santa Monica, San Fernando Valley, Woodland Hills, Downtown Los Angeles, Irvine, Santa Ana, Anaheim, Orange, Glendale, Pasadena, Woodland Hills, Encino, Van Nuys, Studio City, Century City, Long Beach, South Bay, Torrance, Carson, El Segundo, Oxnard, Santa Barbara, Ventura, Santa Clarita, Riverside, Palm Desert, Costa Mesa, West Covina, San Bernardino,
I was lucky to find this http://www.archaccent.com website.
What a striking post! I am just a beginner in community management/marketing media and trying to learn how to do it well – resources like this web site are so helpful. As our company is based in the United States, it’s all a bit new to us. The example above is something that I worry about as well, how to show your own natural enthusiasm and share the fact that your product is useful in that case.
I am naturally Enthused when a project goes as well as this one did. The critical item on this project was the fact I had the privildge of working with a great team at both the County level and at the contractor level. The County Architects communicated extremely well and were very easy to work with. They were always respectful and trully interested in finding the best solution to replace the old expansion plates. The installation contractors were also extremely important. A good contractor will not only work with the materials as specified and detailed but they will not panic if something is different then what was expected. When the old cover plates were removed they found concrete that needed repairing and old embed plates that were rusted out and pulled away from the concrete slab. There was also issues with joint dimensions that were problematic. Both Structural Group and Contec took these job challenges and tuend them into job opportuntites. In the end I feel the County was happy and very pleased with the results.