Ceco Concrete Construction

The Promise of Delivery Set in Stone

By Angelle Bergeron

Ceco Concrete Construction, the largest formwork subcontractor in the country, was founded in 1912 by C. Louis Meyer and has been continually operating in Texas since the 1930s.

Meyer developed the concept of reusable steelforms for site-cast, one-way joist systems, which lead to the company's initial success and eventually became an industry standard. But it's Ceco's straightforward delivery that secured the company's position at the top.

"We do what we say we are going to do," said Mick Haggerty, who heads the San Antonio office of the Kansas City, Mo.-based firm. "And we do it on time, within budget and per our customers' requirements."

Each year, Ceco's engineers, forming specialists, project managers and trained field crews build more than 200 projects representing more than 20 million gross sq. ft. That experience is invaluable to customers, Haggerty said.

Ceco recently completed the Baylor University Sciences building with Beck Construction Group. The project was one of several that Ceco has completed in its long-term relationship with Baylor and featured 600,000 sq. ft. of one-way wide-module joist system.

In another project, the company worked with SpawGlass Construction Co. to complete the Valero Corporate Headquarters in San Antonio. The project included 660,000 sq. ft. of one-way wide-module construction in multiple buildings.

One-way wide-module joist construction reduces the amount of rebar and concrete required, resulting in reduced cost and faster delivery, Haggerty said. Although the method has become commonplace in construction, Ceco boasts one of the largest inventories of forms in the country.

"Nobody in Texas has a larger or more complete inventory than we do, from standard plyforms and steelforms to custom fiberglass and aluminum," Haggerty added. "We have the capability to perform on just about any job that is out there. I think that is our niche. The bigger the job, the more demanding the schedule and the more complex, the more qualified we are to do it."

Ceco has gained a reputation in the industry for tackling technical projects such as the Texas Instruments building in Dallas and the Motorola building in Austin. Both required building clean rooms, which must carry heavy loads and provide for continuous airflow between floors, Haggerty said. "Those jobs required custom forms that provide a two-way joist system with penetrations in the topping slab for airflow," he added.

Ceco also worked with Fulton/Coastcon Construction on the new indoor arena in Corpus Christi, scheduled to open in the fall. The 500,000-sq.-ft. structure included exposed one-way wide-module joists, poured-in-place raker beams and an elevated ice slab.

Currently under way in Houston at the George Bush International Airport's new parking garage, Ceco is utilizing a steel-beam form system to meet demanding schedule requirements and is particularly proud of the innovative forming system developed for a double-helix ramp. The eight-level, 1-million-sq.-ft., poured-in-place concrete garage will accommodate 2,500 cars and includes arrival- and departure-level roadways. "The challenges of a tight international airport site with various phasing milestones required close coordination with our customer, Manhattan Construction Co.," Haggerty said.

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Ceco is working with Vaughn Construction on the Harris County Civil Justice Center in Houston. The 19-level structure will contain 750,000 sq. ft. of concrete, utilizing one-way wide-module joist construction.

While industry standards are constantly changing, Ceco manages to maintain its cutting-edge position with new developments. Originally, reusable steelforms were developed for one-way joists at 2 to 3 ft. modules, Haggerty said. Today's forms have evolved into 5- and 6 ft.-wide modules.

"Fire codes evolved, the required topping slab got thicker and, as that happened, we were able to spread the joists out farther apart," he said. That too, has become an industry standard.

Ceco has maintained the highest safety standards in the industry, recently achieving 1.8 million safe person hours, without a lost time accident. "That's a pretty big achievement," Haggerty said. "Especially considering the relative dangers in our industry, our scope of work, which is constantly exposed to weather or a fall, is labor intensive and involves heavy lifting."

The company's lost workday case incident rate is 50 percent below the industry average, allowing Ceco to slash two-thirds off worker's compensation and general liability costs, Haggerty said.

Moreover, Ceco's commitment to safety is another way the company has retained its position in the industry. "We partnered with OSHA, when the organization was in its infancy, to work towards 100 percent fall protection," Haggerty said. "We were the first company to implement leading-edge fall-protection systems."

In 1989 the company introduced a spool system, fashioned after fishing tackle, which is used on the leading-edge level of projects.

The company says another one of its goals is to be the preferred employer in the industry. One way to accomplish that is to reduce the amount of effort required by employees to perform tasks, which includes switching to all-aluminum systems, more motorized material handling equipment and the latest generation of shoring components.

"We have invested millions of dollars in new forming systems that are lighter and more efficient in an effort to reduce strain on our employees while improving efficiency and safety," Haggerty said. "All these things put our field crews in a better position to do what we say we are going to do and accommodate our customers' requirements and meet their goals."

The current trend in steel pricing has increased the popularity of cast-in-place concrete buildings. "With steel prices the way they are, concrete buildings are definitely the way to go," Haggerty said.