This article was written by Sarah Bacha for use in construction digest.

. . . . . . . Late last fall, a multi-company team led by EXXCEL Contract Management Inc., a Columbus-based general contracting construction firm, set out to pour a concrete floor at an industrial park in Louisville, Ky. End of story. Or so officials at EXXCEL thought.
. . . . . . . Little did they know that bad weather would hamper the project at about the time soon-to-be tenant, Valley Record Distributors, accelerated its planned move-in date. Despite these obstacles and others, the 225-person crew beat the odds and accomplished its mission, while at the same time setting what is believed to be a world record for the largest continuous pouring of a flat concrete surface last November.
. . . . . . . 'It was a classic example of team work.' said Rick Warren, project chief for EXXCEL. "By working together, we were able to respond to the challenges head-on and overcome them."
. . . . . . . The story leading up to the pour went like this:
. . . . . . . On Thursday, Oct. 30, 1997, the company began pouring the floor of the approximately 300,000 square-foot building. Only 31,000) square feet was poured before rains and accompanying fog related to El Nino stopped the project.
. . . . . . . "The fog was so intense that the lasers on equipment couldn't work, and the weather forecast showed no improvement," said Mike McBrayer, site contract manager for EXXCEL.
. . . . . . . Time was running out. Warren, McBrayer, and their team decided that Saturday, Nov. 8, 1997, would be the day to pour the remaining 270,000 square-feet of concrete. It was the only day that four batch plants could be coordinated to supply the volume of concrete needed, no small feat in itself. A slight break in the weather was predicted to occur as well.
. . . . . . . "We had four concrete batch plants and two concrete companies involved in the pour, as well as a geotechnical engineering firm." said Warren, who was in charge of overseeing logistics. Also scheduled to be used were: 86 concrete trucks: 18 double-trowel machines; four laser screeds; 24 light plant systems; two small bulldozers; two smooth drum rollers; and four 42-meter concrete pumps.
. . . . . . . Some of the materials and equipment were traveling from as far away as Columbus. The team's war room contained 16 pages of checklists that covered even the most minute detail, such as what each semi was carrying and its estimated time of arrival.
. . . . . . . As EXXCEL finalized arrangements the week before, rain continued to be a problem. That meant the sub-base was too wet, which required additional work to prepare for the pour. That also meant that the sub-base couldn't support trucks, requiring that the concrete had to be pumped.
. . . . . . . D-Day arrived. "It rained up until 10 minutes before we were ready to begin." Warren recalled. In the early morning hours, the crew began placing the concrete and hoped the rain would hold off. It did. And during the day, the sun actually came out, while the temperature stayed at about 40 degrees Fahrenheit.
. . . . . . . Some 30 hours later, the crew smoothed out the last patch of concrete end covered it with plastic. Within minutes, the rain returned.
. . . . . . . In the end, the EXXCEL team used 396 trowel blades and $12,000 worth of plastic covering. More importantly, the work surpassed industry standards. Concrete yields were within 2 percent of calculated quantities and less than estimated quantities. The floor flatness was a Ff. 54.60 and levelness was a Fl 43.83. By comparison, the industry standard for floor flatness is 35.
. . . . . . . And the team received notice, much to its surprise, that it had set what is believed to be a world record for the largest square footage of a flat surface ever poured at one time.
. . . . . . . According to industry expert, George Haming, sales manager for Garceveur Corp., Louisville, the previous record for a flat area being poured is believed to be 250,000 square feet. That pour occurred last spring in Alabama. The EXXCEL pour was praised for maintaining such high flatness and levelness. "Those are fantastic numbers for a project that large. Haming said. While the cubic volume poured - 5,021 cubic yards - may be considered small when compared with other large pours, Haming said what sets this project span Is that the team maintained such consistency over a large, flat area. 'It's much easier to pour concrete into a big hole,' he said.
. . . . . . . "What's unique about this project if that a typical pour of this size would have occurred over multiple days. EXXCEL basically compressed about seven working days into 30 hours," said James Miller, senior vice president of development for Columbus, Ohio-based Pizzuti Development. Pizzuti developed the warehouse for Valley Record Distributors at the Riverport industrial Park.
. . . . . . . "We've worked with EXXCEL for many years and have a high level of trust and confidence in the company," Miller said. "EXXCEL is known for its construction of quality floors and for working with some of the best flat work subcontractors in the industry, We trust their recommendations, because we know they are dealing with the experts."
. . . . . . . The building is expected to be completed in May and, thanks to EXXCEL's efforts, the project is on target to meet the client's accelerated schedule, Pizzuti's Miller said.
. . . . . . . "In our view, when it comes to these kinds of projects, we have a big commitment to meet our customers' needs, That means being innovative and trying to identify and create solutions that win for everybody. EXXCEL follows this philosophy, too." Miller said.
. . . . . . . Reflecting back on the pour, Warren said, "We didn't set out to break any records; we just had a job to complete. He expects the record will likely be short-lived as construction schedules become tighter and technological advancements become available.
. . . . . . . Warren and McBrayer said that what impressed them the most was the team spirit that prevailed during the pour, Workers representing four companies were involved: Lithko Contracting, Columbus; T & C Excavating, Louisville: AML Inc., Floyds Knobs, Ind. and IMI Concrete, Louisville. Warren had particular praise for Lithko. "Without their help and willingness to go the extra mile, the pour would not have been possible"
. . . . . . . The team spirit was so high that crews did not want to leave the site when their shift was finished, Warren said. By the end, all shifts were still working. "In all my years of construction work, I haven't seen anything quite like it."