Medical Mart & Convention Center - Phase II Update

Our next phase at the Cleveland Medical Mart and Convention Center kicked off in late January of this year when Independence Excavating (IX) was awarded its second contract with Turner Construction for the final site work and landscaping on the downtown malls overtop the convention center. As steel erection, concrete decking, and waterproofing unfolded, we followed directly behind with our work. One of the most interesting and challenging parts of our contract is associated with the fill operations. One would typically associate IX’s bread and butter work as soil fills, but on this project nothing is ordinary. Rather than dirt fill, engineers called for extruded polystyrene block, more commonly known as geofoam. At 1.8 pounds per cubic foot this lightweight material was chosen to ensure the lighter loading capacity of the structural deck. A total of 48,000 CY of this material is shipped in blocks, and requires intensive design and labor to ensure the proper fit and placement of each block. There is also 25,000 CY of specialized, organic and blended soils for lawn and landscaping areas.

As the project continues to push through the middle and the end of 2012, IX expects to complete Mall C (north of Lakeside Avenue) in late summer, and be completed with the Medical Mart area and Mall B by January 2013, with the entire surface malls open to the public at that point. The entire Medical Mart and Convention Center project is expected to open in Summer 2013.

There has been a collective team‐effort so far in building this project, especially with the level of detail and engineering involved. The IX team has proven that we have been up to the challenge from day one and agree that the completion of this job will be a welcoming accomplishment. We greatly appreciate all our subcontractors and team members for their efforts to date and their continued support in bringing this project to its finality. This project will also be a success due to the constant coordination with the Turner Construction team, especially the leadership and vision of John Dewine, Marty Burgwinkle and John Ryfa.