North Carolina Construction News staff writer
Construction has reached the topping-out milestone at Boeing South Carolina’s second final assembly building in North Charleston, marking a key step in a major expansion of the aircraft manufacturer’s campus.
The BE&K Building Group and HITT Contracting joint venture marked the milestone after crews installed the final structural steel beam at the building’s highest point.
The project is part of Boeing’s more than US$1 billion expansion of its South Carolina operations, which includes additional facilities to support production of the 787 Dreamliner.
“We’re proud of the trade partners, project teams, and safety professionals whose craftsmanship and dedication made this possible,” HITT Contracting officials said in a statement. “Together with our partner BE&K Building Group and architect BRPH, we’re proud of the progress we’ve made and look forward to continuing this momentum with the same unwavering commitment to safety as construction now moves into the next phase.
“The new final assembly building will cover approximately 600,000 square feet. The existing final assembly building at the site is about 1.2 million square feet.
Before structural steel erection began, crews had moved more than 360,000 cubic yards of earth, installed more than 220 deep foundation structures and poured more than 9,300 cubic yards of concrete.
The building’s steel structure is expected to require nearly 19,000 tons of steel. Roof trusses measure approximately 450 feet long and weigh about 420 tons each.
HITT Contracting is working with BE&K Building Group on the project, with BRPH providing architectural services.
The broader campus expansion includes a parts preparation facility, a vertical fin paint facility, flight-line stalls, a ground support equipment facility, crew shelters, a central utility building and additions to the Interiors Responsibility Center.
Boeing has said the expansion is intended to support increased 787 production and announced plans to create more than 1,000 jobs over five years. The construction program was expected to involve more than 2,500 workers and generate more than 6.2 million construction hours.
With the structural frame in place, work will continue on the building as the project moves into its next phase.