Western Specialty Honored for Oklahoma Stone Restoration
TULSA, Okla. – The local branch of Western Specialty Contractors received awards last month for stone restoration and historical restoration from the Associated General Contractors of Oklahoma (AGCOK) – Building Chapter.
Greek Centennial Bridge, Stillwater, Okla.
Representatives from Western’s Tulsa branch accepted the AGCOK awards at the organization’s 80th Annual Meeting on Jan. 11 for work at Oklahoma State University (OSU) and with an historic Oklahoma apartment building.
Western received the AGCOK’s Stone Restoration award for its work on the Theta Pond Bridge improvements at OSU in Stillwater, Okla. The sidewalk around the university’s iconic Theta Pond, known as Greek Walk, and its 5’-wide wooden bridge over the pond had degraded over the years, creating a potential hazard.
Western crews were contracted to remove the old wooden bridge and replace it with a stone bridge consistent in design and scope as the existing architecture on campus The new 8’-long structure, renamed Greek Centennial Bridge, is an important focal point of the area, which provides a beautiful scene for students and visitors to take pictures and visit.
“It was important that the bridge compliment the surrounding landscaping and blend into the existing surrounding stone,” said Oklahoma Branch Manager Doug Martin. “It was a challenge working on a college campus with thousands of students walking by, plus trying to maneuver large and heavy stones into place without damaging any of the existing landscaping.”
Western received a second AGCOK award for Historical Restoration for its façade and structural work on the Intrada El Reno Apartments in El Reno, Okla. Intrada El Reno is a historic hotel building that has been converted into apartments for people with low incomes.
Western was contracted to re-point the building’s masonry joints; remove decayed sandstone window sills; make structural repairs of joist beams, columns and underside of the slab; provide brick infill of existing door and window openings; create window and door openings; and restore concrete on the Porte Cochere.
The historic-restoration project was challenging to Western’s crews who had to remove existing windowsills and ship them to the fabrication shop where drawings were created for approval by the project engineer. Molds were then constructed based on the drawings for the replacement windowsills to be cast, then shipped back to the job site for placement.
“Being a single-source contractor to address all the needs of the developer was a huge plus for all involved. We were able to address all the needs that Vecino Group had with the restoration of the facade, structural repairs of all concrete and the waterproofing needs,” said Martin.
“The process of matching the existing decorative profiles of the Porte Cochere was our biggest challenge. Through making a cast of the existing profiles to create concrete forms to the considerable time and talent it took to hand patch the balusters, our crews proved to be up for the challenge.”
AGCOK is the state’s largest and leading commercial/industrial construction trade association, headquartered in Oklahoma City. The awards honor outstanding commercial construction companies, employees, industry partners and leaders that have helped build the Oklahoma community.
Family-owned and operated for more than 100 years, Western Specialty Contractors is the nation’s largest specialty contractor in masonry and concrete restoration, waterproofing and specialty roofing. Western is headquartered in St. Louis, MO with 30 branch offices nationwide and employs more than 1,200 salaried and hourly professionals.
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