February 2013
Three Keast & Hood Co. Projects Earn Excellence in Structural Engineering Awards
The Structural Engineers Association of Metropolitan Washington, D.C., presented its annual Excellence in Structural Engineering Awards on Saturday, 23 February 2013. Three Keast & Hood Co. projects were honored with Grand Awards at the event: Everyman Theatre, C&O Canal Big Slackwater, and Gymnasium Vincent.
Everyman Theatre in Baltimore, Md., involved renovation and adaptive reuse to create a new performing arts center including a 250-seat studio theater stacked beneath a 200-seat black box theater. Aside from the complexities of archaic structural systems found within the historic building, the team was tasked with significant acoustical challenges stacking two isolated theatres, compounded by an operating metro train tunnel 50 feet below the building foundation. Cho Benn Holback + Associates, Inc. was the project architect.
The C&O Canal Big Slackwater Historic Stone Wall and Towpath Rehabilitation and Stabilization in Downsville, Md., involved structural condition assessment and design for stabilization to provide continuous, safe access along the towpath for pedestrians and emergency vehicles. Strategies were developed that minimize both the amount of new construction materials and onsite labor for limited environmental impact. Keast & Hood Co. was part of a team retained by the National Park Service, including HDR, Incorporated (feasibility study) and Farewell Mills & Gatsch (construction documents).
Gymnasium Vincent in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, involved a seismic evaluation and analysis of damage sustained during the January 2010 earthquake. Complete design services were provided to repair the damage and to retrofit the existing structure to resist future seismic loads. Keast & Hood Co. worked with CEEPCO Contracting, Inc. on the project.