GEM Field Services Performs Design/Build of MSF at ORNL with Completion Date in September 2022
GEM Technologies, Inc. (GEM) worked with UT-Battelle at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to design and construct its new Mission Support Facility (MSF). The 12,000 sq. ft. facility is planned to be an extension of the adjacent Building 7012 at ORNL and will occupy the machine and fabrications group.
The scope for this turn-key design-build project included architectural and structural design, site preparation, the construction of a single-story building, and 2,500 ft2 mezzanine that allows the group to house new equipment and offer additional workspace for its employees.
In addition to self-performing the construction, GEM oversaw a well-qualified team of architectural and engineering professionals from subcontractor Smee + Busby that have experience providing design support to construction projects across the Oak Ridge Reservation, which ultimately lowers risk to UT-Battelle in both the design and execution phases of this contract.
Although construction during East Tennessee’s damp winter months posed natural challenges, the GEM’s field services team remained persistent in working with its critical subcontractors and ORNL to meet schedule milestones. In addition to scheduling concrete pours on warmer days to lessen the impacts of harsh weather, GEM also laid heat blankets over the concrete to keep it from freezing on the coldest days. GEM’s management team also actively prepared for the possibility of COVID-related staffing shortages and delays by working closely with the team’s critical subcontractors and craft laborers to keep milestones on track. “We are immensely proud of our crews that have worked 12 to 15 hours a day for weeks to ensure the concrete is poured in order to meet schedule milestones for UT-Battelle,” says Construction Manager Jacob Effler. “To date, the project has been completed on budget, on schedule, and with zero safety incidents.”
GEM Technologies is a Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB) with a 28 year performance history providing high-quality environmental, facility and infrastructure management, construction, and technical services to federal government agencies, state and municipal governments, universities, and an assortment of private industry enterprises. GEM’s corporate headquarters are in Knoxville, Tennessee, with field offices in Oak Ridge, Tennessee; Albany, Georgia; Amarillo, Texas; Los Alamos, New Mexico; Idaho Falls, Idaho; and Portsmouth, Ohio.
