BE&K/Turner Marks Team’s Achievement of Major Safety Milestone
July 18, 2010
BE&K/Turner Hosts Special Appreciation Event for Tradeworkers at Boeing Construction Site on July 16
NORTH CHARLESTON, SC — July 16, 2010 — BE&K/Turner, design-builder for the Boeing South Carolina 787 Expansion, formally celebrated achievement of another safety milestone today — 500,000 man-hours worked without a lost-time incident. To mark the occasion, BE&K/Turner hosted a special appreciation event for the 400-plus tradeworkers currently on the Boeing construction site. The event was attended by Boeing and BE&K/Turner executives and project management team, key subcontractor executives, and local and state officials. Following a brief ceremony, the crowd enjoyed a buffet lunch complete with a raffle and giveaways.
In April of this year, the South Carolina Occupational Safety and Health Administration (S.C. OSHA) signed a formal partnership agreement with the BE&K/Turner Joint Venture to assist BE&K/Turner with creating and maintaining a safe and healthy environment for their workers. According to the S.C. Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation (LLR), this first-of-its-kind agreement signifies a unique working partnership between government and industry whereby resources of both the state OSHA program and private industry are used to identify and eliminate hazardous conditions at major construction sites.
BE&K/Turner began steel erection in March of this year and set the first steel trusses in May. Last week, the steel erection passed the 50% complete mark, and is on schedule for an October 2010 completion.
Above Photo Credit: Aerial Photos Elite
Tara Robertson, Community Affairs Director for BE&K/Turner, spoke about BE&K/Turner’s impressive record-to-date for hiring minority-owned subcontractors and other historically underutilized businesses for the Boeing project. “As of July 1, 2010, of the nearly $187 million (or 73.55%) of available trade direct volume awarded to date, 27.17% has been committed to diverse firms (MBE, WBE, VBE),” said Robertson. BE&K/Turner’s Kenny Anderson, construction manager, noted that more than 75% of the trade contracts have been awarded to South Carolina companies, a large percentage of which are Lowcountry based or tapping into the local workforce. “Actually, 89.65% of work has been awarded to South Carolina firms when taking into account that some services and materials — such as the Four-Hook Bridge Cranes and Hangar Doors — are not available in the South Carolina marketplace,” said Anderson.
Last month BE&K/Turner was named General Contractor of the Year by the Charleston Chapter of the American Subcontractors Association of the Carolinas (ASAC). The BE&K Building Group and Turner Construction Company have been partnering on select major projects in the Carolinas for close to 20 years. Boeing’s South Carolina 787 Expansion, for which the Joint Venture is teamed with design partner BRPH, represents BE&K/Turner’s 12th major project together. The BE&K/Turner/BRPH design-build team is headquartered at the Building Group’s regional office in Greenville, SC.
About the BE&K/Turner/BRPH Design-Build Team
All three companies comprising the BE&K/Turner/BRPH design-build team have in-depth project experience in the aerospace industry as well as strong ties to the Carolinas. Each has an extensive list of high-profile projects in the state of South Carolina and the region. The BE&K Building Group’s office in Greenville, South Carolina — which celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2008 — serves as the headquarters for the BE&K/Turner/BRPH design-build team. BE&K/Turner, a joint venture, is the design-build contractor for the facility. Joint venture partners BE&K Building Group and Turner Construction Company, and BRPH, the design partner, have enjoyed a long relationship with aerospace manufacturer Boeing. All three companies worked on the original Dreamliner assembly and manufacturing facilities already in North Charleston — the former Vought Aircraft Industries plant and Global Aeronautica — which are on the same campus where the new assembly line will be located. BE&K Building Group, a KBR Company, is based in Charlotte. Turner Construction Company is headquartered in New York. BRPH is based in Melbourne, Florida.
Design-Build Team’s Ties to the Carolinas and Each Other
The BE&K Building Group has a rich history in the Carolinas with roots dating back more than 100 years. Turner Construction Company has been building in the Carolinas for 90 years — since 1920 and maintains multiple offices in the Carolinas. Formalized 18 years ago (1992) for work in the Charlotte metropolitan area, the long-standing joint venture partnership between the BE&K Building Group’s and Turner Construction’s respective Carolinas-based operations has led to an impressive list of high-visibility projects, each with an outstanding safety and diversity record, and with a total construction value of nearly $1.0 billion. Their 11th major project together, the NASCAR Hall of Fame Museum and Convention Center Expansion, a $165 million project in uptown Charlotte, was completed in May 2010. BRPH Architects-Engineers has had a presence in South Carolina for more than seven years. The firm opened an office in the Upstate region of the state in 2002 and now has an office in Charleston. The BE&K Building Group and BRPH Architects-Engineers have completed 24 projects together over the past 15 years with a total project value exceeding $1.0 billion.
The Greenville, South Carolina-based BE&K/Turner/BRPH team brings unparalleled design and construction experience and a strong commitment to the Boeing project, the community and the people of South Carolina. For more information on the member companies of the BE&K/Turner/BRPH design-build team, visit their respective company websites at: www.bekbuildinggroup.com; www.turnerconstruction.com; and www.brph.com.
