1994 NOVA Award Winners

In 1989 a team of Granite Rock Company employees, in concert with Roberts and Shaffer Engineering Company, redesigned the aggregates loading system in the sprawling distribution complex. Dubbed GraniteXpress, the new system stores aggregates in elevated hoppers. Computerized weigh-scales are located in a drive-through bay beneath each loading chute.

GraniteXpress customers are issued plastic cards similar to ATM cards. At the GraniteXpress loading area, drivers present their cards for access, which starts the billing process. The driver pulls the rig under the proper chute and pulls a cord to load. Computerized scales weigh the load as it is delivered.

When the load is complete, so is the weighing, enabling the driver to use the express checkout where the Granite-Xpress computer calculates the bill and issues two copies to the driver via pneumatic tube. After signing one copy and returning it via the tube, the driver is on his way back to the job site with a load metered accurately to within 60 pounds.

GraniteXpress has cut the average 24-minute loading cycle to just 7 minutes - a 70% reduction - and allows Granite Rock Co. to provide aggregate loading 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Abandoning traditional front-end loaders and weighing systems, the project team at Granite Rock Company created a "drive-thru" aggregate loading system with the convenience and fast cycle time of a bank ATM system.

Primarily Responsible:
Dave McAuley and the GraniteXpress Development Team
Contact: Dave Franceschi
Granite Rock Company
P.O. Box 50001
Watsonville, CA 95077-5001
Phone: 408-724-5611

In the mid 1980's, Dr. Jorj O. Osterberg, now a Professor Emeritus of Civil Engineering at Northwestern University, developed a test method to speed and simplify testing of heavy foundation piers, while making the process safer and capable of delivering accurate measurement of both side-friction and end-bearing components of total load resistance.

Dr. Osterberg's method places a load-generating hydraulic cylinder, the load cell, at the bottom of a foundation pier. The load cell, which will expand to exert a force both upward and downward, is welded to the end of a steel H-section and lowered into a hole drilled for the test shaft. The shaft is then filled with concrete, and cured.

The load test is performed by actuating the hydraulic cylinder to exert pressure on the soil. Strain gauges and digital "dial" gauges measure key displacements. The downward force of the load cell creates displacement which translates into end-bearing capacity of the soil. Upward force from the top of the cell creates displacement of the test pier which translates into an accurate measure of the side-friction component of load resistance.

The Osterberg Load Cell and the "Upside-Down Load Test" helps foundation designers create more cost-effective foundations and reduces the time needed for testing.

The Osterberg Load Cell's unique loading mechanism, from the "bottom-up", eliminates the need to erect hazardous dead loads and provides accurate measure of both sidewall friction and end-bearing capacity.

Primarily Responsible:
Jorj O. Osterberg
Contact: Jorj O. Osterberg
16416 E. Powers Place
Aurora, CO 80015
Phone: 303-699-1816

Building construction is the assembly of a multitude of small components in the field, with manpower and material handling being the largest constraints.

The SMART System is a self-elevating assembly factory for high-rise building construction which demonstrates that automated building assembly using both technical and logistical inNOVAtions can streamline the construction process.

In SMART Construction, the building core and shell are assembled floor-by-floor from a covered, self-elevating construction platform that provides safety screens, scaffolding, and weather protection. As each floor is completed, computer controlled jacks lift the work platform to the elevation of the next story in about 90 minutes. Even at the 20th floor, construction workers operate in a "ground-floor" environment of improved safety, accessibility, and efficiency.
A central control room is housed above the traveling work platform where a highly integrated system for scheduling and ordering all major subassemblies of the building is operated. Documents, CAD drawings, and delivery information are communicated via high-speed network links with all members of the building team: owner, designer, contractors, and suppliers.

In the SMART System, just-in-time scheduling and communications have eliminated the need for on-site laydown areas - all material is moved from the truckbed directly to the point of installation with remote-controlled overhead cranes, operated by video camera from the central control room.

Structural components are specially designed and fabricated for ease of placement and alignment. Once placed by the overhead crane, columns are self-supporting. After laser alignment, column connections are made by automated welding robots.

The 20-story Nagoya Juroku Bank, Nagoya, Japan, was constructed using the SMART System. On-site management man hours were greatly reduced during this project, labor manpower was reduced by 30%, and 70% of construction waste was eliminated.

Primarily Responsible:
Yasuyoshi Miyatake
Contact: Yasuyoshi Miyatake
Shimizu Corporation
No. 2-3 Shibaura 1-Chome
Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-07
JAPAN
Phone: 011-81-3-5441-1111

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