Manufacturing Facility | Precast Concrete Meets Prefab Steel

Knife River Prestress Manufacturing Facility in Newman Lake, WA

One of the beliefs upheld at Allied is that new opportunities come from within our inner circle, so it was no surprise when an Allied team member’s former employer approached us to design and deliver a new manufacturing facility. The client, Knife River Prestress, has been leading the Pacific Northwest in manufacturing prefabricated prestressed concrete out of their two manufacturing facilities for over 60 years. They engaged Allied with their sights set on opening a third plant outside of Spokane, Washington, initially envisioning a steel building but settling on a hybrid prestressed concrete structure with a steel roof, which allowed them to showcase their product. With this hybrid concept in mind, Allied and design group ES2 collaborated to develop the roof structure design and production was underway by fall of 2022.

Trade Partners Who Make All the Difference

Though Allied’s scope of work for this project was smaller than usual, the value we added made a major impact. When the client engaged us in 2022, domestic joists and roof deck were in limited supply, averaging a full year’s delivery time. Thanks to our relationship with our international trade partners, we were able to secure a non-domestic source for these materials, bringing the delivery timeline down significantly. Of course this introduced the new challenge of figuring out how to meet domestic design standards while using non-domestic materials, but Allied is known for working outside industry norms to make the impossible possible, and we easily adjusted our design and engineering plans to account for these materials differences.

Refabrication on Speed Dial

Aside from some straightforward design modifications, Allied encountered other opportunities to demonstrate that we do whatever it takes to make things right, no matter the cost. We rose to the challenge of keeping within the promised timeline after a delivery truck tipped over, damaging the joists it was transporting to the jobsite, and again at installation when we encountered an issue with the roof deck. In both instances we immediately ordered refabrication of all materials without pausing to inspect what was salvageable since keeping the project on schedule was our highest priority.

A New Accomplishment and a Happy Client

Though the new Knife River Prestress plant isn’t our largest or tallest project to date, it is significant for being a precast-concrete/metal hybrid building. It also happens to be the largest precast facility in the Pacific Northwest and, in the client’s words, the “most technically advanced manufacturing facilities in the western US.” Allied’s scope of work, a roof consisting entirely of prefabricated steel, from the girders and joists to the deck, has been delivered with great results. Despite some minor obstacles the project is on time and the happy client will soon be able to enjoy all the benefits of a steel roof while showcasing their own product as the primary construction material for their new plant.

Efficient, Innovative, Cost-Effective, and On-Time

To turn the client’s vision into a reality we leaned on our in-house experts and loyal trade partners to dream, design, and deliver efficient, innovative, cost effective, and on-time solutions even when it meant going where we’d never gone before.