Municipal Building Crane Work Put on Hold

Example of a 150-foot crane. Courtesy

By Carol A. Clark

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requires a permit on construction cranes any time that they will exceed a 100:1 sloped surface from the nearest point of the nearest airport runway out to 20,000 feet or 200 feet above ground level.

“We are right on the edge of the affected area of the airport,” said Dan Erickson, capital projects division manager. “It’s better to be safe than sorry so we decided to go ahead and apply for a permit to the FAA – we’re hoping it won’t slow the project.”

The County applied for the permit nearly two weeks ago, Erickson said, adding that it can take as long as 4-6 weeks to process the application before receiving FAA approval.

“The plan is to set steel on March 19 … we’ll bring the crane up here the weekend prior on the 17th and 18th to prepare the crane to actually be working on the 19th,” he said.

Erickson estimates that the crane will be in operation for about a month if the weather behaves – the 150-ton crane with its 240-foot-tall mast cannot be operated in high winds.

Other work will continue on the Municipal Building Complex while the county waits for the okay from the FAA to do necessary crane work. Photo by Carol A. Clark/ladailypost.com

The Municipal Complex will be three stories tall, when completed. The latest floor plans call for a lobby, the 311 Customer Care Center and several one stop departments to be located on the ground floor.

The County Clerk’s Office, Assessor’s Office and other departments will be housed on the second floor.

The third floor will contain the County Administrator’s Office and the County Attorney’s Office.

The approximately 45,430-square-foot Municipal Complex also will house the Historic Archives and the County Records Center.

The total project budget is $25,800,873, with an additional $750,000 for the design and construction of Iris Street utility and improvement work, which is occurring in conjunction with the overall project.

The Municipal Complex is scheduled for completion in October 2013.

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