6 and recognize the effort , teamwork and craftsmanship that went into it . I am speaking in regards to every single person here at Shaw & Sons , as I am so very thankful for the collective group of talent that resides here .
CHOSEN PROFESSION
Properly preparing and placing concrete is a very challenging process . If anyone thinks working with concrete is easy , try arriving at the jobsite at 5:30 a . m . for a 400-yard pour on a high-rise floor slab with sweat already dripping off your nose by 6:00 a . m . To get the job done you work through lunch , and if necessary , you work overtime , and then repeat the process at another project the following day . To pump and place 350 to 500-plus yards of concrete on the 16th floor of a steel-frame building in less than six hours is an experience few involved will ever forget . We have all done it here at Shaw & Sons , floor after floor , building after building . It ’ s a tough way to make a living , but it leaves you with a feeling that by working on a well-balanced team you can produce something extraordinary in a day ’ s work . You and your coworkers who have become family , just did something amazing that will be around for a long time and you own the rights to say , “ we built that .”
To build day after day , year after year has taught us all invaluable lessons that simply cannot be bought or fabricated . Both of the current owners , John Wills and I , worked through college as field carpenters and later as superintendents . We had the benefit of working with some great craftsmen and mentors decades ago and learned important rules and techniques that must be utilized to build things properly . We are grateful to our mentors for watching over us and we rely on many of their extraordinary principles and procedures to ensure the quality and durability of our own work today .
Our company has a great core of both senior people and young future stars . Our oldest field person is Jose Enriquez and he is 71 years old . He does precise layout and is very well respected by us and his peers . He does very well and is a great inspiration to our younger carpenters and coworkers . It is this type of knowledge base and sharing that has made Shaw & Sons the company it is today .
Of all the career paths that were open to us at Shaw & Sons , we personally love concrete construction more than any other profession we could have chosen ; our company ’ s collective strength is our people .
OUR PROCESS
At Shaw & Sons we are hands on . From early review of the design development and construction documents during preconstruction through the completed construction process , we always build concisely , never take shortcuts , and will never jeopardize the final product . We work as a true team through extensive office coordination and communicating with our field personnel on a real-time basis .
It all starts at the beginning . We bid a project from the ground up and we build from the ground up , starting with an as-built of the existing site , resulting in each project ’ s precise shop drawing as well as pre-planning or pre-layout corrections . In our shop drawing process , for instance , our staff will not only produce a plan that helps eliminate cracking and identifies critical control dimensions , but we also check all applicable rules and regulations such as compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act , local codes and project requirements . We commonly recommend new grades and elevations that produce a superior , more geometric product , and even go as far to reengineer plazas to manage the sheeting of surface water and to ensure that the functionality of a plaza meets all of our geometric requirements and standards commonly recognized as part of our signature .
As you look through this book , you will see why this attention to even the smallest detail is so important . If you physically walk our projects , you will quickly recognize and feel the difference in quality , and experience the performance of each element , especially as time passes . On site , our top field personnel commonly review and scrutinize a project under construction on a daily basis and at least one of the three Shaw & Sons ’ owners serves as a management bridge between our office and field . Every Monday at 4:00 p . m ., our fifteen field superintendents meet in a roundtable discussion with our administrative personnel and with two of the owners to go over a detailed two-week schedule and next quarter projections . The team also shares both the positive aspects of their projects and any problems that may arise in the future . Problems are discussed in depth until everyone agrees on a solution .
As a group we strive to better the overall outcome of each and every project . For example , we recently completed a large project at a local theme park where the hardscape design did not account for the structural limitations required for the movement the ride would generate during operation . In lieu of “ building per plan ,” we recognized the potential problem , brought the Structural Engineer , Architect , and Owner to the table and presented a solution that incorporated individual panels with a special expansion and contraction joint that allowed for vibration and movement , yet with restrained parameters . This extremely rare design floated partially on structural foam on top of a parking garage . After its first two years of hard use the plaza hardscape remains crack and trouble free . Similar scenarios have presented themselves on many of our other long term projects , such as Rand Headquarters ( 70,000 sf of hardscape on structural foam on deck with virtually