Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery celebrate ‘topping out’

On May 26, the construction team of the new Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery held a “topping out” ceremony, traditional in the building industry for recognizing the construction milestone of placing and welding the last beam at the top of a building. This event marks the completion of the external framework for the innovative facility, to be completed in December 2010.

The practice of “topping out” a new building has been traced to the ancient Scandinavian religious practice of placing a tree on the top of a new building to appease the tree-dwelling spirits of displaced ancestors.

Members of the Findoff Mortenson construction crew signed the beam, painted white and adorned with a living tree, during a celebratory luncheon and then watched as the beam and tree were hoisted and welded into place atop the four-storey structure.

Members of the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) Board of Trustees participated in a similar ceremony (see photos) earlier in the month.

Speakers shared some impressive facts about the facility with the approximate 200 workers who took part in the ceremony:

• 98% of the materials removed during deconstruction of the prior buildings on the site has been recycled or reused

• 564 miles of rebar have been used in construction of the facility

• Each of the four floors (one below ground and three above) contains 2,200 yards of concrete and weighs 9 million pounds — totaling nearly 9,000 yards and 36 million pounds of concrete

• 2,200 pieces of structural steel and 210,000 man-hours have been used to build the facility

• Worker safety is a top priority on the site with no current lost time due to injury

• Construction of the project is on time and under budget