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Just a few days after finishing the
City Library Project for the City of Fayetteville, Dykon was contacted by
Baldwin & Shell Construction Co., the construction managers for the University
of Arkansas at Fayetteville, with a similar project. A multi-story parking
facility had to be built in the heart of the University of Arkansas Campus, just
across the street from the building that housed the Sam Walton College of
Business.
 Just
north of and directly across the street from the proposed site for the new
parking garage was the University Physics Building. This facility hosted laser
research equipment that required alignment of instrumentation on the molecular
level. Just East of the proposed site was a row of residential housing for
Students, and south of the edge of the site was a 3-story apartment complex
which was only 45 feet from the deepest cut on the entire project.
Adding yet another level of difficulty
to this already formidable project was the fact that since the inception of the
University of Arkansas in the late 1800's, the use of drilling and blasting had
never been permitted for rock removal on any project whatsoever. Before any
Precision Controlled Blasting could be performed, the University officials had
to be convinced it could be done safely, economically and on schedule.
 The
Dykon Blasting Technical Team met with University officials to discuss the
possibility and feasibility of lifting the University wide ban on rock blasting
for this project. Safety to the students and surrounding public were of the
utmost concern for the University officials. Secondary to that was the safety
to University concerns such as the Physics Department, the Mechanical Department
and the Business College. The Blasting could not be allowed to compromise
public safety, property or ongoing academic activities.
The building of this parking deck
required the excavation of nearly 40,000 cubic yards of rock underneath as much
dirt for the leveling of the site for the building. Most of this material had
to be hauled off site. The enormous amount of rock excavation coupled with the
time-frame requirements for project completion made mechanical breakage of rock
cost prohibitive. The cost of mechanical breaking of this rock in that
stringent of a timeframe drove the projected cost of the project to amounts that
threatened the feasibility of the Parking Deck altogether.
 The
first hurdle was to convince the University of Arkansas that the rock could be
precisely drilled and blasted in a safe, timely and economical fashion. The
second hurdle was to convince the University of Arkansas that Dykon Blasting was
the right choice to perform this landmark project. The third hurdle was yet to
come. It became apparent after several meetings with the University officials
and the General Contractor, Baldwin and Shell, that Precision Controlled
Blasting of rock would be allowed on this project and that Dykon Blasting was
going to be the ones performing it for the university.
 The
blasting had to be scheduled for optimum safety to the public, minimal impact to
the surrounding residents and university activities, not the least of which were
ongoing laser research experiments being conducted in the physics lab. With
this being the first Precision Controlled Blasting ever allowed on University
projects and with the Physics Lab just across the street, ground vibration
limits were imposed that reflected the University's concerns for safety to
adjacent properties. All eyes were focused on the blasting phase of this
project. Five seismographs were used to monitor ground vibrations in several
directions from each blast. Extensive preblasting surveys were used to document
the existing conditions to all structures within a predetermined radius of the
project. Shallow cuts and small shots were used to minimize the ground born
vibrations. All the shots were covered with blankets of heavy blasting mats to
eliminate the possibility of flying debris posing a safety hazard to pedestrians
and property. Dual train horns were used on an established and published
sequence to warn of an impending blasting event. Personnel were stationed at
all access points and borders along the streets to watch for Pedestrians. Radio
contact on a private channel was maintained constantly with the blaster in
charge so that he knew when the site was secure of workers and pedestrians
before initiating the final countdown for a blasting event.
 The
cooperation and tolerance of the general public and the University was
remarkable. With this extra-ordinary support from the surrounding community,
the University and all the onsite contractors, Dykon Blasting was able to
complete the drilling and blasting successfully. We at Dykon Blasting cannot
thank those who participated in the success of this project enough. The
University, faculty, staff and students were cooperative and supportive to an
unparalleled level. A special thanks goes out to Northwest Excavating, Baldwin
& Shell Construction Co., and Rick Hamilton, construction coordinator for the U
of A, for their cooperation and support.
 Mr.
Hamilton had this to say about the Precision Controlled Drilling and Blasting of
this project after it's completion:
"It has always been the policy of the U
of A to not allow ANY blasting on our construction projects. Through a very
sensitive program of education and communication with our Faculty, and Staff,
and a very conservative strategy in blasting, we were allowed to proceed with
the Blasting in construction. We were able to accomplish these portions of the
construction with an absolute minimum of disturbances to the closely surrounding
Housing, Colleges, and Classes. As you know, we had the on-going laser
experiments being performed by our Physics Department - whose building site
directly adjoins our site. It should be made clear that these experiments must
hold laser alignment at the sub-atomic level, and by closely coordinating public
information of blast times with Physics, and conservative blasting procedures,
avoided any failed experiments. We were very pleased with the outcome of the
blasting, and the negative effects were so very minimal as to be not worth
mentioning. The Time and Cost Savings were incredible.
Thanks to this good experience, blasting, with qualified firms such as yours, is
now an option to large-scale University of Arkansas construction."
Rick Hamilton
Construction Coordinator
University of Arkansas |
