| September 2009 |  | | Encompass Celebrates 30 Years! | | On September 16th Encompass hosted a party at the Metropolitan Club in Golden Valley to Celebrate our 30th Anniversary. We were joined by over one hundred of our clients and friends that have played a huge role in our success and longevity. |
| February 2009 |  | | Congratulations Mark and Dan! | | Encompass proudly congratulates Mark Blazevic on becoming a licensed Professional Engineer and Dan Drake on earning his LEED AP Certification. |
| January 2008 |  | | Encompass a 2008 ACEC Grand Award Winner! | Photo: Kent Jones, Dave Waller (Catholic Mutual Group) and Howard Noziska accept the award
Encompass, Inc. was recently named a Grand Award Winner by the ACEC of Minnesota as part of their 2008 Engineers Excellence Awards for our St. Mark's Church Fire Damage Investigation and Restoration Project. This project was led by senior engineer Kent Jones, P.E. and technician Jim Manfred. Below is a recap of the project.
When St. Mark's Catholic Church in Shakopee hired Encompass Inc. to assess the damage from a 2005 fire, it became immediately clear to our engineers that the usual way of doing things wasn't going to work. St. Mark's parishioners desperately wanted their church restored to its original grandeur, but whether or not that would be possible hinged largely on the condition of the ceiling and roof structures. The problem Encompass found was that the floor of the church was destroyed, and as a consequence there was no stable surface on which to erect scaffolding for access to the ceiling.
We decided to take a step that is highly unusual in the field of forensic engineering: we would begin reconstruction of the building in order to be able to continue our investigation. The construction of a new floor would allow us to inspect the ceiling. The inherent risk to this approach was that there was no guarantee that the ceiling investigation would conclude that full reconstruction should ensue. If the entire roof and ceiling structures had to be demolished, restoration of the building would very likely have been cost-prohibitive. St. Mark's felt it was worth the risk.
We at Encompass already understood the value of this church, having been the engineer of record on the $2 million exterior restoration in 1999, noted our lead project engineer Kent Jones. We knew what this building meant to the parishioners and what they were willing to invest to restore the church rather than replace it.
The floor of the church was comprised of several layers of wood, which burned away to expose a large network of trenches that had been dug to house the mechanical and electrical systems. Encompass' solution was to fill the trench system with Flow-crete to create a new, stable surface. Once the new floor was in place, they could begin their ascent to the ceiling and find out what the future held in store for St. Mark's. Subsequent analysis determined that the framework of the ceiling and roof structures remained viable, and we were able to deliver good news. Because the ceiling structure of the church was preserved, all of the architectural and ornamental features of the building's interior could be recreated.
Another challenge presented itself: there were no existing plans or specifications from the church's original construction. At this point, St. Mark's asked Encompass to generate plans for the building's restoration and lead the design team.
It is also unusual for a forensic engineering firm to perform an investigation and subsequently take the lead role in design work for the rebuilding process. But the nature of our examination of St. Mark's and their history with the building provided us such intimate knowledge of the facility that to do so became a logical extension of the process.
To deliver a newer, better St. Mark's back to the parish, Encompass led an integrated network of consultants. The handpicked team included architects, contractors, mechanical engineers, electrical engineers and fire protection engineers. Encompass represented the owners interests throughout the life of the project and were on site virtually every day until the renovation was complete. The fire occurred in August 2005, and the first Mass was held less than two years later, in May 2007. The newly restored St. Mark's is essentially a duplication of the original structure.
|
|