Perdue Farms Elevator Core | Dakota City, Nebraska

Making Quick Work of Perdue’s Elevator Core

Dakota City, Nebraska

EFCO Assists with 3-Story Elevator Core

Perdue Farms, a leading poultry processing facility in Dakota City, Nebraska, contracted with Nelson Construction to build an addition to their current facility. This addition included a new 3-story elevator core attached to the preexisting building. Having already used and owned their own handset forms and having previous experience working with EFCO’s wrap-around service, Nelson Construction knew they could count on EFCO to help them form the 52′ elevator shaft.

PLATE GIRDER and SUPER STUD Set the Foundation

Nelson used EFCO’s PLATE GIRDER® and SUPER STUD® on the first-floor buildup. The system was quick to assemble with minimal parts and was ready for the first pour after the first day of assembly. They made their first pour at the end of the third day of working with EFCO forms. To set the PLATE GIRDER forms, Nelson could gang the formwork in 12′ wide by 20′ tall gangs and easily place them against the existing building. EFCO’s SUPER STUD was used on the interior to offer additional support for the PLATE GIRDER formwork. The existing building’s exterior was precast with form liners and was slightly out of plumb, but Nelson could chip off some of the decorative liners to make for an effective concrete seal.

Flipper Deck for Subsequent Pours

Considering the safety of the Nelson crew, for the second and third levels of the elevator core, EFCO created an E-BEAM & SUPER STUD® Flipper Deck using lock latches set into previously cast flipper lock pockets. These easily latched to the walls to anchor the foundation for the flipper deck, allowing the crew to safely tie the rebar and place the PLATE GIRDER system for subsequent pours. On the outside of the forms, Nelson’s crew easily poured the concrete from a scaffold bracket attached to the bottom side of the EFCO formwork.

Why Nelson Construction Chose EFCO

Using EFCO products, Nelson completed the elevator core in three weeks, with only three pours, helping them realize the lowest in-place concrete costs by reducing the time and effort required to complete the project. Having worked with the EFCO team before, they knew they could count on EFCO’s wrap-around service to get the Quality products they needed in a timely fashion and provide the Super Service to help with set-up and challenges along the way.

We own and often use handset forms. But when it came time to construct a three-sided 52′ tall elevator shaft against an existing building in three lifts, we had trusted EFCO before and decided EFCO’s PLATE GIRDER was the best choice. With a great plan, on-site field service, and a prepared and experienced crew, we were done in nine days.

-Donnie Grant, Nelson Construction