The Mclemore Resort & Hotel is a luxurious 245-room destination built by Hilton near Cloudland Canyon State Park in Rising Fawn, Georgia. The project’s remote location on a golf course near a cliff, as well as its elevation, which led to low temperatures, posed challenges for the contractor. Precision Concrete rose to these challenges with innovative methods, creating key features such as a 16-foot-tall concrete retaining wall that is over 700 feet long and an additional lower level that was implemented in the midst of the design-build project. When issues arose, like the presence of rock that wasn’t removed during blasting, close coordination between Precision and the contractor kept the job on schedule, and the project came in safely, on time, and within budget.
Key Highlights
- Jobsite access ramps were regraded to enable access to the remote jobsite.
- Over 40 workers performed nearly 40,000 hours of work onsite, with no lost-time incidents.
- Coordination with the contractor enabled quick adjustments on a design-build project, including adding an additional lower level during the project.
- Use of specialized methods prevented freezing during low-temperature, high-altitude winter work.
- 8,000 CY of concrete were used on the project, including 2,200 CY of lightweight concrete for the elevated slab.
- Specialized submersion methods were used to reduce lightweight aggregate concrete soaking time from 3 days to 1 day.
- Use of 2 steel framing types simultaneously — 60% heavy and 40% light-gauge.
- Significant monetary and time savings were realized by changing the wire mesh to synthetic fibers.