The new Detention Center in Crawford County, Arkansas has raised the bar when it comes to Life Safety measures. The new Crawford County Justice Center was built due to alarming overcrowding issues that endangered the safety of the inmates and staff. The new 307 bed facility is now a beacon of safety, especially when it comes to Life Safety & Fire Protection.
Installing Life Safety system
In February of 2018, The Association of Builders and Contractors of Arkansas awarded American Fire Protection Group of Little Rock the Excellence in Construction Eagle Award for the implementation of an innovative and premier Life Safety system.
The Eagle Award recognizes outstanding work on construction projects. A winning project is evaluated on the material submitted, the attractiveness of design, complexity, workmanship, innovation, unusual challenges and the problems that were overcome.
Fire hydrants, wet and dry sprinkler systems installed
Total of 673 sprinklers were installed to protect the entire facility, including institutional sprinkler heads in inmate areas
The Life Safety work on the 64,000 square foot facility took 18 months to complete and totaled US$ 320,000. The project included the installation of 1,140 linear feet of underground piping, 3 fire hydrants, an enclosed backflow preventer, 2 wet sprinkler systems, 1 dry sprinkler system, and 2 remote fire department connections.
A total of 673 sprinklers were installed to protect the entire facility, including institutional sprinkler heads in inmate areas. The duration of the project and scope of work presented several challenges. These challenges were answered with detailed scheduling, trade coordination, and effective internal and external communication between all parties. These efforts aided in ensuring that there were minimal scheduling issues.
Project collaboration with Smith-Doyle Contractors
In addition to the aesthetic and safety, the other goal of the project was to work with companies that could come in under budget and finish ahead of schedule. American Fire Protection Group came through big on both, coming in 2 months ahead of schedule and US$ 3 million under the project’s budget.
American Fire Protection Group worked with Smith-Doyle Contractors who are located in Cordova, Tennessee. Don Abernathy, Vice President of Smith-Doyle Contractors said, “It was a pleasure working with American Fire Protection Group on their multi-prime project. Working together to deliver the project to Crawford County 60 days early and over US$ 3 million under budget took a team of dedicated professionals.”
Don adds, “We applaud their efforts in staying dedicated to the project and to the team. We look forward to working with American Fire Protection Group on many additional projects in the future.”
Institutional ceilings installed
Another issue that was overcome came from the special ceiling requirements
Another issue that was overcome came from the special ceiling requirements. Being a detention center, institutional ceilings were required in all areas where detainees could have access to the ceiling.
Once installed, the institutional ceilings are locked in place. So early scheduling and collaborating with the ceiling contractors was completed to plan out the flow of trim out. The epoxy floors were another area where limitations were placed on installation and trim-out. All parties worked to establish a schedule that helped to alleviate confusion and to ensure safety and protection.
Setting the standard for Southeast detention centers
Additionally, the Crawford County Justice Center was featured in the January/February issue of Correctional News Magazine. The article was titled ‘Success in the Southeast’ and praised the new facility as setting the new standard for detention centers in the Southeast United States.
American Fire Projection Group, along with all Eagle winners will be recognized at the EIC Banquet on April 7, 2018 in Hot Springs, Arizona. The ceremony will feature a multi-media presentation highlighting the Eagle award winners, printed programs, publications and releases through the regional construction-related news media.