Founded in 1960, Berkeley Preparatory School is a private
school consisting of 1,250 students, from Pre-K through
12th grade. It is located on 80 acres in a Tampa suburb with
80% of its students participating in an athletics program.
In order for Berkeley to become the world-class school it
aspires to be, it was determined that a $50 million capital
campaign project should be initiated. Multiple phases
of the project include: the addition of a 53,000 square
foot sports complex, a quad with clock tower, an early
childhood center, a 75,000 square foot arts and sciences
building, a chapel, a baseball stadium and a softball
stadium.
“This is a really exciting time to be part of the Berkeley community,” says Heather Mackin, Director
of Communications at Berkeley Preparatory School. “Our campus facilities haven’t significantly
changed since 1979, but our student enrollment has doubled in size. World-class facilities such as
these will help Berkeley deliver the finest possible education to our students.”
The first phase of this expansion project included the addition of 3,000 feet of roadways and
required both pedestrian and vehicular bridge crossings over the Sweetwater Creek system.
Construction of a new entrance off Bray Road utilized a 35-ft. x 70-ft. vehicular truss structure and
provided vehicle access. Pedestrians gained access to a playground from the main campus thanks to
the installation of a 12-ft. x 51-ft. Continental® Capstone®-style truss over a tributary of Sweetwater
Creek.
The bridges spanned the creek and resulted in minimal disruption of the side slopes. The bridges
were installed during the dry season to further ensure there were no water quality issues during
construction.
The vehicular structure was installed in about 3-5 days
while the pedestrian structure took only a half day.
In addition to the truss structures, the project also called
for approximately 6,000 feet of A-2000™ PVC pipe to be
used for drainage purposes. A-2000’s superior strength,
joint tightness and overall quality have made it a standard
in the industry. In this instance, it was chosen for its speed
of installation, easy handling and reliability.
“The two bridges that Contech supplied went seamlessly
from shop drawings being completed, to preconstruction
and all the way through to delivery and installation,” said
David Reno, Project Manager with Berkeley Preparatory
School. “The two bridges and the A-2000 pipe are
performing as intended.”
The school and the civil engineer, Fuxan Engineering,
evaluated several alternatives including conventional
concrete bridge and box culverts. The Contech steel
bridges were chosen after considering the ease of
construction, costs and hydraulics.
The first of three phases of the Berkeley Preparatory School Expansion project is expected to be
completed by Summer 2012.