FINAL THESIS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
DOLPHIN MALL EXPANSION PROJECT HISTORY
The Dolphin Mall Expansion project is located at the intersection of the Dolphin Expressway and the Florida Turnpike in Miami Florida. The Dolphin Mall Expansion includes the demolition and preparation for a new Bass Pro Shop anchor store. Total construction costs for the mall building, boat storage and Bass Pro Certified Pad were $6,400,000.
VALUE ENGINEERING ANALYSIS
The permitting phase of the Dolphin Mall Expansion project restricted a great deal of construction. The general contractor needs to sit down with Miami-Dade’s Building and Fire Departments, while also bringing on a team member with experience in the area from a local office in the future. A local architect would be valuable in the consultation of the drawing submission process. A permit expediter is essential to the permitting phase of the project. An experienced, schedule driven expediter will improve the buildings success rate every time. WASD needs to be consulted immediately to prevent permit lags later in the project.
The general contractor needs to mobilize quickly and without phases to create a smooth transition into construction. A focus on the selective demolition will allow major parts of the building to be removed to ensure a better flow of construction activities later in the schedule. A Structural Cage will be required to allow egress through the center of Entry #1. Without wings of egress, construction will suffer fewer stops/pauses in the flow of activities.
A commissioning agent will be a great improvement on the integration and installation of a mechanical system. System re-designs could potentially be downsized, or better planned for, based on the Commissioner’s experience.
FIRE PROTECTION ISSUES
Sprinkler design, installation and operation are guided by NFPA 13. Properly designed and installed sprinkler systems are part of the fundamental fire protection envelope that is key to today’s modern building design and construction.
An Ordinary Hazard Level 2, unobstructed rectangular area of 26’x45’ will require 176gpm at 49psi to allow people to safely exit the building in the event of an emergency.
                Sprinkler mainlines will not need to be relocated because of the Structural Cage, and an overall cost savings for sprinkler construction of the temporary egress work is roughly $30,000 dollars. The length of construction time will be decreased significantly.
STRUCTURAL CAGE ANALYSIS
The proposed Structural Cage design would lead egress through Entry #1 and not North and South of Entry #1 as previously done. Because the egress will go directly through Entry #1, it is my opinion as the Engineer of Record for the design that an impact cage is necessary.
Usage of the Structural Cage will improve activities such as the hurricane wall, the temporary egress corridor construction, sprinkler relocations, selective demolition, shell demolition, footing excavation and installation, masonry block wall construction and permanent corridor construction.
The cost of the structural cage is roughly $44,000 plus the cost of the temporary corridor running through it worth approximately $200,000. The total of $244,000 is significantly less then original cost of $750,000 for work that will stand for a matter of weeks before demolished.
CONSTRUCTIBILITY REVIEW
The new sequence of construction based on the use of the Structural Cage in place of the two temporary egress corridors will allow for mall reconfiguration earlier then previously scheduled. The problematic Column Line “A” will no longer inhibit the demolition or construction plans.
                The structural cage will be located partially in Entry #1 and proceed through the 30’x16’ opening into what will ultimately become Bass Pro Shop. Once panels are removed, Entry #1 will be demolished over the Structural Cage, and the masonry wall construction from both zones can be joined and finished. The schedule and ease of construction is improved significantly. With demolition complete, masonry wall excavation, footings and block-laying will be accomplished starting in the South zone and proceeding into the North zone. The permanent corridors will be placed upon masonry wall completion.
SCHEDULE REDUCTION
The schedule can be significantly reduced in multiple categories. The use of the Structural Cage and improved permit planning will allow for reductions in permitting, site-work, demolition and construction.
The permitting schedule reduction is 22 days starting with the original 222 day duration and decreasing it to a 200 day duration. The site-work schedule reduction is 23 days starting with the original 139 day duration and decreasing it to a 116 day duration. The Bass Pro Boat Storage schedule reduction is 14 days starting with the original 113 day duration and decreasing it to a 99 day duration. The demolition schedule reduction is 15 days starting with the original 50 day duration and decreasing it to a 35 day duration. The mall reconfiguration schedule reduction is 46 days starting with the original 137 day duration and decreasing it to a 91 day duration. Finally the info desk relocation schedule reduction is 52 days starting with the original 72 day duration and decreasing it to a 20 day duration.
COMMISSIONING RESEARCH

The Dolphin Mall Expansion did not utilize commissioning. The Mall contracted Skanska U.S.A. Building Inc. to prepare the mall for the addition of a Bass Pro Shop. The system integration between mall and expansion will be limited. The Mall should however have a member of their Operations and Management team familiar with all the systems installation and upgrades. While it may not be cost effective to commission limited systems, that is a decision best made after an estimate has been given by the CxA. The Mechanical Engineer on the project was constantly flying down to Miami during construction to verify that only the parts of the system that were supposed to be demolished were demolished. System performance for the Mall, as a whole, should be monitored by the Commissioning Agent. It would have been best if the Anchor store tenant was given direction to utilize their commissioning agent on the corridor MEP to guarantee the tenant space matches the Mall’s system. Fit-outs/renovations are often over looked with respect to commissioning agents and the mall would have benefited from commissioning consultation, even if it was a limited, low cost system design review. The value added by getting a CxA’s opinion during the preliminary stages can no longer be overlooked in mechanical design. Taubman Centers delivers billions of dollars in malls throughout the United States, there are few corporations around that could benefit more from a commissioning division and or Cx team utilization during construction every year.  

ORIGINAL SCHEDULE

ACTUAL SCHEDULE

THESIS MODIFIED SCHEDULE