SEATTLE, Wash.  – October 4, 2019 – DCI Engineers, Prologis, Sierra Construction, and NELSON were recognized for their tilt-up concrete work on the three-story industrial warehouse project, Georgetown Crossroads. Washington Aggregates and Concrete Association (WACA) honored the project team as the winner of the “Low Rise 1-3 Stories Tilt Up” category. DCI Principal Danielle Jacobs oversaw the primary structural design for this first multi-level commercial warehouse in a dense metropolitan area within the United States. The Georgetown Crossroads’ layout offers more than double the capacity of what would have been possible for a one-story distribution center.

The warehouse stands at about the height of a nine-story building and includes two levels of 130 feet semi-truck loading courts. Level 1 can receive delivery trucks from both sides of the building (42 dock doors on the east side of the building and 24 dock doors on the west side); Level 2 includes two ramps designed for additional full-size trailer access for fulfillment activity (37 dock doors on the west side of the building). Level 3 is designed for light manufacturing or production space.

Danielle’s engineering team designed and detailed Georgetown Crossroads’ floor framing, roof framing, column and wall framing, lateral force resisting system, truck court framing and the structural transition to the bridge ramps. The facility’s shell is made with exterior tilt-up concrete panels, which reduced the cost of cladding compared to that of metal framing. To maximize the bays of dock doors, the team used the perimeter tilt panels in lieu of steel braced frames for the lateral force resisting system. The tilt panels could not extend practically to the 85’ tall roof, so they developed an additional seismic load transfer from the braced frames above to the lower level tilt panels.

It took the creativity of the entire project team to turn the developer’s vision of a multi-story urban warehouse into a reality. The building was completed in 2018.

About DCI Engineers

DCI Engineers is a nationally accredited and recognized civil and structural engineering firm. Founded in 1988, DCI Engineers employs more than 312 engineering, technical, and support staff members in offices in Seattle and Spokane, Washington; Portland, Oregon; Irvine, Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Francisco, California; Austin, Texas; Anchorage, Alaska; Denver, Colorado; Missoula, Kalispell, and Bozeman, Montana. Employees of DCI Engineers are respected professionals in their specialties, with grounding in practical design. Many of the firm’s engineers hold advanced degrees and have won numerous design awards. For more information about DCI Engineers call (206) 332.1900.