Northpark Expansion

Project Owner: Deere-Hitachi

Designer: Walter, Robbs, Callahan & Pierce

Deere-Hitachi’s Kernersville plant houses the cold-end final assembly of all excavators manufactured by John Deere and Hitachi in North America. When Deere-Hitachi was ready to undertake a large expansion of the plant—on an extremely fast-paced schedule—it turned to Blum Construction to lead the design and construction.

With a timetable of less than one year from start of design to completion, work had to begin during the winter, requiring thorough preplanning to reduce any time lost from freezing temperatures and wet weather. By installing the stone base under the building slab prior to the excavation for foundations, Blum ensured that work could continue despite the weather.

Building Information Modeling (BIM) technology was used to locate and map existing sub-surface utilities so that the relocation of the lines could be coordinated with utility companies while work continued. The expansion, which increased production capacity at the plant by 40 percent, was completed successfully and on schedule.