Steelwork smooth at Westinghouse
CRANBERRY TWP — Westinghouse Electric's headquarters construction project hit a milestone Thursday afternoon with the last piece of structural steel hoisted by crane into place for the first of three buildings that will make up the new campus.
Bob Hennessey, project executive for Turner Construction of Pittsburgh, said the "topping off" ceremony is a way to mark the end of a major phase of construction on the 434,000-square-foot first building that will include the executive offices in the Cranberry Woods office park off Route 228.
Turner Construction is one of the major contractors working on the largest construction project in Western Pennsylvania. The headquarters will be nearly 1 million total square feet when completed.
The "topping off" or sometimes called "topping out" ceremony is an ironworker's ritual that sometimes, according to Hennessey, involves placing an evergreen tree as a way of giving thanks for the safety of the workers.
The last steel beam for the first building, painted white and signed by many of the construction workers, was put in place with both the American and Turner Construction flags.
Hennessey said a similar "topping off" ceremony will be held to mark the finish of the steel work on the final two buildings. That work is scheduled to begin in October and be completed by January.
About 3,300 tons and more than 6,000 pieces of steel were used in the first building with another 3,300 tons to be erected for the remaining buildings, according to Hennessey.
Construction on the first building now moves to finishing the exterior and interior.
The $200 million facility will be home to more than 3,000 employees.
The company plans to have 4,400 employees in Western Pennsylvania.
Westinghouse has hired more than 3,500 new employees in the past five years and expects to hire 1,300 this year and 500 to 1,000 per year in the future.
"The new Westinghouse campus in Cranberry Woods is one of Western Pennsylvania's biggest construction projects," said township supervisors' chairman Dick Hadley.
"At every step of the way, it has advanced on a tight timetable in close coordination with Cranberry's community development staff. The project's success reflects the township's ability to be business-friendly and, at the same time, maintain strong land use and building regulations designed to implement Cranberry's long-range vision for its future."
There are currently about 180 construction workers on site, with that number expected to grow to more than 300 in the upcoming months.
Russell Bussard, Westinghouse manager for facilities and real estate, said the project is still on the original schedule with the occupancy of the first building scheduled for June. The two other buildings, which will be connected to the first main building, will open in June 2010.
"Price escalations have hit us (for materials), but it's hit everyone. It's something you have to deal with," Bussard said.
