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PLEASED, BUT NOT SATISFIED
The Kiewit Innovation Newsletter
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(2002) First National Tower
In the mid-1990s, First National Bank approached Kiewit with the idea of consolidating its downtown Omaha office space. Kiewit Construction Company, which served as construction manager and general contractor, and Leo A. Daly, one of the nation's leading architectural firms, rose to the challenge and embraced the design-assist project with enthusiasm.
An innovative hydraulic "climbing system" developed by PERI was used to form the building's shear core - the wide concrete shaft that serves as the structure's backbone. Used on some of the world's tallest buildings constructed at that time, the automatic system "climbed" the entire face of the wall formwork uniformly in nearly 30 minutes using hydraulic cylinders. Nearly 330 cubic yards of concrete were placed into wall forms at a time. After the concrete was set, the forms were lifted hydraulically to the next level.
"The central core crew works on each level in six-day cycles," Terry Elder, Kiewit general carpenter foreman, said at the time. "Five days are spent working on each form, which is poured on the sixth day. The concrete placement takes approximately 4.5 hours to place each lift."
Lightweight concrete was used for the floor slabs on metal deck to minimize the floor dead loads and support the design live loads for offices and high-density storage areas. This allowed the team to build a two-hour fire rated floor using a 5.25-inch slab without the need to spray fireproofing on the metal deck, resulting in considerable savings. Reinforcing steel was only used on floor slabs placed at the perimeter of the building, over girders, and at deck direction changes, with the remainder containing only synthetic fibers, helping to save time and further reduce cost.
Partnering was an important component of the project's success, with the project team developing a two-step process using formal charters. The first outlined the project's primary goals and involved primary stakeholders. The second was created after all major stakeholders and subcontractors had been established. Goals included:
- Ensuring a dynamic, meaningful, and accurate schedule
- Maintaining communication
- Committing the pride, skill, knowledge, and resources a world-class project demanded
- Committing to teamwork with respect and understanding of each company's role
- A total commitment to safety and good housekeeping
Input was solicited from all levels and project team members were encouraged to actively communicate to resolve issues. John E. Lehning, Vice President of First National Bank and Director of Construction and Leasing would keep several $50 bills in his wallet and present them to craftspeople whenever he saw special attention being paid to safe working practices. He said at the time "There are people who are actually doing the work that bring safety and constructability ideas to the table. They're expected to. Ground rules have been established to ensure all lines of communication remain open. It's truly teamwork."
Logging nearly 1.7 million hours, the Kiewit project team worked an unprecedented 1,300 days without a recordable injury and received OSHA's Voluntary Protection Program "Star" status. It was the first project in OSHA Region VII (Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, and Missouri) to reach their highest level of achievement.
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Do you enjoy the monthly innovation history article? If so, you're going to love the Innovation History timeline. You'll find every history article we've ever published organized by decade in our new "digital-first" format. That means less text and more pictures and videos whenever possible.
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Predictive Estimating Tool
With Kiewit expected to bid over $65 billion in work in 2022, Kiewit Data Services developed a Predictive Estimating tool that produces estimate rate predictions using historical job cost data. It uses 10 years of project data to provide estimators a quality check of account codes and quantities they can use to analyze risk and make adjustments to bids.
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Multi-Plate Bridge

Kiewit Infrastructure West worked with CONTECH Engineered Solutions and the State of Alaska to design and certify a new type of Multi-Plate bridge for the Kake Access Road project on the remote island of Kupreanof in southeastern Alaska. The modular sections are easier to transport, safer to assemble, and helped the team beat their assembly estimate by 154 manhours.
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Dozer Production Reporting
When performing mine reclamation work, the Buckskin mine (located in Gillette, Wyoming) needed to develop a detailed production report to help them monitor, evaluate, and optimize dozer productivity. The project team came up with an innovative way to gather data in real time and used Power Query to run calculations and create productivity visualizations.
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Drone Visual Quality Inspections
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Craft Voice in Safety (CVIS)
Since its beginning in 2012, Kiewit's Craft Voice in Safety (CVIS) program has put more responsibility and ownership for job site safety into the hands of the craft themselves. Earlier this year, CVIS members from across the organization gathered in Denver to review best practices and discuss ways to improve and standardize the program, resulting in the rollout of three new tools.
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Gerald Desmond Bridge Demolition
Kiewit Bridge and Marine partnered with the Southern California district on the Gerald Desmond Bridge demolition project located in the Port of Long Beach to lower the main span onto a barge for transport to a yard where it will be recycled.
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ADSC Magazine Features Kiewit Foundations C70 Effort
Kiewit Foundations' work on the C70 project was featured in the International Association of Foundation Drilling's May/June magazine. The article explains how the team played a critical role in reaching project milestones, despite unique geotechnical challenges.
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Electrical and I&C Solar Toolbox
The Solar Group and the Electrical and I&C Process Improvement team has completed the groundwork of standardizing multiple solar deliverables, creating over 50 market-specific tools for Solar projects.
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US Launches Mental Health Crisis Number (988)
The United States launched a new three digit phone number (988) designated for all mental health crisis calls. The line will route callers to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, increasing accessibility to people in need of support and connecting them to trained counselors.
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Automated Cone Laying Machine
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Cement-free Pre-cast Piles
Aarsleff Ground Engineering in the UK has carried out the world’s first trials driving cement-free ultra low carbon precast piles, which both reduce embodied carbon and are more resistant to chemical attack, allowing them to more easily meet aggressive sulphate ground condition requirements.
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Dish Soap Aids Utah's Million-Pound Bridge Slide
Wadsworth Brothers Construction slid a 1.1-million-pound bridge into place using a hydraulic system and some dish soap. The accelerated bridge construction enabled the Utah Department of Transportation to reduce traffic delays by using the bridge for temporary traffic and then shifting it into its permanent location.
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Swarms of Robots 3D Printing Tunnels
Engineers are demonstrating how swarms of hyperBot robots can transport cartridges of construction chemicals through HDD (horizontal directional drilling) bore pipes to 3D-print a tunnel in the ground. This scalable and modular approach could make tunnel building, repair, enlargement, and monitoring, faster, cheaper, safer, more environment-friendly, and less risky.
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Omnid Mocobots
Researchers at Northwestern University's Center for Robotics and Biosystems have recently developed new collaborative mobile robots, dubbed Omnid Mocobots. These robots are designed to cooperate with each other and with humans to safely pick up, handle, and transport delicate and flexible payloads.
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Scanning Terrain without Human Intervention
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Want more? Click here to browse other interesting articles and videos about new technology trends from the last 30 days.
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