Mechanical was the mechanical and plumbing contractor for the new recruit navy barracks in the North Chicago suburb of Winnetka. Mechanical worked closely with the construction manager and the designers to construct the project.

Integrating of the plumbing and piping portion of the work with the other trade work was accomplished using CAD coordination drawings. We were able to see the areas of potential conflict on paper before construction in those areas began.

To accelerate the schedule for the plumbing work, we fabricated the plumbing assemblies and delivered them to the site as 40-foot long skids. We were then able to spend much less time on the field installation and allow the other trade contractors to begin their work earlier.

On the heating and cooling portion of the project, we installed two 450-ton chillers along with the associated piping. Working closely with our sheet metal subcontractor, we installed the piping to each area of the 500,000 square-foot building.

Mechanical takes pride in its plumbing and HVAC work for the new $140 Million Winnebago County Judicial Center in Rockford, IL. The four story 600,000 square foot facility consolidated six downtown buildings into one allowing for a more efficient blend of law enforcement and corrections functions. The facility will house the new county jail and all requisite jail administration services, the county sheriff’s office, four courtrooms, and offices for the State’s Attorney, Public Defender, and court service departments. The jail portion of the project contains approximately 980 beds with an additional shelled-space area for future expansion to approximately 1,210 beds. We completed the plumbing and site utilities work for the judicial center including ductile iron site exterior water, RCCP site exterior storm, cast iron site exterior sanitary, PVC sanitary waste and vent interior underground and above ground, and PVC storm interior underground and above ground. We also installed copper and galvanized interior domestic water, fixtures, equipment, specialties, and pipe insulation. Our team did the HVAC work as well including both wet and dry heating and cooling systems, temperature and smoke controls, sheet metal, test and balance, insulation, and chemical treatment. The new HVAC system utilizes both steam and hot water systems along with forced air systems. The concrete reinforced jail structure made floor sleeving and imbed anchoring prior to floor pours critical. As a result, coordination drawings needed to be expedited to stay ahead of floor pours. Also strict local and minority participant requirements created challenges to meet above the average goals. Throughout the course of this project we executed over 74,000 man hours without accident or incident. This proves that the Helm Group’s dedication to safety pays off! The Winnebago County Judicial Center Project received Mechanical’s 2007 Project of the Year Award. Congratulations to the project team of Larry Voss, Darrin Smutzer, Shelia Dornink, Kevin Rakowska, and Brian Bardell for a job well done!

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Mechanical is involved with designing and building all mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and fire protection (MEP/FP) systems for a medical office building attached to the Louis A. Weiss Memorial Hospital in Chicago, IL.

The “shell and core” five story building structure is capable of supporting 130,000 square feet of medical offices and specialized tenants. Included will be a dialysis center, four station surgical center, and a linear accelerator.

The tenant space development will be completed by Mechanical as well. This will include MEP/FP design and installation as well as completion of architectural trade construction services.

Tenant “build out” will begin in the Spring of 2007 with completion by the first quarter of 2008.

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Mechanical was the plumbing contractor on the $36 Million Northern Illinois University Convocation Center. The center is a multi-purpose facility with seating for over 10,000.

Mechanical's scope included underground sanitary piping, above ground sanitary piping, roof drains, drain tile, water piping, and plumbing fixtures.

We used CAD to develop our coordination drawings so that we could interface with the other trade contractors on site. We also met with the construction manager and the other contractors daily to coordinate work. By being on the site early, planning the work, and staying in constant contact with the construction manager, we were able to ensure that the project ran smoothly and that our work was completed ahead of schedule.

We were also able to use our fabrication capabilities to fabricate the plumbing ahead of the time that area of the project was available for us. When the area became available, we were able to install the assemblies and take weeks off of the construction schedule.

Our foreman and project manager were able to offer value engineering alternatives to the project's design to minimize disruption and enhance the project's scope.

Bob Sanguinetti, Project Manager - 847.742.1516
Scott Trotter Trotter & Associates - 630.587.0470

Algonquin, Illinois