February 27, 2009 | Associate / Plant News

MIDLAND, Va. – Officials at Smith-Midland Corporation were recently the recipients of the prestigious Creative Use of Precast (CUP) Award for a building project completed in Virginia Beach, Virginia. This is the fifth consecutive year that Smith-Midland has received a CUP award. They also received the only Honorable Mention in the Above Ground Category for their 3120 Fairview Park Drive (Fairfax, VA) project.

The company’s submission for its Military Combat Facility project replicating an Iraqi village utilizing their Easi-Set Precast Concrete Buildings, garnered third place in the CUP Awards program for the Above Ground category. The CUP Awards Program is an annual competition for NPCA members recognizing projects promoting innovative and cost-saving advantages of precast concrete over competing materials. The award was presented at the Salute to Excellence Award Banquet on Saturday, February 21 in Houston, Texas. The Gala is the closing event for the NPCA Winter Conference.

Officials at Military Combat Facility wanted to construct a replica of an Iraqi village in order to provide a realistic training environment for logistics troops. Smith-Midland produced a total of 35 Easi-Set and Easi-Span buildings of various sizes, all customized and configured to realistically depict what troops would find in a Southwest Asian village.from smaller enclosures to the larger structures they would typically encounter. The buildings were customized with a Broom Finish and a Canyon-Tone Stain so they would appear as similar as possible to the architecture found in Iraq. The ability to customize the finish in a cost-effective manner was a major benefit to the government customer.

Various characteristics of the Easi-Set and Easi-Span buildings used at the Military Combat Facility made them a perfect fit for the project. Easi-Set buildings cost substantially less than equivalent in-place construction. Because of the precast “floating slab” foundation floor slab, no foundations or footings were required beyond level compacted sand or gravel. Because of this, the Military Combat Facility personnel did not have carry out intensive site preparation before the buildings arrived on site. Additionally, there is a substantial time savings because buildings can be installed the same day they are delivered. The buildings meet the UL-752 bullet-resistance standard and are rated for wind loads of 130 mph, both of which are important considerations for live-fire training in a hurricane-prone area. The patented post-tensioned building system provides even greater weather-tightness and impact resistance the precast roof and floors.

Ultimately, the ability to make the environment as realistic as possible helps troops to train the way they will fight; such training saves lives, because it draws on lessons learned in combat.Various aspects of Smith-Midland’s precast concrete buildings, the centerpiece of the village, enhanced this realism, while helping the Army deliver the training on time and on budget.

The entire project was completed in the summer of 2008 at a grand total of more than $500,000.

Smith-Midland Corporation is a publicly traded company (OTC BB: SMID, SMIWC; Boston Stock Exchange: SMM, SMM/W). Smith-Midland develops, manufactures and sells a broad array of precast concrete products for use primarily in the construction, transportation and utilities industries. Smith-Midland has manufacturing facilities located in Midland, Va. and Reidsville, N.C. Easi-Set Industries, a wholly owned subsidiary of Smith-Midland Corporation, licenses the production of Smith-Midland developed products around the world. For more information please call (540) 439-3266 or visit www.smithmidland.com or www.smcprecastbuildings.com.

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