Alaqua Animal Refuge, a institutional building engineered by O'Connell and Associates, Freeport, Florida.

Structural Engineering · Freeport

Alaqua Animal Refuge

Freeport, FL

The work

Structural design for three new buildings at an animal refuge campus in Freeport, covering foundations, floor and roof framing plans, structural details, and the sealed working drawings and specifications issued for permit.

The project consisted of the design of structural foundations, floor and roof plans, and the development of a compilation of structural details necessary to provide final working drawings, documents and specifications for three new commercial buildings located in Freeport, Florida with a total area measuring approximately 12,000 sq. ft. The structures consisted of a conventional concrete stem wall and slab foundation, timber framed walls and custom heavy timber roof truss system.

Location: Freeport, FL
Market: Institutional and Civic
Disciplines: Structural Engineering

Scope performed

Each line below is a discipline our staff carried on this project. The description explains what that work involves and what the owner receives at the end of it.

Land Development and Site Design

Turning a parcel into a buildable site. Grading, layout, utility routing, and a drawing set a reviewer can approve.

Site and grading plans
Utility layout
Construction details
Quantity basis for bidding

Foundation Design

The system that carries the building into the soil, coordinated with the geotechnical report and the coastal conditions on site.

Foundation plans and details
Bearing and pile coordination
Geotechnical review

Roofing and Waterproofing Systems

Design of the assemblies that keep water out: roofing, coatings, sealants, flashings, and the transitions between them.

System selection
Detailing at terminations and transitions
Specifications for bidding

New Building Structural Design

The gravity and lateral system for a new building, designed to the current Florida Building Code and the wind exposure the site sits in.

Structural drawings
Load calculations
Signed and sealed documents for permit

How an engagement like this runs

Work in Freeport follows the same sequence at any size. Owners see the same four stages.

01
Scoping call
We ask what prompted the call, what documents already exist, and what deadline is driving the schedule. If the work does not need an engineer, we say so.
02
Field work and review
A licensed engineer or a staff member working under one goes to the site, documents conditions, and reviews the drawings and reports already on file.
03
Signed and sealed deliverable
Findings, drawings, and specifications go out under seal, written so a board can read them and a contractor can bid from them.
04
Contract Administration
During construction we review submittals, answer requests for information, perform Construction Observations, and review pay applications against work in place.

Questions about a similar building? Call the office nearest the site or send the address and the scope, and the discipline lead who owns that work will answer. Compare the Structural Engineering scopes we carry.