Potawot "tilt-up" construction

[edit] Introduction

Potawot is a local Indian health village located off of Highway 101 in Arcata, California, that was created in order to help the community. Potawot was built on a land parcel that is 40 acres but they were required to only use 20 acres of it due to the agricultural zoning laws implimented. Potawot's main purpose is for local people to go and learn about the local tribes and environment that was here before our time. So once recieving the go ahead on the project the work on the main Redwood Planked house begun through a process called tilt-up building.

[edit] Construction Process

The construction of the main building at Potawot was a long process that involved strict building regulations and also was a building process of a fairly new style. The First stages in the construction process at Potawot were to first to make sure that all the requirements were met for the agricultural zoning laws, which explains that for at least half of the desired land being built on, that it is left untouched by any construction. This Stage of the construction was worked on for two years with the city of Arcata before it was finally decided that the project was acceptable to conservation easement and they could break ground at the construction site. When constructing the main building at Potawot the engineers had decided to use a fairly newer process called “tilt-up construction” which is the process where the walls are made on site of concrete and then lifted and set into place such as shown in figure 1 where they are lifting the walls into place. Once the walls were in place and set, they then placed recycled redwood planks over the walls to give it the plank house look that local Native Americans used see figure 2.

[edit] Advantages and Disadvantages to Tilt-up Construction

The process of tilt-up construction today is becoming more and more popular by the minute. This type of construction is normally used for the construction of walls in grocery stores and big office buildings usually in rural areas. But as with the rise in cost of energy and everyone trying new methods of construction to save energy this one seems to keep finding its way into many people’s designs. This type of construction contains its advantages and disadvantages like all methods do here are a few of them:

[edit] Advantages

• Withstand the elements
• Minimal down time for subcontractors
• Easy assembly on site
• Energy efficient

[edit] Disadvantages

• Weather decides the building of the walls
• Location of the spot (permits and regulations)
• Cost(Use of a crane to raise the walls)

[edit] References

• http://www.concretedecor.net/images/Feature_Photos/CD603/Project/Potawot01.jpg
• http://www.humboldt1.com/~water/main_pages/PHVP.html
• http://www.tiltwall.com/graphics/tiltup03.jpg
• http://www.tilt-up.org