INDUSTRIAL: Meeting the Needs of Many

The Oregon State Police. An OSHA lab. Storage facilities. Research labs to study invasive plants and invertebrates. Government offices. The new North Valley Complex in Wilsonville, Oregon, will improve interagency cooperation by moving these state organizations into a single shared building. Apollo Mechanical Contractors is bringing the vision to life by renovating and updating an existing facility into a modern campus that accommodates very different agencies’ needs. 

Each section has distinct requirements. “There’s a large Phoenix valve controls and system for the OSHA testing and compressed air to serve all the labs,” says Anthony Harnish, project manager for Apollo. The invasive plant labs need humidity control, “so some of our air handlers include humidification.” 

When researchers study an invasive species, it’s not enough to keep the species alive for study. Lab security is crucial to prevent accidentally spreading the problem species back into the environment. Apollo is implementing the highest safety standards in the NVC labs to keep unwanted plants, insects and invertebrates where they belong. “The whole entomology lab section is negative pressure and very tight,” Harnish says. “All penetrations are double sealed. Even the control panels in there have extra sealant.” 

The team saved 3,500 feet of duct from the original HVAC system as part of the renovation. “There were good portions on this job where we had to remove the existing large duct, clean it and then reinstall it,” Harnish says. They could also modify existing AHU-1 and 2 by removing the Dx compressors and coils and replacing them with heating and chilled water coils. They removed the exterior panels of the AHUs to slide the new coils in place. “Our guys took out the old coils, put in new coils, redid the exterior of the unit to patch it back up and then reinstalled the ductwork in the old tenant areas.”

Apollo is also installing 190,000 pounds of new galvanized and stainless steel for this project. “We fabricate all our duct at our Kennewick, Washington, and Tigard, Oregon shops, depending on what we’re doing,” Harnish says. Kennewick is about an hour away from the project site in the Portland metro area, but the distance doesn’t slow the work down. “Our process is pretty seamless. I wouldn’t be surprised if we had at least three trucks coming into Portland a week.” Other applications require fiberglass, which Apollo purchased from a vendor. 

This was a plan-spec job, but Apollo was on the pre-construction team. “The general contractor worked with us to get the bid before final design,” Harnish says. “We worked with the design team and engineers after we were awarded the project on the pre-construction side. Apollo likes to get involved early, to be a partner for the general contractor. We are someone they can rely on to aid in the design-assist and to be an asset for all parties, the design team, the general contractor and the owner, too.” 

Apollo Mechanical installs 190,000 pounds of new galvanized and stainless steel at the North Valley Complex in Wilsonville Oregon, in addition to updating the HVAC. 

The project was awarded in February 2022, and the substantial completion date is August 16, 2023. “Some units were supposed to be here in January but were pushed out until July,” Harnish says. Rather than delay the project, the general contractor proposed they proceed without the missing units, then install them through the roof when they arrive. “This job has liquidated damages, so not being done on time has a potential cost for everyone involved,” says Harnish. “We looked at the best way to limit the impact. Next week we’re opening up the roof, dropping the late units in and then rolling them on the mezzanine to the final location.” 

Space on the mezzanine is tight. “We’ve had very complicated installs for some of our units, especially with our air handlers being delayed,” says Harnish. “We have five indoor units, four of which sit on the mezzanine, that we’re bringing in with a rigging crew and very large forklifts. We have about 3 inches of clearance between the structure and the final resting space. We’re bringing in a scaffold and then sliding them over into place.” 

The project will bring Apollo about 7,600 shop hours and about 20,000 field hours.