GCM Contracting Solutions Earns Tilt-Up Achievement Award for Gulf Star Marina

GCM Contracting Solutions has been named Tilt-Up Achievement Award winner by the Tilt-Up Concrete Association on a recent project, Gulf Star Marina, located on Fort Myers Beach in Florida. For 30 years, this award has highlighted innovation, versatility and beauty in concrete tilt-wall design and construction on an international scale.

In August 2020, GCM Contracting Solutions completed work on Gulf Star Marina, the world’s first fully automated marina. Since breaking ground, GCM overcame several obstacles on this build, including pouring and erecting concrete tilt-wall panels within the compact footprint of the facility and installing an automated storage system that is the first of its kind.

Gulf Star Marina is located right under the Matanzas Pass Bridge, next door to seafood restaurant Doc Ford’s and a short drive away from the array of restaurants, shops and hotels that line Fort Myers Beach. This facility can store approximately 155 boats up to 40 feet in length. This increase in rentable cubic space was achieved through the elimination of the forklift drive aisle, which allows the flexibility to store multiple vessels deep in the same bay and the capability to store even the heaviest vessels on the upper racks. Patrons of Gulf Star Marina enjoy quick boat delivery times made possible by the automated storage system and easy access to the Gulf of Mexico from Gulf Star’s launching point.

Concrete tilt-wall construction was chosen for this project, due to the wide range of benefits offered, including a four-hour fire rating, 200+ miles per hour wind rating and built-in heat and sound insulation. These added safety features can help bring down insurance premiums up to 15% and, in some cases, help satisfy municipality-mandated construction guidelines and restrictions.

Each of the 64 concrete tilt-wall panels that make up the exterior of this facility were poured and erected within the site footprint of 28,800 square feet. The panels stand 76 feet tall, with the heaviest panel weighing in at 250,000 pounds. “The execution of this build required an incredible amount of coordination between our project managers, subcontractors and our client,” said Jim Frederick, project manager for Gulf Star Marina, “Pouring and lifting those panels in such a compact space left no room for error, but I had the utmost confidence in my team, and I couldn’t be happier with how the finished product turned out.”