The Greensboro Processing and Distribution Center is located on the west edge of Greensboro, North Carolina, at the intersection of US Highway 421 and Pleasant Ridge Road. The site was designed based on local jurisdictional requirements for drainage and roadways. The project included the design of employee parking areas for over 400 vehicles, truck dock and maneuvering areas for 75 docks and parking areas to stage trucks and trailers. Approximately 50 acres of the site were disturbed by site improvements. Local drainage and water quality requirements dictated the design of two wet detention ponds to clean runoff prior to discharge into adjacent streams. State erosion control requirements were used to design temporary erosion control plans for the site to obtain state permits. The facility utilized a variety of framing in its structural system. The main workroom was composed of 7-1/4" cast-in-place load bearing tilt wall panels supported on concrete continuous footings. Other areas, such as the control room and the exterior docks on the north and east faces, also utilized load-bearing tilt panels. The floor is a cast-in-place concrete slab on grade designed for required forklift traffic in the work areas and reinforced with fibermesh. The east exterior concrete panel wall was designed as non-load bearing to accommodate future removal for expansion. Footings can accommodate future loading from an expansion bay to the east.

Greensboro Statistics:

• 450,000 SF
• 90-acre site
• 400 lineal feet of sanitary sewer extension
• Design-Build
• 400 parking stalls
• 75 docks and parking areas

The $18 million project was a design-build venture teaming Schemmer with a nationally recognized contractor, The Korte Company. Schemmer was responsible for the architecture, civil and structural engineering and landscape design for the project. A full set of construction drawings and specifications was developed for review and approval by the U.S. Postal Service and for use during construction.

Boise Statistics:

• 250,000 SF
• 30-acre site
• Design-Build

Schemmer completed final design of this PDC in a Sioux Falls industrial park. The site access is limited, and the site design included a regional detention pond. Site design for the project was fairly complicated in that unsuitable soils were present in a high groundwater condition, a portion of the site was in a flood zone, height restrictions applied because of the proximity to the municipal airport, and a regional stormwater detention facility needed to be accommodated at the site. Schemmer engineers were able to establish a "partnering" arrangement between the City and the USPS so that development of the regional detention pond and the USPS goals could all be met to the benefit of both parties. The structure is a precast, insulated bearing wall system with a steel bar joist roof system and EPDM roofing system. The dock height floor system is a structural concrete system on grade with spread footings. The project also included 263 employee/customer parking spaces and 300-linear-feet of dock spaces with south-facing dock doors. The south side of the building is entirely comprised of loading docks for loading and unloading of mail. The facility houses mail processing equipment, processing and distribution staff, some district staff, maintenance staff, container repair, a Bulk Mail Entry Unit (BMEU) and a Computerized Forwarding System (CFS) unit.

Sioux Falls Statistics:

• 174,200 SF
• 16.9-acre site
• 7,400 SF of office space
• 5,500 SF lockbox lobby
• 65,300 SF support space
• 87,800 SF workroom
• 15,000 SF platform

• Architectural Design
• Facility Assessment
• Landscape Architecture
• Site Engineering
• Structural Engineering
• Water Resources Engineering