The Benefits of Value Engineering
The value engineering of a modular building – including the layout itself – provides for a systematic way of looking at a project in order to substitute materials and methods with lower cost alternatives that don’t sacrifice the function or quality of the facility. Since our inception, Ramtech has continually practiced the concept of value engineering in order to meet both our customers expectations while also meeting their budgets. With a resume of over 4,500 successfully completed projects, we have the experience and know-how to build exceptional value into every relocatable modular building and permanent modular construction project we do. To achieve it, it’s critical that the value engineering process takes place early in the design phase through proper programming with the client. Click the image below to an article in Construction Dive and explore how value engineering works in practice, and the role it can play in making modular construction a better choice for commercial building projects. 
- Published in Modular Building, Modular Construction, Permanent Construction
Ramtech Completes Permanent Modular Building for Cottonwood Shores Police Department
Cottonwood Shores (TX) Police Headquarters Built Using Permanent Modular Construction
Ramtech recently completed the installation of a permanent modular building for use as a police department headquarters for the City of Cottonwood Shores, TX. The 2,184 square foot facility provides additional space and room for growth for the city’s current five-officer police department. The building replaced an aging 720 square foot facility that was declared too structurally unsound to be repaired or added on to.
The new modular building provides two private offices for the chief of police and the second in command of the police department. Also included is a large open office area for the patrol officers, one intake and two interrogation rooms, a large evidence storage room, and a break room area. The modular building was constructed using our pier and beam permanent modular construction approach, with the modular sections installed on a stem wall foundation system that was provided by the city. A combination of 26 gauge R-panel siding and stone veneer were installed on the exterior parapet wall which included a concealed roof line with additional height at the main entry to enhance the architectural appearance. The interior was finished with cost-effective vinyl covered gypsum on the walls and vinyl composition tile flooring throughout the facility.
The city of Cottonwood Shores is located 50 miles west of Austin. Occupying two square miles on the south bank of the Colorado River in southwestern Burnet County, the community has seen consistent growth and now has approximately 1,200 residents. Ramtech was able to complete the installation and finish-out of the permanent modular building in just over five weeks.
- Published in Ramtech News
Ways COVID-19 Will Change Architecture Including the Use of More Modular Construction
A modular section being lifted into place during the construction of Huoshenshan Hospital. Image via CNN
For years natural and man-made disasters have resulted in the widespread use of relocatable modular buildings to meet short and extended use replacement facility needs. This allows schools, government agencies, healthcare providers and commercial businesses to open and get back to operating quickly without significant delays. A case in point was an entire middle and high school campus that Ramtech built for West ISD after the massive fertilizer plant explosion destroyed two of the district’s schools in April of 2013.
Now, with the current COVID-19 pandemic, modular construction has once again been brought to the forefront, with high profile projects that have helped to provide urgent care medical facilities in China and other hot spots around the globe. However the impact that modular construction has made may be changing attitudes well after the crises eases, as this article from our friends at Architizer.com point out in the ‘8 Ways COVID-19 Will Change Architecture’. It includes a strong argument for an increase in the use of modular construction.
Read about eight of these new approaches including, modular construction, that may have long lasting impacts on the way cities are designed following the COVID-19 outbreak here.
- Published in Modular Building, Modular Construction
Moving to the Next Construction Phase on the Permanent Modular Office Building for Los Alamos National Laboratory
Rendering of Slab on Grade Permanent Modular Building for Los Alamos National Laboratory
Ramtech has completed all of the soil preparation requirements and will now begin development of the concrete foundation for the 22,680 square foot permanent modular office building we’re constructing for Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in Los Alamos, NM. As part of the site preparation, we spent several weeks performing an extensive sub-surface investigation to locate the known and unknown utilities, along with identifying the remnants of a structure that had been demolished on the site several decades ago. (more…)
- Published in Government, Modular Building, Modular Construction
Ramtech Completes Modular Building Installation Phase for the Terminal Expansion at Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport
Completed Modular Building Installation of Terminal Expansion at Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport
Affordable Structures, Ramtech’s installation contractor, has finished the installation of the nine modular sections for the expansion of the passenger terminal at Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport in Panama City Beach, Florida. The project has now moved on to the finish-out of the exterior of the facility. We expect that work to be completed in the next two weeks.
Ramtech is working as a subcontractor to Allstate Construction of Tallahassee, Florida the general contractor on the project. Our scope of work on the project began with the core and shell manufacturing of the Type II-b all steel modular building. Once the 7,168 square foot permanent modular building is complete, it will add terminal seating for 300 people at gates 6 and 7 which provide ground loading access to the airports’ regional and commuter airline partners. The airport anticipates the project to be completed by August.
- Published in Commercial, Modular Building, Modular Construction, Permanent Construction, Ramtech News