Construction takes a lot of planning and problem solving, much like the work of first responders.
No matter how much you train and plan, there will always be a surprise encounter that requires a quick, clever solution. That’s true for the safety professionals working inside the new Oregon State Police Southern Oregon Command Facility, and it’s also true for the project team members that renovated the 911 center while calls were still coming in.
JE Dunn has built many government facilities, particularly in the Northwest, so we know how important it is to be adaptable and be prepared to problem-solve. That sentiment was applied almost immediately on the OSP renovation. After foundation design was completed, another test was performed on the existing soil followed by a subsequent geo report, where the team discovered foundations needed to be deeper. Specifically, 30 feet deeper.
The challenge was then figuring out how to install 30-foot piles inside an existing building with only 15 feet of overhead clearance.
To address this, the team utilized a custom, low overhead pile driving rig provided by one of our trade partners. Its one-of-a-kind design allowed the team to install deep foundations in a space where conventional equipment simply could not function, enabling work that would have otherwise been impossible.
Installing this new equipment required precise welding, which introduced another challenge: schedule constraints. To mitigate this risk, the project team maintained constant coordination with special inspectors and aggressively re-sequenced the following construction to ensure schedule stayed on track. A complicated foundation hurdle turned into one of our most innovative solutions on this project.
Because of this facility’s existing structural component, traditional foundation construction was not feasible inside the building, which meant that the foundations and slab had to be poured monolithically. Unlike normal foundation construction, the team could not excavate, compact soil in phases, or form and pour the foundations prior to the slab. Instead, the team used two feet of structural foam (Geofoam) as a built-in void form beneath the slab and poured the slab with the foundations.
Replacing the subbase with structural foam allowed crews to place foundations and the slab at the same time while also eliminating interior soil challenges, providing a consistent, predictable void where soil work was impossible. Implementing a geofoam void form turned out to be another innovative solution that saved significant time and money.
This project wasn’t just a renovation — it was performed inside an active emergency dispatch center where downtime wasn’t an option. The team phased construction and seamlessly rerouted 911 operations with support from Aptitude, JE Dunn’s smart building technology integration partner, ensuring continuous communication for the remote Southern Oregon area.
Aptitude implemented a weekly working session with local and statewide IT, Dispatch, and Field Support units, which resulted in relocating the legacy main telecommunications room and all incoming telecoms feeds from state and regional municipalities. The team successfully made a zero downtime telecom relocation with OSP’s entire 911 system, regional state networks, state police networks, and Department of Transportation networks.
We might work in different industries, but one thing construction and public safety have in common is the need for clever, innovative problem solving. The completed dispatch center is designed to be a Category 4 Facility, built to withstand earthquakes, and post-disaster impacts, ultimately providing the Southern Oregon area with the quality resources it needs to keep the community safe.
Emergency dispatch center construction can be difficult, but it’s rewarding to know that we’re building for long-term public safety operations alongside the individuals that protect the communities we build in.
