It has been said that everything is bigger in Texas – and Waterline is no exception. It will be the tallest building in Austin, taking the city’s skyline to new heights. As the general contractor, DPR must self-perform the concrete for the 74-storey mixed-use “super-tall” with higher predictability, less
rework and reduced risk. Topping out at 311m tall, it is the most challenging self-perform concrete project in the history of DPR Construction, a global self-performing commercial contractor based in Austin. Bringing the super-tall to life is a complex orchestration of workflows, people and technology that must come together with precision.

The Waterline site is congested, surrounded by busy streets and another construction project to the south, making planning and co-ordination an important aspect of keeping the project on target.
From bid to build, data-rich, constructible models and collaboration in a common data environment are foundational to DPR’s approach.

A clear plan, early alignment, virtual design and construction In a workflow, the company describes as
“left of the line” DPR’s bidding process for Waterline, which began with modelling the structural design in Tekla Structures. Going beyond traditional cost projections and value engineering to create a constructible model engages project teams early and establishes a clear plan from the very beginning.
“This part of our workflow is focused on getting as much accurate data into the model as possible,” says Rafael Valles, virtual design and construction (VDC) engineer at DPR. “In Tekla, we can model to a high level of detail, so we aren’t just modelling the concrete, for example. We’re modelling the rebar elements within the concrete and the pour breaks to ensure that the square metreage is accurate. We’re bringing in our scheduling team to ensure that the production rate, schedule and crew sizes are feasible. It’s this level of effort and engagement upfront that makes us different.”