Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture

Scaffold Resource was first approached by Clark Construction in July of 2012 to erect a shoring/access scaffold area in the Arts & Industries Building as a ceiling mockup design for the Smithsonian during bidding. This was our first involvement with the National Museum of African American History and Culture project. About a year later we were awarded the contract and began the four year involvement with the construction of the new museum.

From the install of an egress stair tower during excavation on the North end of the site to the 20+ scaffold areas throughout the building, Scaffold Resource was immersed into the project with the joint venture, Clark Smoot Russell (CSR).

The largest scaffold area was a 30,000 square foot suspended scaffold platform in the History Gallery. This platform was in place for approximately 7 months and was erected mostly during the late night and early morning hours so that materials could be transferred in during low-traffic times within the congested D.C. area. These late night/early morning shifts allowed some of the work below the platform to continue during the erection process. The large platform was suspended from steel I beams from the first phase of shell & core construction by way of scaffold verticals. Through the use of hinged scaffold trusses and wood decking the suspended platform took form.

Allowing multiple trades access to the ceiling work and simultaneously the below trades on the floor continuing their work without delay, the project was able to be completed in a timely manner and stay on pace with the scheduled timeframe.

During and after the History Gallery scaffold install, Scaffold Resource had crews all over the building erecting smaller scaffold areas. These other scaffold areas provided access to multiple foundation wall locations, the ceiling and walls above the West Egress Stair, the ceiling and walls above Stair H, and portions of the North, East and West walls in the History Gallery. All of this work was done safely and staying within the allotted scaffold erection durations. In addition, the team maintained a very good working relationship with not only Clark Smoot Russell, but all of the subcontractors on the site.