When officials with Kenner Discovery Health Sciences Academy set out to build a $31-million high school, they envisioned having the senior class graduate from the building this spring.
For the team building the 125,000-sq-ft project in the New Orleans suburb of Kenner, meeting that objective would mean working against a tight deadline to construct the first built-from-the-ground-up public school on the east bank of Jefferson Parish since the 1980s. The team relied on precast construction, a design-assist approach and meticulous planning to meet the demanding schedule—all while building a heavy concrete structure atop unforgiving, mucky soil.