Contegra Construction Co., Knapheide Truck Equipment Center, Wentzville, Mo.

By RITA DUCKWORTH
    When clients know what they want, a job can go smoother for a builder. Such was the case with Contegra Construction Co.’s recent project for Knapheide Truck Equipment Co.
    The Edwardsville-based construction company completed a Truck Equipment Center for Knapheide in Wentzville, Mo.
    “They are a knowledgeable client,” says Project Manager Jared Lengermann. “They’ve constructed similar facilities in other locations around the country and let us know exactly what they wanted and what they expected.”
    Knapheide is a leading manufacturer of truck bodies and truck beds. Products manufactured at its plant in Quincy, Ill., are shipped to the new Wentzville location (near the GM truck plant) where they are installed on new truck chassis. The new building is an installation facility used for up-fitting processes for the company’s core products. This includes service bodies, utility vans, pickup toppers, dump bodies, platforms, crane bodies, and van interiors, as well as many truck equipment accessories.
    Contegra completed the new $6.4 million facility utilizing the design-build delivery method. M+H Architects of St. Louis were Contegra’s architects for the project. The building’s frame is a pre-engineered structure. Lengermann explains that coordinating the pre-engineered building elements with traditional architectural and structural components poses some challenges for the design-build team. The mechanical, electric, plumbing and fire protection portions of the work were all handled under the Contegra umbrella, utilizing design-build subcontractors.
    The new 57,730-square-foot building has a masonry façade and wainscoting on all four elevations. It features 17 truck bays where the truck body and chassis assembly is completed. The facility includes a water test bay where trucks with the newly installed equipment are flooded to ensure they are water tight.
    The facility’s assembly area is equipped with two overhead bridge cranes that travel from bay to bay along the length of the building.
    “The engineering of the pre-engineered structure was coordinated to accommodate and support the crane feature,” says Lengermann.
    Construction was wrapped up in late summer of 2016.
    “We finished right on time,” says Lengermann. “They moved in immediately and were quickly operating at capacity.”