TBI RAISES ROOF, STRETCHES DOOR AT JET CENTER
November 5, 2002

SAN JOSE - In a remarkable adaptation to growth in the size of airplanes, TBI Construction has raised the roof of Hangar A at the San Jose Jet Center hangar by 10 feet and increased the height and width of the doors to create an opening 28 feet high and 175 feet long. As a result, the hangar today shelters six corporate aircraft as large as long-distance airliners rather than 15 smaller general aviation airplanes. A single beam now spans 175 feet of the hangar’s 250-foot width, opening up 70% of the wall facing the runway for access and egress by aircraft.

The project, TBI’s first for the Jet Center, was completed in four months, on budget and a month ahead of schedule, according to Dan Ryan, President and CEO of the Jet Center. Early completion restored and enhanced rental income. Aircraft owners desire hangar space for the same reasons that automobile owners want garages, security and maintenance.

“When the hanger was built 16 years ago, no one foresaw the change in aircraft mix that we have experienced,” Ryan said. “Many more planes now require a tail and ceiling height of 28 feet instead of the 18 feet we had, and our customer base has shifted from individual owners to corporate owners.”

The remodeled hangar is designed to accommodate the Gulfstream V, of which there are two now based there, and the similar sized Global Express. Challengers and Citation 10s also require hanger doors higher than 18 feet.

TBI Project Superintendent Dennis Hocker said the project required the existing hangar to be partially dismantled and reconstructed while Jet Center operations continued and aircraft worth tens of millions of dollars remained nearby. The single beam across the front replaces two smaller doors with a 20-foot-wide wall between them. Spanning nearly the entire side with a single beam initially seemed to be formidable, he said, but the project proceeded smoothly.

Integrated Design Group Structural Engineers of Sacramento, which also engineered the Arco Arena, created engineering plans for the remodeled hangar. Integrated Design Group Principal Gerardo Calvillo said the project constitutes a unique remodel of a prefabricated building, and he drew on experiences with the truss system of the Arco Arena in Sacramento to span the hanger opening in San Jose.

“Ordinarily, when you know the size of the required door opening, you design a conventional steel system to support it,” Calvillo said. “When remodeling an existing prefabricated building like this, there were significant inherent limitations. We designed a custom-built shallow truss to span the 175-foot opening and uniquely married it with the existing mechanical system.”

Calvillo said the complexity of the remodeling caused the materials to be nearly as expensive as assembling a new hanger from scratch, but there were significant savings in planning, obtaining permits and the time it took to replace the hangar.

Architects for the project were Kenneth Rodrigues & Partners of San Jose.

Over the years, the Jet Center, which has five hangars, has remained at full capacity even though the number of airplanes based there decreased from 85 to 50. Many of the 15 aircraft previously based in the hangar dispersed to other airports, including Reid-Hillview, Morgan Hill, Livermore and Palo Alto. Silicon Valley corporations own the six aircraft now based in the hangar.

Founded in 1983, San Jose-based TBI Construction has completed more than $700 million in projects throughout the Bay Area. In addition to historical restorations and religious institutions, the company specializes in high-quality professional offices and corporate headquarters, Multiple Prime Construction Management for public agencies and campus, office and technology structures for its own portfolio and others. Also founded in 1983, TBI Development has developed 2.5 million square feet of properties, and TBI Property Management currently manages a portfolio of 1.8 million square feet. TBI is one of the largest and fastest growing general contractors and family owned businesses based in Santa Clara County.