Thanks to some innovative thinking, The Free Lance-Star in Fredericksburg, Va., chopped more than $250,000 from a budget initially earmarked for a deep foundation to support its press.

The paper was able to take that step after engineers from Goss International Corp.  — following encouragement by plant designer Forum Architects LLC  — considered how they could modify the dynamic forces affecting the press’ operation.

The newspaper last year tapped Goss to supply it with a four-tower (with accommodations for a fifth), two-folder FPS to anchor a 90,000-square foot production plant that will go into operation in 2009.

The family owned daily initially planned to construct a deep foundation to support the FPS, based on the recommendation of its geotechnical engineer. This type of foundation typically consists of a thick concrete slab that is supported on piles or caissons drilled deep into the earth.

The deep foundation approach was needed to counteract the dynamic forces that buffet a press while in operation. These forces, horizontal and vertical, can cause the press to rock.

Yet Forum engineers believed a shallow press foundation could be used if the specified settlement tolerance for the weight of the press could be relaxed and the dynamic forces reduced.

Willing to consider

Goss was willing to consider the notion, in part because the compact FPS was already engineered with features designed to reduce dynamic loading.

The result? Goss is exploring options for press-bearing devices that could offer the machine additional leveling capabilities during and after the press’ erection. Additionally, after calculating the actual dynamic forces generated by operational FPS presses in Europe, Goss retooled its force projections, dropping them by more than half.

Its specs governing press foundation settlement were also relaxed, by more than 60 percent, meaning that The Free Lance-Star could build a shallow press foundation and be assured its press would operate safely.

Clearly, challenging traditional concepts and assumptions frequently provides the only path to progress, and ideally, the resulting reward is the achievement of a winning situation for all of the participants.

Throughout the entire early design phase of this project, Free Lance-Star Publisher and General Manager Josiah Rowe III and Director of Operations John Jenkins have strongly encouraged the project team — including the production equipment vendors — to generate creative solutions that will optimize the commercial and newspaper printing processes, the functional use of the building and the overall cost of the project. 

As a result of the efforts of Forum and Goss International, The Free Lance-Star project is now able to use the money originally slated to build a deep foundation on other production equipment.

Reuben Grossberg is a professional structural engineer at Forum Architects LLC and project manager of The Free Lance-Star’s newspaper production plant project. He can be reached at rgrossberg@forumarc.com.