J. A. Fielden
View of a large gray building with a crane and equipment beside it, seen from a white rooftop under a cloudy sky.

Volkswagen of America – Flexible Usage Buffer

Chattanooga, TNIndustrial Completed 2024

A 15,000 GSF elevated conveyor tunnel connecting paint to assembly, built 60 feet above an operating Volkswagen plant.

Sixty feet up, over a plant that never stopped.

The Flexible Usage Buffer is a 15,000 GSF tunnel that carries painted bodies from the paint shop to assembly, and every foot of it sits 60 feet above a production floor that stayed in operation. The structural steel and metal wall panels went up over the live work happening below.

Midway through, the specified ISO roof insulation became unavailable. Rather than wait on a supply chain we couldn't control, we pivoted to a poured lightweight concrete deck and held the schedule. The tunnel was delivered in 2024 without disrupting production.

Project Specifications

Scale
15,000 GSF
Building Systems
Structural steel, lightweight concrete decking, metal wall panel
Site Conditions
Work performed 60 feet above grade over an operating plant

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