Photo courtesy of JTM Construction JTM Construction value-engineered several components of the LeMay museum, shaving $3 million from the budget.

Pay a visit to LeMay – America’s Car Museum and look up to see the arching wood structure above the top floor.

Construction of this structure was one of the many challenges for the JTM Construction team. The team took an innovative approach by building the vertical wall sections of the heavy timber structure in prefabricated jigs at ground level and then flying them into place 40 feet above. This ensured quality and safety by building these components in a controlled environment.

There are over 750 glu-lam purlins spanning between the 5-foot-deep curving glu-lam arches. Not one of the purlins is the same as another.

Another challenge was the project budget. JTM value-engineered several components of the building without sacrificing design integrity, ultimately saving $3 million and allowing the project to break ground after 10 years of programming and fundraising.