Thornton Tomasetti, the international engineering firm, recently served as the structural engineer for the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial, which will be dedicated on August 28, 2011 in Washington, D.C.

Thornton Tomasetti Vice President Tom McElwain and Project Engineer Calvin D. Austin, both based in the Washington, D.C. office, led the assignment for the firm.

Key Points

• Thornton Tomasetti provided structural design and construction administration services for the new memorial, which occupies a four-acre site along the Tidal Basin. It is adjacent to the Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial and sits on a direct line between the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials.

• The design features natural elements such as stone, water and trees on a crescent-shaped plaza. Our engineers worked closely with the geotechnical consultant to overcome challenging soil conditions. The entire memorial rests upon piles driven to bedrock.

• The project includes a large sculpture and massive stone gateway with two waterfalls that are served by below-grade pump rooms and a 175-foot long access tunnel, as well as a 3,000-square-foot building that will house a bookstore and public facilities. The plaza is surrounded by curving, stone-clad retaining walls carved with inscriptions.

• The Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation, Inc. was created specifically to build the monument, a venture that has been more than a decade in the making. The memorial was built by a design-build team consisting of a joint venture of McKissack & McKissack of Washington, D.C. (the architect of record); New York City-based Turner Construction Company; Gilford Corporation of Beltsville, Md.; and Tompkins Builders, Inc. of Washington, D.C. The construction cost of the project is $120 million.

Supporting Materials
» Thornton Tomasetti

» Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation, Inc

» McKissack & McKissack

» Turner Construction Company

» Gilford Corporation

» Tompkins Builders, Inc.

About Thornton Tomasetti (www.ThorntonTomasetti.com)
Thornton Tomasetti is a leader in engineering design, investigation and analysis serving clients worldwide on projects of all sizes and complexity. With practices in building structure, building skin, building performance, construction support services and property loss consulting, Thornton Tomasetti addresses the full life cycle of a structure. We have supported clients working in more than 40 countries, with projects that include the tallest buildings and longest spans to the restoration of prized historic properties. Founded in 1956, today Thornton Tomasetti is a 550-person organization of engineers and architects collaborating from offices across the United States and in Asia-Pacific, Europe and the Middle East.

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