French-Reneker-Associates performed construction staking and layout for the new maximum-security prison in Ft. Madison, Iowa. The staking is for new buildings, a water tower, geothermal wells, and roadways all within the prison compound.
The new prison will be the first maximum-security prison built in Iowa for over a century. The state-of-the-art prison will become Iowa’s new state penitentiary. For this reason, security of the site is important even during construction. The complete project will cost approximately $150 million. The extensive use of prefabricated structures requires extra precision with construction layout. The primary challenge of this work was the unique star-shaped buildings and coordinating the layouts between the various subcontractors and suppliers.
