VIDEO: SteelCell Provides Cells for New Davidson County Criminal Justice Center

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — SteelCell of North America, based in Baldwin, Ga., is tasked with providing 468 cell and shower units for the Davidson County Criminal Justice Center in Davidson County, Tenn.

The mid-rise structure was erected in downtown Nashville after the previous structure was removed. Once shoring was removed, the cell install began on the fourth floor of the justice center during the first week of May 2018. As the cell install is completed on the fourth floor the landing scaffolding will be adjusted to the third and then second floors. Units are currently being installed on the third floor, with the final unit install will wrap up the first week of June.

The video shows the efficient process of using prefab cells, specifically how trucks are staged nearby and roll onto the adjacent street where crews from Pauly Jail Building Company rig and hoist the cells to the landing platform. When the second cell of the two-tier design is in place, the stack of cells is then moved into place and permanently attached to the floor, where other trades can then begin to connect to water, sewer, electrical and HVAC systems. The lightweight, yet secure construction allows for minimal manpower and light equipment to move across the elevated building floor.

As construction is taking place in busy downtown Nashville, all trades have been working in tight quarters with minimal interruption to the city. This cell delivery and install has been a carefully orchestrated ongoing process led by Bell and Associates of Brentwood, Tenn. With planning beginning months in advance by the construction manager, supplier and installer, the install continues right on schedule. The prefabrication process will aid the Davidson County project, as the work on the cell units was able to start prior to the building coming out of the ground. This allowed some of the detailed detention work to begin months earlier in SteelCell’s Georgia-based plant.

With national labor shortages, more and more projects continue to use construction methods that incorporate some portion of the project prefabricated off site and then incorporated on a predetermined schedule into the site work. For now, the remainder of the more than 150 loads of cells continue their journey from the hills of Northeast Georgia to Nashville.

Project Team Fast Facts:

  • Construction Manager: Bell and Associates Construction
  • Architect: HOK
  • Prefabricated Cells: SteelCell of North America
  • Cell Install: Pauly Jail Building Company