Team AMC was honored to partner with the Northern Star Credit Union (NSCU) in Portsmouth, VA to restore structural integrity to a building that’s served the military members of the Hampton Roads community for nearly a century. NSCU was founded in 1928, and to this day serves as “the official credit union” of the Norfolk Naval Shipyard. The NSCU prides itself for standing strong and steadfast for 90+ years supporting military families throughout the “757” in making smart financial decisions at every stage of their lives.
Within walking distance to the Norfolk Naval Shipyard, the NSCU sits on the corner of George Washington Highway in Portsmouth, VA. Upon first impression, this building stands tall and proud. You can feel the history of the building from inside the walls. The desks are old and some furniture is hard mounted to the floor. Signs of aging are apparent as stair-step pattern cracks form in the mortar around the front door of the building. One can definitely sense the history behind the business as soon as you enter the lobby of the bank. Old pictures line the interior walls of the lobby and bank tellers work diligently to assist customers.
Northern Star has stood strong throughout history surviving depressions, recessions, & natural disasters such as frequent flooding that ultimately lead to severe deterioration of the building’s foundation. To add insult to injury, the front right corner of the bank was subjected to a vehicle crash in 2022.
When AMC Owner, Brian McClung, first laid eyes on this building, he knew Team AMC would be proud to take on the challenge of restoring a tiny piece of history. The engineering team of AMC designed a complete plan to pier the entire front side of the building. The first step pf AMC’s plan was to demolish the front sidewalk that lined the building to make room for 19 Model 300 Earth Contact Product eccentric deep driven piers that would ultimately stabilize the failing structure.
When construction kicked off, it was discovered that the original footing of the building was completely eroded. Furthermore, the removal of the concrete sidewalk caused some shifting in the front wall of the building which indicated it might have been the only support left holding the building together. In order to address this, Team AMC installed steel lintels to serve as supplemental footing to bear the weight of the building.
Pictured above is the steel lintel installed by Team AMC to serve as a footing for the building.
In addition to stabilizing the building, six Model 166 Earth Contact Product deep-driven slab piers were installed where major settlement was causing water to pool inside of the bank.
In addition to the exterior wall of the building that needed to be addressed, there was settlement inside of the building where office staff perform daily function. Water would often flood interior of bank when heavy rains hit.
