PROJECT OVERVIEW

Reflecting a true team effort, the Northwest Indiana Correctional Facility project is so massive that five precast concrete producers teamed up to provide precast concrete for the 1.5 million-ft2 facility, which will house up to 4208 male inmates.

Read more about this project in the Winter 2026 issue of Ascent.

PRECAST SOLUTION

Given the sheer size of the project, the original plan for structural steel and masonry would have been difficult to accomplish. To meet the schedule, five precast concrete manufacturers worked simultaneously to cast 10,829 precast concrete components.

 

Project Team

Owners

Indiana Department of Correction

Architect

Elevatus Architecture

Owner’s Representative

The MH Group

Engineer of Record

O’Donnell & Naccarato Structural Engineers

Precast Concrete Producer

Coreslab Structures (INDIANAPOLIS); Fabcon; High Concrete Group; Mid-States Concrete Industries; StresCore

Key Project Attributes

  • The complex spans 80 acres and comprises 25 buildings, most of which are being built with precast concrete. The team broke ground on this large-scale project in 2023 and it is scheduled for completion in 2027.
  • Each building went through an extensive building information modeling (BIM) process ensuring comprehensive coordination across multiple trades before the start of precast concrete fabrication.
  • Multiple cranes were employed simultaneously, and the Build Westville joint venture used the latest project management technology to communicate and coordinate the complex activity.

Project/Precast Scope

  • Precast concrete simplified design responsibilities and allowed each successful bidder to provide their own details, improving productivity across multiple precast concrete manufacturing facilities.
  • Precast concrete was also selected for the budget and schedule advantages and the economies of scale due to repetition.
  • Thousands of loads of precast had to be delivered, inspected, and staged on site adjacent to the current facility’s secure perimeter. This took a lot of coordination between the precast suppliers, building superintendents, and other trades.
  • In addition to thermal efficiency, the precast concrete insulated wall system also provides thermal efficiency, durability, noise, and blast resistance.