Nearly 5,000 people work at American Airlines' maintenance base at Tulsa International Airport, and the base covers 246 acres. Shifts change at fixed hours, so a few thousand cars arrive and leave inside the same short window. Surface lots swallow land, and land at an airport is expensive. This is exactly the problem a parking structure solves.
A parking deck is a concrete frame, repeated: columns, beams, double-tee or flat-slab floors, ramps and stairs, all cast or stood in a pattern. If you have watched a tilt-wall crew set panels in a row, you have seen the same logic. The crane sequence, the lift plan, the bracing and the joint details translate, and so does our comfort with big concrete and tight tolerances.
We do not design decks and we are not the precast plant. We coordinate the erection and finishing of structures designed by the owner's engineer, using precast or cast-in-place systems, and we build the site and utility work around them.
What we coordinate: pours, erection and finishing
Foundations, grade beams, slabs on grade, stair and elevator cores and the toppings that finish a precast deck are concrete work we coordinate. Cast-in-place decks with post-tensioned slabs need disciplined cable placement and a stressing sequence, and we coordinate those with the specialty stressing crew. For precast frames, the plant delivers beams, columns and tees to a site-specific delivery schedule, and the crane crew sets them under our coordination.
Connections determine the schedule. Weld plates, bearing pads and grouted joints are inspected as they go, and the engineer's special inspector signs off on each pour or erection stage. We keep a log of every connection so the final package matches the drawings.
From the first cut to the last stripe
The sequence is site first. Mass grading and utility relocations, then foundations and the ground-floor slab, then framing floor by floor. Drainage is a design driver on a deck, because every level has to shed water to drains without standing puddles, and expansion joints must be sealed against leaks to the level below. Sealants, traffic coatings and joint covers are specified for Oklahoma's heat and freeze cycles.
Once the structure is topped out, we install lighting, fire standpipes, cameras, access gates, signage and striping. Electric vehicle charger conduit is easy to add during the pour and expensive to add later, so we ask the owner about charging plans before the slabs are placed. The last item is traffic flow: a test with real cars, from the entry gate to the exit ramp, to confirm sight lines and turning radii.
Where cars crowd the most in Oklahoma
Tinker Air Force Base has more than 26,000 military and civilian workers and is the largest single-site employer in Oklahoma, according to the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber. Tulsa's airport reports 14,000 on-airport employees and more than 700 acres of development real estate on 4,000 total airport acres. Both are campuses where a deck beats another surface lot. At the Tulsa airport aerospace district, hangars, shops and parking all compete for the same acreage.
State government is another cluster. As of March 2024 the State of Oklahoma was listed as the top Oklahoma City-area employer with 37,600 employees. Capitol-area workers, health-campus staff, and event traffic all compete for downtown parking. Around Tinker and Will Rogers airport, defense contractors and airport tenants add their own pressure.
Open decks, fire rules and edition questions
Parking structures are classified by whether they are open or enclosed. An open deck, where the sides are mostly open to the air, can use lighter fire-protection assumptions than an enclosed garage under the International Building Code. That distinction changes the sprinkler requirement, the ventilation and the fire-resistance rating of the frame, so we ask the architect to confirm it early.
Which edition governs depends on the city. The state sets minimum codes through the Uniform Building Code Commission, and cities adopt and enforce their own editions and amendments. If a city or school district is the owner, public competitive bidding also applies to contracts over $100,000. The structural engineer, the fire marshal and the city plan reviewer should agree on the code basis before the first pour.
Decisions that shape a deck
Think about the cars. Floor-to-floor heights, stall widths and ramp slopes control the number of spaces per level, and a poorly planned ramp can cost stalls on every floor. Most owners ask us to lay out the structure for a bay width that works with the standard stall and aisle, and then check that it works with the office or hospital building next door.
Think about the edges too. A deck beside an office building often gets a screened facade, ground-floor retail or green screens to meet city design guidelines. Those details are not structural, but they change the budget and the lead time on materials like architectural precast and perforated panels.
What drives cost per space
Cost per space moves with the number of levels, the structural system and the site. Precast tends to move faster on repetitive layouts, while cast-in-place post-tensioned decks can adapt to odd sites. Soil conditions and foundation depth matter, as do utilities that must be moved. Our industrial concrete floor practice applies directly to the slab toppings and exposed finishes.
Operating costs matter to the owner as well. Lighting, security cameras, stair and elevator count, and the cost of sealants and coatings over a long life feed into a total ownership estimate. We help owners compare options, including a logistics-driven site where trucks and trailers must be separated from employee cars.
Tell us how many cars and how many shifts
Send the stall count, the shift pattern and the parcel. We will lay out the structure options and give you a cost per space range.
Common Questions
Do you design parking structures?
No. The owner's structural engineer designs the deck and we build it. We help during design with constructability review, crane access and sequencing, so the design fits the site.
Is precast or cast-in-place better for a deck?
Precast is fast on regular layouts and gets finished concrete quickly. Cast-in-place post-tensioned decks are flexible for odd footprints and can reduce floor-to-floor height. We price both when the design allows.
How do you handle drainage and leaks?
Every level is sloped to floor drains, expansion joints are sealed, and sealants are selected for freeze-thaw and heat. We test drains before the traffic coating goes on. A leak that drips on a car below is a call the owner will not forget.
When should we plan for electric vehicle chargers?
Before the slabs are poured. Conduit and panel space are cheap to add during construction and expensive afterward. Even if chargers come later, we recommend leaving provision.
Does an open garage need sprinklers?
That depends on the code classification, the height and the local fire marshal. The architect determines whether the structure counts as open, and the plan reviewer confirms. We coordinate fire standpipes and any required sprinklers with that decision.