It's a riddle with a concrete answer: How can Southeast Missouri State University's first parking garage be going up this week without an ounce of concrete being poured at the construction site?

It's called precast construction, which means the $3.2 million project is being erected piece by prefabricated piece, like a jigsaw puzzle -- except those working on it already know exactly where the next piece belongs.

"It's like Tinker Toys," said project manager Kevin McMeel, who works in the university's facilities management department. "We bring the pieces in and put them together."

Precast construction means that the 130 concrete pieces for the two-level, 160-car parking garage are being manufactured and cured to specifications at two facilities in St. Louis, McMeel said.

Then the pieces, some of which weigh as much as 50,000 pounds, are transported to the construction site, which is in front of the Towers high-rise residence hall complex along North Sprigg Street. The workers then, based on design plans, install the pieces.

Construction of the parking garage began Sept. 23, and the precast work is expected to be finished by next week, McMeel said. The total project, including electrical work, is due to be completely finished by the end of the month, he said.

The precast process is safe, he said, noting that the concrete is reinforced with steel cables. The bottom floor actually will have to be paved with concrete, he said. Workers also are repaving the lot along Sprigg Street and creating a new entrance.

The project, paid for by bonds issued from the university, is intended to ease the parking crunch and will expand the lot by Towers to a total of 600 spaces, McMeel said.

'Like Legos'

Students living on campus who will be able to use the garage have been walking past it for the past few weeks. They also have noticed the way it has been built.

"It's going up like Legos," said Chris Amen, a 21-year-old junior from St. Louis. "It's happening really fast now that they've gotten started. We're really excited."

The extra parking spots are sorely needed, he said, considering how many people live in Towers and the nearby fraternity and sorority houses.

"I've got some buddies who have to park in Pig Lot," he said, referring to the gravel parking lot on the other side of campus. Its name stems from its beginning as the university farm.

"Sometimes I have to park by the football field, and that's not cool," Amen said.

Toni McGuire, 21, also a junior from St. Louis, said that once work started, it has gone up quickly. But she said it made little sense to start the project in the middle of the semester.

"It should have been finished before school started," she said. "But I'll use it."

McMeel said precast is a good way to build, because it helps avoid weather delays.

"There are a lot of different ways to build it," he said. "We just look at whichever way is the most economical and fastest. Precast is definitely a good way to go."

Pieces that are being used include floor panels, beams and columns.

It's been an interesting process, McMeel said. They even are planning another parking garage for the much-maligned Pig Lot.

smoyers@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 137