A 357,840-square-foot industrial facility in Northampton Township, Pennsylvania, has reached occupancy following construction work that required extensive site preparation and temporary infrastructure. Blue Rock Construction managed delivery of the Savage Road Warehouse for the Hanover Company over a 14-month construction period.
Construction began in June 2025, with the project receiving its Certificate of Occupancy in August 2026. Ware Malcomb served as architect, while Blue Rock Construction was responsible for construction management.
The Savage Road facility occupies a 65-acre property and was designed for industrial use. The building contains 51 dock positions and two drive-in doors to support warehouse loading and distribution operations.
The project also incorporates curtain wall systems along the northeast and northwest elevations and a 3,000-square-foot office fit-out within the warehouse.
The scale of the facility required coordination between building construction and extensive site development work before and during vertical construction.
Existing fill and rock across the property created significant site-preparation requirements. Blue Rock Construction used deep dynamic compaction, blasting and additional ground-improvement measures to prepare the building pad.
The construction team coordinated blasting and dynamic compaction activities concurrently to maintain the project schedule while addressing subsurface conditions.
Access to the site presented another challenge after an existing bridge was found to be structurally unsound. Blue Rock Construction installed a temporary Acrow Bridge to maintain construction access while work proceeded on a permanent entrance.
The permanent access solution included a Contech culvert system. Work involved temporarily damming the stream, performing compaction grouting and completing the paved entrance.
Construction also progressed through a period of wet weather, requiring continued coordination of sitework, stormwater basins, inspections and closeout activities.
The property has an industrial history tied to the former Atlas Quarry, which was operated by the Atlas Portland Cement Company. The cement produced at the site was used in construction of the Panama Canal.
The Savage Road project combines large-scale warehouse construction with extensive civil and sitework requirements, including ground improvement, water management and access infrastructure.
The project demonstrates how industrial developers and construction managers may need to address subsurface conditions and site-access constraints alongside warehouse construction. For owners planning large industrial facilities, early evaluation of ground conditions, transportation access and stormwater infrastructure can materially shape construction requirements and sequencing.
Source: Blue Rock.
