Not a bad eight months of work for the building trades and general contractor Walbridge-Aldinger at the Compuware Headquarters building under construction in Detroit.

Since last July, more than 8,700 tons of steel have been set. No significant injuries have been recorded after 300,000 man-hours have been worked. And it's a job that's progressing at light speed and under-budget.

On March 7, iron workers, operating engineers, Bristol Steel and Walbridge-Aldinger celebrated the topping-out of the 15-story, $350 million building at Woodward and Monroe. It was one of the better topping out programs - there was the usual fir tree and the flag, plus a stirring rendition of the national anthem, speeches from dignitaries that actually recognized the work of the building trades, and best of all, an explanation of the tradition of the topping out ceremony.

"On behalf of Local 25, I'd like to thank Compuware for their vision in helping to rebuild the City of Detroit," said Iron Workers Local 25 President Shorty Gleason, "and using the expertise of iron workers and all the greater Detroit building trades."

Compuware is moving its corporate headquarters to Detroit from Farmington Hills, along with some 3,000 of their employees from various office locations.

"On behalf of the people who will work here, I would like to thank the people who helped build this building over the last eight months, from 30 feet under ground to 15 stories up," said Compuware CEO Peter Karmanos. "It's an incredible achievement, built on-time and under budget."

Hardhats have been particularly struck by the fast pace of the project. The first iron went up last July, and two shifts of trades workers moving the job along has helped make it so that employees of the computer services firm are expected to clacking on keyboards by the end of this year. As they work on lower floors, construction will be ongoing on upper floors until the project is complete in 2003.

"I'm happy to report that with the work of all the tradespeople, we're ahead of schedule," said Walbridge-Aldinger CEO John Rakolta, Jr. "The Detroit Building Trades have done a marvelous job. This building is a symbol of strength for Compuware and the City of Detroit."

The Compuware headquarters building will stand atop the old Kern Block, just south of the old Hudson's building. It will include nearly one million square feet of office space, nearly 60,000 of which will be retail.

"It's absolutely a monumental occasion in Detroit," said Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. "This building will change the face of Detroit."

THE FINAL BEAM in the main portion of the Compuware Headquarters was a curved section, shown being lifted by operating engineers Bob Lambert and Derek Evans. Bristol Steel Superintendents Russ Lewis and John McDonell said it was an unusual 19,000-lb. double-bend radius section.

HERE IS A PORTION of the iron worker crew who helped build the Compuware building, as well as Local 25 officers.