Upload
others
View
2
Download
0
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Colorado State University New Multi-Purpose Stadium on Main Campus Project Award Narrative
1
Category: 7 – Best Building Project – Specialty Contractor (Over $10 million)
Contractor: Encore Electric
Project Name: Colorado State University New Multi-Purpose Stadium on Main Campus
It’s a night game, but with LED lights it’s bright. After the whistle blows, a call is made
and fans holler and jeer. All eyes scan the scoreboard for the instant replay. More cheering and
moaning. They will never agree on the final call, but there is one thing on which they will all
agree—this stadium is incredible. What went on behind the scenes with constricted schedules,
proactive preconstruction, construction technology, regimented quality control and safety
programs is something most fans cannot imagine. Our craftsmen have a real passion for football
in Colorado, and the opportunity to work on the new stadium for Colorado State University
united their passions with their talents as craftsman, ultimately delivering a new level of pride
themselves.
The countdown to kickoff on August 25, 2017 at the new Colorado State University
Stadium starts with the beginning of a new era for CSU football. After a disappointing 2007
season, the administration at CSU heard the fans loud and clear: change. That change would
mean new ways of doing business, new recruiting, new offensive and defensive schemes and,
most importantly for the purposes of our story, a new stadium – built on campus with the latest
technology to recruit the talent to build a new era of Rams football.
Encore’s part of the story starts with the first of eight budgets and countless pricing
exercises beginning on November 15, 2013. Encore was chosen by Mortenson Construction
because they offered greater value engineering, creative cost solutions and proven ability to build
at a fast pace with overlapping design and construction schedules.
The planning phase started in July 2015 with construction starting in November. The 20-
month schedule is one of the fastest schedules for a collegiate football stadium, which
historically ranges from 26 months to 42 months to build. This aggressive schedule created trade
stacking, causing productivity concerns that ate up any potential float built into the schedule.
The following are creative ideas our team used to improve productivity for all trades on
the job site.
• Field leadership dedicated many hours of pre-planning to ensure that electrical
installation did not distract from the clean line of the structure or impede game day sight
Colorado State University New Multi-Purpose Stadium on Main Campus Project Award Narrative
2
lines. Planning that included 759,000 feet of conduit and 2.3 million feet of wire that
went into the stadium.
• The virtual design coordination also allowed for innovative prefabrication ideas, like the
underground distribution cages. These cages were built off-site in our prefabrication
center and shipped to the jobsite for a “just-in-time” installation, alleviating weeks of
underground dirt work and job site congestion. There was one full time on-site VDC
Coordinator who worked with the general contractor and all the trades. The coordination
and communication of the installation plan was vital to the success of this project. A
requirement of the project was no underground work on the stadium. Encore Electric
crews had to find the best path for conduit during both the estimating and constructing
phases of the project and to align with the curved structure. Encore used its in-house 3D
BIM capability to coordinate the installed systems. During construction, Total Station
equipment was used to locate floor boxes and conduits in walls prior to wall installation
using GPS. Our one full-time, on-site Total Station Operator shot over 10,000 points for
install locations. Using this method, our margin of error was 0.3%.
• This was a paperless project with all construction documents stored and transferred
electronically. Field drawings were accessed by portable tablet PC devices while on-site
and flat screen monitors in the jobsite trailer. By touching the electronic drawing on the
tablet, QC forms, wall and ceiling rough, as well as device trim, were literally available at
their fingertips.
• Our quality control process began in our 16,000 square foot prefabrication center.
Materials are 100% controlled, from start to finish, in this environment. All materials are
checked by our Quality Control Manager before being delivered to a job site by QED.
• Given that this was built into the middle of CSU’s campus, where there were many
curious student and staff future fans, a lack of room, good flow or organization led to our
team having no room on the center field or in the surrounding areas for materials, so we
created a unique material delivery plan consisting of our off-site prefabrication center.
More than 100 Encore Electric employees provided power to the entire stadium,
including transformers and switchgear, branch power and pathways for the AV system, which
was provided by the owner. The takeoffs themselves were fast-paced and a challenge because of
Colorado State University New Multi-Purpose Stadium on Main Campus Project Award Narrative
3
the atypical nature of this large project. Building walks didn’t always match the drawings
because of the high ceilings and curved pipe runs following the oval shape of the stadium.
Building began before design completion. Encore estimates that 75% of the construction
design was completed when Encore started electrical work. Crews were split into teams by area.
Early in construction, Encore Electric’s craftsmen ran into a huge problem – one that
could derail the entire project. In the southwest corner of the stadium where the main electrical
room was planned, the Encore crew encountered significant ground water – almost a geyser!
Keep in mind that this room was 18 feet below grade and was only one of 16 total electrical
rooms! The Encore team was able to dewater and work in parallel as the clock kept ticking.
Arguably the largest challenge on the project was a light feature on the ceiling of the
sideline field club featuring the CSU Ram logo. It was made up of 120 strip LED features,
developed by a manufacturer from Canada and built in Hong Kong. After a significant delay in
delivery because of customs challenges, they were delivered; however, the panels were supposed
to be six feet long but 84 of the 120 panels measured 6’ 2” long, and could not be assembled as
designed because they simply did not fit together. Instead of returning or reordering the panels
and possibly missing the schedule, our team disassembled, cut and reassembled them in place.
This took four electricians five full days to complete, which was not in the planned tight
schedule.
As the countdown to kickoff continued, more systems were coming online. All the sports
lights on the stadium were installed by our Encore Electric team. Originally, the plan was to
move the HID sports lights from the existing stadium to save money, but LED sports lights
improved the schedule and the environment. The new CSU stadium is one of the first stadium
projects in the nation to build and install LED sports lights in new construction! The pre-set
sports lights were delivered to the project site ready to install thanks to our prefabrication
department. We used a 185-foot boom lift to take the conduit up to the lights at the top of the
stadium – 124 feet in the air.
The size and physical nature of the work was grueling. Some electricians had to climb
shipmens ladders for five weeks straight while working on wiring the scoreboard. The 20-man
crews on our team that built the suites and press boxes climbed six flights of stairs up to 10-12
times a day. That equates to a football team of 62 men on ellipticals for 48 hours!
Colorado State University New Multi-Purpose Stadium on Main Campus Project Award Narrative
4
In July 2016, halfway through the project and with the countdown to kickoff down to 13
months, the many challenges on the site found the Encore Electric team in need of some energy.
We invited Sonny Lubick, the stadium’s namesake and Colorado State football legend, to join
Encore’s jobsite employee barbecue. He gave a rousing “halftime” speech that really provided
power to the team as they approached the second half.
A happy and energized team is a safe one, and safety was critical to the success of this
project. Encore had a full-time, dedicated safety manager on-site who held daily safety job
walks, weekly tool box talks and implemented a behavior-based safety program that influences
safer outcomes through prevention. Of the total 278,275 Encore man-hours, there were ZERO
lost time accidents!
The completed stadium cost $220 million, with $21 million of electrical. There are 7
levels and it has a capacity of 41,000 spectators!
The countdown to kickoff ended on August 26, 2017, as the CSU Rams took on the
Oregon State Beavers in the first game at the stadium. One hundred Encore Electric employees
were there to watch a home-team win and enjoy what they had built. Finally, for this game and
the subsequent three games, Encore has three guys tooled up and ready to go.
Going forward, as players prepare on electric-powered fitness machines so they can
create those close plays that fans watch again on the scoreboard or when night games are made
possible by the LED stadium lights, Encore Electric’s team will be truly satisfied of the
collaboration, efforts and dedication of the entire stadium team that brings those experiences to
players and fans. Now, the winning of the game -- well, that’s out of their hands.
Colorado State University New Multi-Purpose Stadium on Main Campus Project Award Narrative
5
Colorado State University New Multi-Purpose Stadium on Main Campus Project Award Narrative
6
Colorado State University New Multi-Purpose Stadium on Main Campus Project Award Narrative
7
Colorado State University New Multi-Purpose Stadium on Main Campus Project Award Narrative
8
Colorado State University New Multi-Purpose Stadium on Main Campus Project Award Narrative
9