ABC Rocky Mountain Chapter 2007 EIC Award Winners

Photo by Jackie Shumaker

The Rocky Mountain Chapter of Associated Builders and Contractors recognized a number of Colorado contractors for exceptional construction projects on Nov. 16 during its 2007 Excellence In Construction Awards banquet at the Omni Interlocken Hotel in Broomfield.

The greatest number of entries in the history of ABC-RMC were received by the organization for 2007. A panel of seven judges reviewed the award submissions. Criteria included factors such as complexity, unusual challenges or problems overcome, innovative techniques or programs, value-engineering, safety records and owner satisfaction.

General Contractor Awards of Excellence

Yuma District Hospital
Aldofson & Peterson Construction
Client/Owner: Yuma County
Architect: Davis Partnership Architects
Engineer: RLH Engineering

In late May, A&P completed construction on Yuma District Hospital. This new 68,500-sq-ft rural hospital rests on 14 acres and is located on the northwest corner of Ivy and Highway 34 in Yuma County. It expands the services provided by the old hospital.
Completed in 12 months, the project finished ahead of schedule, despite challenges that evolved due to the location of the project, including the difficulty in coordinating delivery of materials and major medical equipment and finding subcontractors to work at the rural site.

DIA Regional Jet Facility
Hensel Phelps Construction Co.
Client/Owner: United Airlines, DIA, City & County of Denver
Architect: Reddy & Reddy Architects

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In March 2004, DIA awarded Hensel Phelps a design-build contract to provide a new state-of-the-art facility to accommodate the smaller jets used by United Express regional carriers.The original project included a new 81,000-sq-ft facility valued at $40 million. However, due to United’s bankruptcy, the project was placed on hold for two-and-a-half years.

In July 2006 the project was released for construction again, with only the 44,000-sq-ft south half of the facility to be constructed. The new budget for the project was $37.4 million.

The start-and-stop cycle of the design over a 20-month period put a strain on the ability of the design team to maintain continuity among staff members. With a strict deadline of early April, the blizzards and eight weeks of frigid temperatures and fresh snowstorms every weekend made construction grueling. However, construction was completed on April 2, on time for the April 24 departure of the regional jets.

Ameristar Black Hawk
Hensel Phelps Construction Co.
Owner/Client: Ameristar Casinos Inc.

The $43.4-million renovation and addition to the Mountain High Casino in Black Hawk for Ameristar Casinos involved a complete renovation of the 72,000-sq-ft casino and the addition of 44,000 sq ft to provide for an additional 800 gaming machines and a new lobby for the future hotel. Also included in the project were a new steak house, 24-hour restaurant and remodel of the buffet, and the addition of a VIP “Star Club.”

Construction started in April 2005 and was completed in April 2006. To complete this fast-track and logistically challenging project on time required that it operate with two 10-hour shifts per day, seven days a week. The Hensel Phelps team worked above, under, inside and around the operational casino and back-of-house areas to expand and renovate the casino.

Colorado State University
Regional Biocontainment Laboratory
Hensel Phelps Construction Co.
Owner/Client: Colorado State University
Architect: The FWA Group
Engineers: Cator, Ruma & Associates, JVA Inc.

The Rocky Mountain Regional Biocontainment Laboratory at CSU is a state-of-the-art bioscience laboratory built to consolidate university hazardous research programs from the Main Campus to Biological Safety Level 3 Labs. This lab is part of the nation’s effort to fight bioterrorism. It was erected to provide a safe environment for the personnel conducting experiments, the surrounding community of Fort Collins and for the health, safety and welfare of the citizens of the United States.

A major concern when operating a BSL-3 lab is contaminants escaping form the containment barrier. Using 20 to 25 gal. per minute of water per head, a standard sprinkler system could wash the contaminants beyond the barrier. The architecture and engineering of this building is based solely on containment. The architecture builds airtight labs so the only way airborne pathogens can escape is through the exhaust system. The exhaust systems have nuclear-grade bag-in/bag-out HEPA filters which remove all of the bacteria, virus and pathogens. All of the mechanical and electrical systems have 100% redundancy so that no one failure could compromise the safety of researchers or the community.

Specialty Contractor Awards of Excellence

Wyoming Technological Business Center
Greiner Electric LLC
Owner/Client: University of Wyoming
Architect: ESG Architecture
General Contractor: Delta Construction

The Wyoming Technological Business Center project was nearing the completion of the original project when the decision was made to incorporate three data centers into the building. The project is designed to allow UW graduates with a desire to start their own business a place to do so with minimal start-up expense. With the completion deadline three months away, UW officials decided that to truly be a state-of-the-art technology center they would need to add three separate data centers and the capacity for a fourth.

The addition totaled more than $1.2 million, and Greiner Electric was given less than two months to complete it. Each data center was required to be independent of each other and backed up by redundant un-interruptible power supplies totaling over 320,000 watts within the basement of the facility. Greiner self-performed 95% of the installation and offered more than $300,000 in cost savings back to the owner.

The Glass House
Greiner Electric LLC
Architect: The Preston Partnership
Contractor: JE Dunn Construction

Located in the Riverfront area of Denver, the two 23-story towers that make up the Glass House are constructed with more than 10,000 large panes of glass. The electrical systems of the Glass House were completed on a design-build basis and include: three 2,500-amp and one 2,000-amp main distribution centers, one 750-kw generator, fire alarm, security, telephone and data cabling and access control. Greiner Electric self-performed 90% of the installation of these systems.

The most challenging aspect of this project was the schedule. The building, totaling over 750,000 sq ft, was completed in 78,000 man-hours and turned over to the owner in 21 months. Greiner took over the project on a design-build basis from another subcontractor that was unable to bond the project. The company’s project team, along with their engineer, had one month to go from schematic drawings to construction documents.

New Belgium Brewery Packaging Hall
Interstates Construction Services Inc.
Owner/Client: New Belgium Brewing Co.
Architect: Ware Malcomb
Design-Build Contractor: Swinerton Builders

Interstates performed the total-building electrical package, which consisted of the service lateral building power and lighting, site lighting, lighting controls, fire alarm, data/communication and security rough-in for New Belgium Brewing’s new bottling and packaging facility in Fort Collins. The new 55,000-sq-ft hall includes a new bottling and packaging line by KHS, warehousing for dry-storage, robotic palletizer line, employee offices and break room, locker rooms with showers, a visitor observation balcony, mechanical and electrical support areas, a trucking office and a just-in-time loading dock.

Interstates overall contract value was $1.17 million for the total electrical package. The budget for the entire project was approximately $21.5 million. Preconstruction meetings were held from March 2006 through onsite mobilization. Crews were mobilized in August 2006; construction was completed in April 2007.

The company self-performed 100% of the electrical work, and other packages except for data terminations, lighting protection, fire alarm/security parks and smarts and trenching.

Meeker I—Gas Plant Project
Industrial Specialty Contractors
Owner/Client: Enterprise Products LP
Contractor: S&B Engineers & Constructors

Working under a $24-million contract, ISC mobilized a hand-picked team of highly trained associates in January to install electrical and instrumentation systems for a huge greenfield project 6,600 ft above sea level in western Colorado the largest natural gas plant in the continental United States.

The project was designed to serve the Piceance Basin and other Rocky Mountain-area deposits comprising the nation’s fastest-growing natural gas field. The new plant will substantially increase natural gas liquid export capacity and provide gas to downstream markets through four major pipelines operated by Entrega, Wyoming Interstate, Trans Colorado and Questar.

ISC’s responsibilities included temporary power, construction, permanent underground electrical distribution, perimeter security, card-reading stations, a scale house, power station, lighting and all above-ground electrical and instrumentation for all 12 functional areas. During the job’s 350,000 man-hours, ISC self-performed 100% of the work and pulled more than one million ft of cable and wire.

Leprino Office Building and Parking Garage
Spacecon Specialty Contractors
Owner/Client: University of Colorado Hospital & Health Sciences Center
Architect: Davis Partnership Architects
General Contractor: Haselden Construction Co.

The Leprino Office Building is an ancillary project completed in conjunction with the Anschutz In-patient Pavilion Phase II in Aurora. This 10-story laboratory/administrative/retail office building with accompanying seven-story parking garage has enabled the UCH group to complete its move from a smaller campus.

The 276,655-sq-ft office building has been connected to the AIP Pavilion with two pedestrian bridges via the parking structure, which has a capacity of about 11,000 vehicles. One of the most challenging components for SSC was the initial scope, beginning as a core-and-shell exterior and expanding into a full tenant improvement fit-out, including acoustical ceiling grid and tile.

The project began in September 2006 and was completed ahead of schedule in August 2007. SSC self-performed 93% of the labor.

General Contractor Merit Winners

Laramie County Library
FCI Constructors Inc.
Owner/Client: Laramie County Library System
Architect: Anderson Mason Dale Architects, Tobin Associates

Leeds School of Business
Pinkard Construction
Owner/Client: State of Colorado, University of Colorado at Boulder
Architect: Davis Partnership, ARC/Architectural Resources Cambridge Inc.

Rancho Liborio Store No. 7
Roche Constructors Inc.
Owner/Client: Liborio Markets #7 Inc.
Architect: Steel Studios

Johnson Dairy New Milk Parlor
Thissen Construction Corp.
Owner/Client: Johnson Dairy

Timberline Cove
CFC Construction Inc.
Owner/Client: OCOEE Properties
Architect: Eric Smith & Associates
Engineer: Glenn Frank Engineering

Botanica on the Green
CFC Construction Inc.
Owner/Client: Forest City Development
Architect: Thomas Cox and Associates
Engineer: SCA Consulting Engineer Inc

Specialty Contractor Merit Winners

First Congregational Church of the United Church of Christ
Duro Electric
Owner/Client: First Congregational Church of Boulder
Architect: Slaterpaull Architects Inc.
Contractor: Fransen Pittman General Contractors
Engineer: JVA Structural Engineers

Colorado State University Academic Village
McBride Electric
Owner/Client: CSU
Architect: Aller-Lingle Architects
Contractor: Whiting-Turner Contracting Co.

General Services Administration
Invasive Species Research Building Encore Electric
Owner/Client: GSA/USDA
Engineer: BCER Engineering

2007 ABC EIC Awards Judges

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