Reno Aces

Many said it couldn't be done. And the

contractors charged with building the Reno

Aces ballpark faced a monumental challenge

in constructing what most say was

an 18- to 24-month project in about 10

months as SK Baseball owner Stuart

Katzoff insisted the park be ready for the

Aces home opening on April 17.

A look at how general contractor

Devcon Construction and its major subcontractors

overcame the myriad challenges of

completing the project on time:

DEVCON CONSTRUCTION

Reno Branch Manager and ballpark

Project Manager Doug Browne says dayto-

day Project Manager Mark Folger,

Superintendents Steve Novelli and Corky

Hart, Project Engineers Jim Wallace and

Wing Wong often worked 80-hour weeks,

while Project Assistant Tomara Cleveland

handled the immense amount of paperwork

generated through the field office.

The main challenge for Devcon

and subcontractors RHP

Mechanical Systems,

Martin Ironworks

and

Intermountain Electric was that the majority

of the stadium was designed during construction,

which required an intense

amount of planning and coordination.

Devcon had its own mechanical engineers

on staff with prior involvement with

stadiums and sports facilities. They developed

criteria packages in absence of having

plans early in the process so that subcontractors

were able to bid for what be

required.

"If we wouldn't have done that there is

no way we would have got to this stage,"

Browne says. "Having them get going on

plans early in the process was critical

we barely made it.

"One of reasons Devcon was brought

on board is that we are used to operating

on design-build it is on our shoulders as

the general to keep it all going. It was a

project where every day, every hour was

critical. It took just constant involvement.

Our staff wasn't allowed a moment to rest

until we were complete."

On any given day Devcon supervised

more than 300 workers. Staying in front of

work crews and getting the information

needed to build out a particular section of

the ballpark required a great deal of

cooperation and coordination. Oftentimes

crucial information was compiled and disseminated

days or even hours before construction.

"It was like being in battle at times

everything had to be reactionary," Browne

says. "The team had to work coherently

together, or this thing wouldn't have gotten

done."

INTERMOUNTAIN ELECTRIC

Vice President Steve Miller has been in

the business 18 years and says Aces

Ballpark was easily the most difficult job

he's ever been on. Miller enjoyed the highpressure

challenge, though and

Aces Ballpark contributed to the worst day

in his professional career.

General Foreman Ralph Pisani led the

IME crew, which peaked at 45 men,

through months of 58-hour weeks five

10-hour shifts and eight hours on

Saturdays to complete the project. The

most challenging aspect was meeting the

10-month construction schedule, including

design.

"A project of this magnitude, in a typical

construction and schedule would probably

take a year and a half to two years,"

Miller says.

IME designed and installed all the electrical

construction 7,000 amps worth at

480 volts and it teamed with Diversified

Systems International on the fire alarm and

security system work. IME subcontracted

with Power Comm Solutions to install telephone

and data cabling, and Power

Comm teamed with Diversified to install

the booming sound system.

"This project was a whole lot different

than any other project," Miller says.

"Usually you do a design and it's in the

can the next day. You are done. We were

designing this project all the way through

December."

IME first bid the project on Jan. 24,

2008, and it received a letter of intent in

June. But because IME had already preengineered

a good component of the project,

crews were ready to begin working

immediately.

"If we hadn't done that, we wouldn't

have stood a chance of making the date,"

Miller says.

"Devcon managed all their subs in such

a way that we were all able to succeed,"

Miller adds. "Devcon put a premier management

team together, and that team kept

the whole project together. The pressures

involved in a project like this, with a highprofile

deadline, were extreme. Without

the coordination of the Devcon team,

there's no possible way this job would

have been done on time."

IME knew from the beginning it would

deliver the light standards by helicopter

because they would be unable to assemble

them in the outfield and install them with a

crane. IME built and tested the light poles

at a nearby property. When it was ready,

the company called in the New York-based

owners, got permits with the Federal

Aviation Administration and invited Reno

bigwigs and media to watch the installation

on a Sunday morning and the helicopter

failed to start.

"It didn't happen," Miller said. "It was

the worst day of my career. It was so

embarrassing."

The job went smoothly the following

weekend, however and IME takes no

small measure of pride in its accomplishment.

"We built a 16-month project in nine

months," Project Manager Jim Smalley

says. "That's the fastest a ballpark of this

size has ever been built."

RHP MECHANICAL SYSTEMS

RHP installed all the heating, ventilating,

air conditioning, plumbing, sheet

metal and temperature controls. RHP started

estimating the job in February, engineering

it in May and June.

"A project of that size, it normally

would take us a couple of months to get it

put together, and we did it in less than a

month," Senior Project Engineer Doug

DeAngeli says. "It was very short time period

for engineering."

RHP Vice President JT Regan says that

volume of work typically would take 16 to

18 months to build out. But crews 40 at

peak worked 60 hours a week for the

duration of the project.

Although engineering stared in May,

DeAngeli and plumbing designer Denny

Newton worked through months of changes as SK Baseball molded the facility

into exactly what it wanted. For instance,

the second phase of the project calls for

restaurant and entertainment spaces on the

upper concourse, and RHP had to redesign

kitchen equipment, air handling, HVAC,

and sewer and gas lines on the lower levels

to accommodate the potential expansion.

In addition, five huge subterranean

grease interceptors were buried in the

alleyway on the north end of the stadium.

RHP staged all mechanical equipment

from its yard at Spokane and Fourth Street

into the back of the stadium.

MARTIN IRON WORKS

One of the first subcontractors on the

job, Martin faced its share of challenges in

building the stadium's superstructure in an

extremely tight timeframe.

"Everybody follows us, so if we end up

slipping and we are a little bit behind,

then it puts the whole project behind", says

Senior Project Manager John Tietjen.

Executive Vice President Mario

Bullentini says Martin was forced to procure

steel from several different mills in

order to get what it needed on time.

"This thing was critical path from Day

1," Bullentini says. "We had to really jumble

schedules because we had other projects.

Once we got going, there was no

turning back."

Martin undertook the job as a designassist

partner, working closely with nationwide

architectural firm HNTB to design

parts of the stadium on the fly.

Martin's shop crew 35 to 40 men

worked 10 hours a day seven days a

week fabricating the steel in a sequence

that worked for erection, while the installation

team 25 men sometimes worked

six days a week. Once the stadium's

superstructure started forming, Martin had

to work from the perimeter of building

flying in steel from Second Street and

Evans Avenue rather than from inside

the park.

Bullentini says one of the main reasons

Martin met its production schedule was

because it didn't prime or paint the steel in

its shop. Lindell's Painting Service handled

that challenge after steel was erected.

"If we would have had to prime and

paint, the time it took to put it out in the

field and let it dry, they would never have

made it," Bullentini says.

Martin also benefited from its close

proximity to the stadium; its yard is less

than a quarter mile from the ballpark. And

it was able to fabricate several of the

largest components in its shop scoreboard

columns were 70 to 80 feet long

and transport them right around the corner.

Martin also contracted to install the

fencing, foul ball screens and miles of

handrail and guardrail for the stadium.

"We are really grateful to be a part of

it," Bullentini says. "It was a feather in our

cap to say we did it with the schedule that was there, and also to be a part of this

great renovation of downtown. We have

done a lot of projects in this town, but this

is something that will be phenomenal for

the community. It will be a big anchor for

downtown."

LUCKY CONCRETE

Al Craver, vice president, says one of

the hardest parts of the job was pouring

the stadium in sections rather than in a circle

because crews had to work in available

or crucial areas and constantly shift

focus in pouring more than 10,000 yards

of concrete.

"We had to start in one area and jump

into another area by the way the job was

progressing, and hope it all would fit to

the next phase," he says. "But all columns

and beams fit well and it worked out

well."

Lucky formed, poured and finished all

the concrete footings, foundation walls and

slab seating, as well as the sidewalks and

curbs. It also set all the bolts for the steel

infrastructure. Craver said the pour schedule

was the fastest the company ever had,

and it was even more compressed for the

seating. At peak Lucky had 40 men working

six 10-hour days and then dropped to

six eight-hour days.

"We thought it was going to be very

fast track, and we were a little bit unsure

how it would come together, but Devcon

did a great job pushing the job and making

the schedule work. All the subcontractors

came together on that job I have

never seen a job work so well for all that

pressure."