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."
