PROJECT

Summit County Middle School Renovation

CATEGORY #5

Project of the Year – Under $1 Million

Subcontractor

OWNER

Summit county School District RE-1

GENERAL CONTRACTOR

Centric-Jones

ARCHITECT/DESIGNER

Dlr/Lescher and Mahoney

ENGINEER

Ludvik Electric/RMN Group

SUBMITTED BY:

Ludvik Electric Co.

With a growing student population threatening to jam classrooms to overflowing, the Summit County School District made the decision to build a new high school. This, in turn, made it possible to combine the old high school and the adjacent middle school into a single remodeled, updated and much larger learning facility for the county’s middle school students.

Dating back to the 1960’s, the buildings had undergone numerous remodeling projects through the decades. While all were accomplished to the construction codes of the time, the result was a mishmash of wiring, cabling and electrical devices which would have made Rube Goldberg proud. The electrical systems in the two buildings were woefully inadequate for meeting the needs of today’s students. Tying the two structures together to make one cohesive facility and updating all systems to meet 1997 needs and standards make this project worthy of ACE consideration.

Ludvik was awarded the electrical contract on the design-build assignment – a projec that required the company to do its homework and resulted in a textbook example of remodeling efficiency.

Remodeling and upgrading of the Middle School was part of a four-phase project which ultimately encompassed the entire school complex. The scope of Ludvik’s assignement was to demo and gut all original wiring and electrical systems throughout 111,400 square feet of space in two rotunda structures – East and West. New wiring, computer circuits, lights, outlets, switches, fire alarm and other electrical paraphernalia, as well as new mechanical and plumbing, were to be installed. The new fire alarm equipment had to be tied in with the existing system. Newly remodeled facilities included classrooms, a gymnasium, a library and media center, band room, wood shop and staff offices.

Work started even before the school year was over. The East rotunda was utilized for classes while demolition and installation got underway on the West structure. With school in session, extra consideration had to be given to student safety and protection as well as noise and dust control. And of course there was, as in many older schools, the problem of asbestos containment and removal in the event any of the material was encountered. Much of the work had to be scheduled after school hours to accommodate the situation. Working closely with the General Contractor, Ludvik took the lead in scheduling for all trade activities using Primavera ® software. A well-coordinated schedule and excellent cooperation among various trades eliminated many potential bottlenecks as the project progressed.

Much of this assignment fell into the category of learn-as-you-go for Ludvik due to the many previous remodel projects.

During demolition, many old circuits, switches, outlets, panels, telephone wires, TV cables, etc., etc., etc., were encountered. It looked like a plate of spaghetti in many areas above ceilings and behind walls. Some circuits were hot, some were not. Before serious work could begin, Ludvik used tick tracers/circuit locators to follow each indicvidual circuit end-to-end and determine the status. Only then could work by all trades proceed in a highly productive yet safe manner. There were no as-built drawings available to trace circuitry, so as-builts were generated as construction began. The only reference found during the entire project was an old, yellowed piece of paper which helped to locate several electrical pnels.

Once ready for new wiring, Ludvik chose to utilize MC cable for the majority of the project. This factory-made flexible cable has a metal covering, making it the ideal material for pulling through long runs in tight spaces and around sharp corners. This saved a lot of time and cost compared to conventional conduit and copper wire.

Weekly meetings among trade foremen every Monday and project manager son Wednesday helped insure coordination of all installaiton activities. Example: wiring was installed simultaneously with block for new walls, making the total installation faster.

Since the site was a considerable drive from Denver, where most crafts lived, scheudling of personnel was problematic. To ease the travel burden and still meet the completion date, Ludvik scheduled each crew membe rfo rfour 10-hour days weekly. Half the crew worked Monday through Thursday, while the other half was scheduled Tuesday through Friday, providing