Approximately 40 miles west of Denver, at the Northeast corner of Richman Street and Highway 119 in Black Hawk on April 6, 2006, Ameristar Casinos, Inc. debuts their newly renovated and expanded casino. Ameristar Casino Black Hawk personifies the standards that Ameristar sets as a leading gaming and entertainment company known for its premier properties. Ludvik Electric Co. is proud to have been chosen to exemplify their forte as a leader in the Electrical Construction Industry, as they did their part to prove their commitment to this project.

The reformation, which was slated to be completed in a 7-month period, consisted of a design assist, second story addition which would double the gaming space and add three new 191,768 square foot venues. All existing settings were to be remodeled. Included, in the scope of work, was five dining and entertainment settings, a unique retail store and surveillance for the new gaming area and the 10 story parking garage.

In order to accelerate the start-up, Ludvik Electric Co. was brought on board to provide preconstruction and design assist services as the project originated with a design narrative and 50% design drawings. Since the design was in constant change, with a fast track schedule, Ludvik anticipated the requirements and ordered materials, fixtures or equipment based on daily design and value engineering decisions. So that the progression would stay synchronized, Ludvik also served as a one of the liaisons providing coordination for the onsite design team forwarding revisions to the Electrical Engineer, and also providing budgets for the Owner’s financial controls and accounting purposes. These updated changes were conveyed to all supervisors as soon as approved.

The project management team was tasked with coordinating trades, crews and material for work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week as well as communicating the on-the-spot design changes to all shifts. In most cases, decisions made during the day carried an immediate execution. The electrical portion of the work was accomplished by working four overlapping and rotating 50-50-40 hour shifts a week. With such an uncompromising program, there was no allowance for make-up days or hours. This made project staffing as critical as having the materials to perform the tasks.

values mandated that their management meet the requirements of the Owner’s operational schedule. This was required in order to administer careful harmonization of coordinating areas available to work in, scheduling and coordinating required outages, and making sure that adequate crews and materials were available to meet the scheduled sequence of the work, as many items would start on one shift and finish one or two shifts later. This required mobilization and demobilization to meet the scheduled progression.

Casino operations continue around the clock with tasks such as the money drops (where the slot machines are emptied) and early morning kitchen prep activities, etc. Therefore, no work was allowed if it affected the proceedings of the casino. Outages were permitted within a four-hour window following closing time. During the money drops, no power could be shut down or surveillance devices inhibited. Throughout these phases, Ludvik was busy adding a new section to the existing 4000 amp switchboard, installing a new 4000 amp electrical service and a new 2000 KW generator and transfer switches, as well as incorporating the existing electrical equipment into the new power sources and moving all of the kitchen loads from normal to stand-by power. There were numerous planned outages working around the various after hours Casino operations. Often the drops would continue until 5:00 or 6:00 am., signifying that Ludvik had 2 to 3 hours to change over electrical equipment so that the casino would be fully operational by 8:00 am. If this did not occur, the Casino’s projected losses were over $100,000 per hour. This gave new meaning to the word planning – Ludvik developed back-up plans and back out plans carefully identifying the point of no return and the time to complete from that point. Once changing over equipment commenced, there was no acceptable option except to complete on time with a margin to test that all fire alarm and security systems were operational and on-line prior to the doors opening. Another obstacle was the material staging area that was over a mile away from the jobsite with a road that could be become impassable at the first sight of snow. It was critical that all necessary tools and materials required to complete the scheduled work were included on the pre-task plan and accounted for. Ludvik takes pride in knowing that power was restored and the casino was fully operational with every one of the planned outages.

Ludvik relocated the Fire Command Center, and upgraded the existing Fire Alarm System to meet the current Codes while keeping the entire system in full operation. This required operating two fire alarm systems in parallel insuring each controlled all of the required functions such as fan shut down, kitchen hood suppression systems, door holders, in addition to communication of the building status to the other panel. Each zone was moved and tested, as well as with all the associated functions in the parallel panel. Along with that, the Security System was upgraded with digital technology at the head-end to support the State Gaming Requirements. This required an additional 935 surveillance cameras and an additional 240 miles of security cable.

The Casino was open to the public 17 hours a day and Ameristar employees were in the work area 24 hours a day. This meant that the safety of these people, as well as the safety of the tradesman, was a top priority for the construction team. Risks were identified as part of the daily planning and material movement. It was a requisite that two people would move conduit through occupied areas, spotters were below overhead work, and barricades were at work areas. Daily and weekly safety meetings were conducted, not only to discuss Ludvik personnel and other trade’s potential hazards, but any exposure that might be impending for the Casino employees and the public. Ludvik Electric worked over 80,000 craft labor hours, within a 7-month period in a Casino operating at 100%, with no lost time due to an injury or accident.

For Ameristar with the utmost principles, this was no gamble as they were dealt a winning hand with an electrical contractor who has corresponding analogies. For the Project, it was completion on time, under budget and with no safety violations, all the while allowing the Casino to be operational and open to the public from 8:00 am to 2:00 am daily through all phases. For Clientele, it was gambling as usual with no suggestion as to what might be going on in the surrounding Casino. For Ludvik Electric Co. , there is nothing more satisfying than meeting and/or exceeding Ameristar’s expectations.