Colorado Convention Center Expansion

 Ludvik Electric Co. was selected as the electrical contractor for the expansion of the Colorado Convention Center. This project will add 1,343,496 square feet to the existing structure and provide the City of Denver with a more sophisticated, state-of-the-art Convention Center.  The project includes adding a second Ball Room, additional Meeting Rooms, doubles the square footage of the Exhibit Hall, provides a new Kitchen, Lecture Hall, Truck Docks and one thousand additional parking spaces.  The building systems will be upgraded, including a new Fire Alarm System and Security System and a Tele/Data System that will provide single-mode and multi-mode fiber connections at every wall station and floor box, as well as category-6 copper connections.  Entrances will be replaced with winged canopies “Blades” and a new facade has been added to the South elevation.  These features will tie the existing and the new structures together, while insuring a Denver Landmark for years to come.  All of this work must be accomplished without disrupting events in the existing Convention Center.  

The first phases of the project have been successfully completed, and the structure turned over to the City, allowing generation of revenue from the Parking Structure.  All of the early milestones were effectively accomplished, including demolition of the Terra Center, Currigan Hall, relocating the utility infrastructures, Light Rail and Stout Street, while building the new Truck Dock and Parking Structure above.  This sequence of work required Ludvik Electric to install and energize four of the five main Electric Rooms, the Emergency Power System, and Life Safety System, as well as lighting and power for this portion of the building.   

One of the most critical elements in the initial phase of the project was the relocation of the existing, and operating RTD Light Rail to the new alignment.  The existing configuration was transferred one block to the North and ran under the new structure.  The Light Rail had to remain in operation; so close coordination was imperative during the move.  Substations feeding the existing rail were isolated, shutdown and relocated.  Rail communication systems and duct banks were moved and then the catenary was suspended from the new structure.  This unique installation was successfully completed without incident by Ludvik Electric. 

Having completed these milestones, the focus turned to the mass excavation of the middle of the building between the existing Convention Center and the new Parking Structure.  Due to the size of the “Box” structure, the erection sequence was from the middle of the building out.  This included setting all equipment and materials on the roof during the erection sequence and working all levels of the building concurrently.  The five thousand-seat Lecture Hall was erected independent of the “Box” structure allowing the finish work to commence in this area. 

Once the structure was substantially complete, finish work commenced on all levels of the building including the Lecture Hall.  This required an intense coordination effort in sequencing of the work.  During the erection, the Mechanical Contractors and Ludvik Electric prepared three-dimensional coordinated shop drawings.  These drawings allowed us to sequence the installation of the work, as well as establish elevations and routing of major systems.  This was critical, as the early turnover of the Parking Structure required all systems extending from that area to be complete, stubbed and capped until the second phase of the erection was completed.   

With over one hundred change directives and Three-Thousand Information Requests in the first two years of the project the completion date remains December of 2004.