Cranes Mobilized on Great Hall Project as Construction Continues

The Great Hall Project continues to move forward, taking advantage of the lighter passenger traffic and working both during the day and night. Most of the work is focused on constructing the new ticketing pods on Level 6 in the middle of the terminal, completing demolition and starting the construction of the new restrooms on Level 5 and 6. View a slideshow of construction progress here.

April work included:

• Moving the Level 5, center terminal construction walls by the concourse train arrivals to allow the setting of structural steel for the new Level 6 ticketing pods.
• The south bridge on Level 6 has been shut down at night while crews complete demolition work to accommodate future widening of the bridge. Also, the construction walls along the railings of the bridge have been extended 12 feet and will remain in this configuration for the remainder of Phase I.
• Barricades have been set up on Level 5 below the south bridge. These barricades are to protect passengers and employees from the steel work in progress above.

Upcoming work includes:

• A large crane was installed on Level 6 east in the passenger drop-off area. The crane will be used to install structural steel in the middle of the terminal (between Doors 607 – 611). This steel will enclose the new Levels 5 and 6 bathrooms.
• The crane will lift steel up and over the sidewalk and tent canopies and lower it into place on the back of the curbside check-in.

• While the crane is in place, the sidewalk, passenger drop-off lane, and first full lane of traffic between Doors 607-611 will be closed. Signage will direct passengers around these closures and construction personnel will help pedestrians, if needed. To get from one end of Level 6 to the other, passengers will need to go down to Level 5, travel through baggage claim and go back up to Level 6. Vehicle traffic can navigate around the closure by dropping off before or after the crane area.

• At the beginning of June, steel and concrete work inside the terminal will switch from the west to the east side of the Level 5 arrivals area.
• East side Level 5 perimeter construction walls will move closer to baggage claim carousels 5 and 6, which service Southwest and Frontier. This work will also close Door 509. This configuration is scheduled for eight weeks.

Hensel Phelps Explores Innovation with Spot the Robot Dog

One of the challenges of the Great Hall Project is having active construction in multiple locations. To help overcome this challenge, Hensel Phelps has partnered with Trimble and Boston Dynamics to test Spot, a robot dog.

Spot is equipped with a built-in scanner and can capture 360 images of the construction site. These tools can aid in quality and production control. Typically, this process requires an experienced worker who must physically carry significant equipment throughout the job site and manually scan all elements and aspects of the project. To ensure accuracy, multiple scans are required, which can be burdensome and time-consuming.Here is where Spot can help. Behind the construction walls, Spot navigates the construction site and scans all necessary elements of the project. Since Spot’s scanners are precise, there is no need for multiple scans. Additionally, the scans are processed quicker and received faster. This allows experts to focus on other tasks while Spot does the grunt work.

While Spot is currently being tested, Hensel Phelps is hoping the partnership will pay off and Spot can become a full-time member of the team.

Spotlight on Affordable Concrete: A Minority Business Enterprise

Hensel Phelps has a history of taking minority and women-owned businesses (MWBEs) under their wing and helping them reach their full potential through the City of Denver’s Mentor-Protégé Program. In the past, we have featured Hensel Phelps’ relationships with Sky Blue Builders and LS Gallegos.

This month, we want to highlight Affordable Concrete LLC. Affordable Concrete has recently partnered with Hensel Phelps in the city’s Mentor-Protégé Program and is looking forward to joining the Great Hall team. Affordable Concrete is meeting regularly with Hensel Phelps to evaluate upcoming work and the best way to approach it.

Affordable Concrete is a minority-owned business started in 2005. They are a 30-plus person, full-service general construction company with specialties in concrete, commercial and office renovations, asphalt, civil, and demolition services.

Roger Bartlett, President of Affordable Concrete sat down to answer a few questions about their new relationship with Hensel Phelps, their construction experience and what they want everyone to know about Affordable Concrete.

Why did Affordable Concrete choose Hensel Phelps as a mentor?

In doing our research, we found that Hensel Phelps has an outstanding record dealing with small and minority businesses. We like and can identify with Hensel Phelps’s approach, culture and values – they line up with our corporate values.

What is Affordable Concrete’s desired outcome from this Mentor-Protégé relationship with HP?
We want to grow and take our footprint beyond the Great Hall project - to regional and even national markets. We want to continue building our corporate culture with best practices from a company that demonstrates success.

What do you want the world to know about Affordable Concrete?

Affordable Concrete desires to become a nationally recognized general contractor that is impactful in helping, growing and scaling other minority firms and individuals. Affordable Concrete has a passion for introducing and exposing minority youth to the construction industry and to help grow other minority businesses and the overall community.

Hensel Phelps Holds Another Virtual Outreach Event

On May 20, Hensel Phelps held their second virtual DEN Great Hall recruiting event for trade partners. The Hensel Phelps team outlined their Phase I role and their existing needs. The outreach targeted Minority/Women-owned Business Enterprise (MWBE) firms with expertise in mechanical, electrical and plumbing. The two subcontractors looking to hire currently are Intermountain Electric for electrical contracts and U.S. Engineering for mechanical and plumbing. Both companies are looking for qualified MWBE contractors.

Electrical work will include communications room build-outs, Emergency Communication System speaker system installation, lighting installation, fire caulking, and shell space build-outs. Mechanical needs on the project include pipefitting, duct work repair and replacement. Plumbing work includes booster pumps, domestic water lines and bathrooms.

“We had received some feedback that firms wanted a little more time to prepare for the project opportunities, so we decided to hold a ‘pre-pre-bid’, to give firms early notification and extra time,” said Maxine Pryor, Small, Minority and Women-owned Business Enterprise Program Manager for the Great Hall Project.

Despite the fact that the event was virtual, over 90 people “attended” this meeting.

Intermountain Electrical and U.S. Engineering will be holding their own official pre-bid events in the near future. Bid packages will be due late summer. In the meantime, if you have any questions, please send an email to greathallopportunities@henselphelps.com.