2007 ACE AWARDS
Bronze Award Winner
Heath Construction & EPURA Overcome Mother Nature – and Her River
Wiest Plaza, Estes Park, Colorado
It wasn’t the constant meetings with Estes Park shop owners, the sub-zero working conditions at 7,000+ feet in Estes Park or the last-minute design changes that worried Heath Construction Superintendent Jerry Grandt most during the $1.9 million project to build Wiest Plaza and extend the town’s Riverwalk along Fall River.
Instead, his primary concern was Mother Nature’s spring deadline – when snowmelt transforms the river that flows directly through the project into a raging waterway. If the Heath team didn’t complete Wiest Plaza/Riverwalk retaining walls before Fall River rose, the entire project would be compromised.
Project Challenges & Innovative Solutions Heath’s work to build Wiest Plaza and the final section of the town’s 2-mile, meandering Riverwalk began in January 2007 during one of Colorado’s most bitter winters on record. With temperatures hovering in single digits and wind speeds often exceeding 40 mph, blowing and drifting snow made working conditions difficult – especially along a river. “We poured concrete for the river’s retaining walls in the dead of winter,” Grandt said. “We had to beat the spring runoff.”
Before work began to replace the old, crumbling retaining walls, the Heath team re-routed 450-feet of the river by installing a 30-inch pipe under the riverbed, which diverted water while the crew worked above. Installing the underground pipe required the team to work directly in cold, rushing water. Neoprene waders and gloves kept them warm and dry.
But even after water flowed through the pipe, the river’s high water table meant muddy water seeped into the work area. The Heath crew constructed a series of small “hay bale” filter beds with settling ponds in the work area to keep sediment-filled water from contaminating water downstream. If water was too “thick” to be filtered, it was pumped out and trucked to a nearby leach field to naturally filter. “Trout Unlimited monitored the river’s water quality,” Grandt said. “We had no violations and were praised for being proactive.”
Up to 40 workers shared the cramped 100-foot-wide x 450-foot-long work area during the height of construction. At one time, seven types of equipment were in the river – including a hoe ram to break rock, a track hoe to load broken rock and a skid steer to grade areas. Dump trucks removed rock.
Thousands of feet of overhead utility wires spanned the work area. As Heath crews worked in the river, others replaced old utility wires with new underground services. Not one local business experienced a service interruption. At the same time, Heath also buried utility lines and built a pedestrian crossing across Moraine Avenue, the busy four-lane highway that borders the project. Traffic control was a logistical challenge, since the highway was reduced to one lane in each direction for 10 days. “We worked with CDOT to plan our approach and get proper permits,” he said.
Before concrete retaining walls were built, crews used thumbed track hoes to remove large boulders from the 20-foot-tall dirt riverbanks. They then reinforced the dirt walls with chain-link and applied shotcrete (sprayable concrete) to keep walls from collapsing on workers below, and to prevent erosion from crumbling an old store built on the riverbank.
As crews poured concrete along the river’s sides, they blanketed the concrete and used heaters to keep it from freezing. Frigid temperatures formed large ice blocks that clogged the end of the 30-inch underground waterpipe that discharged water back to the river. Crews used a track hoe in the river each day to break ice.
Project design was completed just one-step ahead of construction on the 7-month job. As a result, the project’s scope continually evolved. “I didn’t have updated project plans until the start of each week. Scheduling subcontractors was challenging,” recalled Grandt. He credits weekly on-site meetings between Heath, Estes Park Urban Renewal Authority officials, the architect and engineering firm with keeping the project on schedule.
More than 20 busy restaurants and shops line each side of Wiest Plaza. Before construction began, the area was an unwelcoming dirt alley that shoppers wandered through to reach the rear entrances of stores. Construction transformed the weed-filled alley into a beautiful tourist magnet featuring cut rock and stone, an inviting gazebo, benches, trees and shrubs, and steps to a shallow river section.
To address business-owner concerns about construction disruptions, Heath and town officials sent regular project updates, crews built special walkways for business access and Grandt visited stores weekly -- building first-name relationships with owners. Store owner Randy Martin said, “Jerry kept us informed. There wasn’t any impact on business.”
A few surprises were uncovered, including two old 500-gallon propane tanks buried more than 30 years ago. “Within a week, we coordinated with the gas company, building inspector and engineering firm to develop a plan and then remove them,” Grandt said.
Even with the challenges, surprises and Mother Nature’s wrath, Grandt and his team completed the Wiest Plaza/Riverwalk project on time and under budget.
Safety Each DayNo one was injured during the 7-month project. Each morning, Grandt oversaw a Job Hazard Analysis meeting where employees discussed and reviewed the day’s work, and shared safety ideas during daily Safety Task Assignments. “Because the jobsite changed every day and often was very crowded, we constantly discussed issues and mapped out where everyone would be. Our goal was to eliminate issues before they arose. Communication was paramount.”
