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Turner
Construction
 San
Diego Convention Center Expansion Project
The
San Diego Convention Center Expansion project was a $216 million
expansion and renovation of the existing San Diego Convention
Center. The nation's leading general builder and construction
management company, Turner Construction Company, was the design
construction manager for this project. Turner’s local office
in San Diego is Golden Turner Construction Company which together
with architects Tucker, Sadler & Associates and HNTB,
the team completed the more than 902,000 square foot expansion
in late 2001. This complex project demanded careful, accurate
documentation and constant communication among the entire
project team. Turner chose to use SkyLog as
a tool to help them achieve their many time-sensitive objectives.
 Scope
of Work
The San Diego Convention
Center Expansion project was comprised of 277,000 sq. ft.
of exhibithalls, 60,000 sq. ft. of meeting rooms, 41,000
sq. ft. of ballroom area, 200,000 sq. ft. of pre-function
and lobby space, and 280,000 sq. ft. of service and support
spaces.
Construction
of Harbor Drive Lowering and the Convention Center Plaza were
also incorporated into the scope of this project. The Harbor
Drive Lowering project consisted of excavation and lowering
of the existing four-lane roadway and adding a landscaped
median to allow access to the convention center's subterranean
parking structure. Relocation of major storm drains
and utilities were required, along with the construction
of a storm water pumping facility. The Plaza project
involved extensive architectural site work with large
sculptural forms and landscaping of approximately two acres
of land adjacent to the expansion site.
"We had our crews working
two shifts, seven days a week for the last two and half months
of the project," said Ron Rudolph, Director of Operations
at Turner Construction. "The ease of recording events and
project issues via the phone with SkyLog really
streamlined the documentation procedures necessary for a project
of this size." With SkyLog, any type of project
log entry such as RFIs, Back Charges, Delay Memos, Punchlist
items, etc. could be easily recorded. ". . .many times our
superintendents either lost track, didn’t have the time or
just put writing memos, letters, etc. at the bottom of
their priority list," said Ron Rudolph. "With SkyLog,
there are no excuses. Documentation is time and date stamped
for future use and the correspondence is ready for the user’s
review by the end of the day."
Notice
to Proceed
In September of 1998, Turner began
site demolition and utility removal in preparation for the
installation of the foundation work. The foundation
area covers approximately 12 acres of the 15-acre site.
$31.5
Million For Steel Phase of the Expansion
The first piece of structural
steel for the expansion of the San Diego Convention Center
was erected on the construction site July 9, 1999. The
raising of this first piece, a 44' high steel brace frame,
represented a major milestone for the expansion project.
When the $31.5 million steel phase of the expansion project
was completed in April 2000, over 12,000 separate pieces of
steel, weighing some 36 million lbs., had been erected.
Additional
Phases No Small Task
Initial construction included the relocation of major public
utilities currently running throughout the site
such as electrical, storm drain, natural gas, water, cable
television and telephone utilities to allow the installation
of the building's foundations. Demolition of the existing
single story building, a three-story concrete stair and
an adjacent 13-acre asphalt/concrete paved parking lot cleared
the site for the new building.
Office
and Field Connected In Real Time With SkyLog
With 20 superintendents overseeing various facets, Turner
needed a real-time way to capture urgent messages and document
subcontractor performance. "It was critical that messages
were captured at the job site, documented, picked up by the
office, and forwarded via e-mail or fax to the subcontractors
that were affected," said Ron Rudolph. "SkyLog
worked great for our team on this job."
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