Category: 11 Best Building Project GC ($70M) -...

1 Contractor: Kiewit

Project Name: One Union Station Entry #: 3101

Category: Best Building Project – General Contractor ($10M - $40M)

Contractor: Kiewit

Project Name: One Union Station

Entry #: 3101

Within the historic Union Station neighborhood downtown, directly beside Denver Union

Station, One Union Station was one of 13 projects under construction in an already heavily

congested area. With extensive planning and excellent communication between the client, East

West partners, and other parties and stakeholders, Kiewit completed the core/shell for the

145,000-square-foot cast-in-place, post-tension, concrete structure and parking garage on time

and on budget.

Kiewit completed the CM/GC services for the core shell office structure, retail space and one

level below grade parking structure. Designed for LEED-Gold certification, this green office

building represents the city's recommitment to its central neighborhood and will be a cornerstone

of the community, anchoring the redevelopment to the vibrant 6th Street Mall and adjacent RTD

Light Rail and bus services.

Solutions of Special Projects

The construction team was faced with the logistical constraints of a heavily congested urban

setting, as well as a building area that extended to within inches of the edges of the property line.

The entire One Union Station project was surrounded by the overall Denver Union Station

Improvement construction boundaries. This tight building area required a proactive and

coordinated day-to-day approach to access the space needed for laydown and material delivery.

Kiewit knew what was in store each day and the team communicated daily activities to

stakeholders, minimizing the impacts to other construction projects, business owners, pedestrians

and events held in downtown Denver.

Building within 2 inches of the property line shared with a historical landmark, carried a unique

set of challenges, including: monitoring for vibrations; making modifications to Union Station’s



stone foundation; keeping underground work from overstepping the property line; and

coordinating overall project scheduling. The following steps were taken to address these issues:

• Kiewit and the client collectively decided to monitor the existing stone foundation on the

south wing of the Denver Union Station building via vibration monitors in the base of its

structure. Readings were taken twice daily to ensure no movement to the historic building

occurred during the shoring, mass excavation, subgrade structures and drilled pier

operations.

• A portion of the historic stone foundation had to be removed as it encroached into the

shoring system for the new One Union Station building.

• Due to the underground parking structure extending from property line to property line, a

3D survey scan of the support of excavation shoring system was used to verify that the

permanent shotcrete garage walls and waterproofing system did not encroach beyond the

client’s property line.

• The client required interim schedule milestones for certain elements of the core shell to

allow tenant finishes to begin approximately 3 months prior to the scheduled substantial

completion date for the core shell. Near the end of the project, there were six separate

general contractors actively working together in the building. The Kiewit team and the

client/client’s representative made it a priority to be proactive by holding weekly

coordination meetings to ensure work was coordinated and all contractors were aligned

towards the collective completion goals.

Excellence in project execution and management/team approach

The key to the successful and on-time completion of the project was the collaboration between

all involved parties. Coordination was needed between the consultants completing the interior

buildout; other general contractors working in the area including another Kiewit team

constructing the Denver Union Station transit redevelopments; the client and other stakeholders;

and local businesses and end-users. Kiewit made it a priority to foster a good rapport both

personally and professionally with the developer/client, the client’s representative, the architect,

and designers.



It was important to remain open and transparent with cost and change orders, scheduling issues

and quality concerns. This policy allowed the team to be more flexible and open to the client’s

input, ideas and practices, and facilitate participation to find solutions and mitigate issues before

they affected the project’s schedule.

In direct coordination with the developer, Kiewit took a proactive approach to coordinate traffic

control, street closures, deliveries and general neighborhood concerns. Kiewit initiated ongoing

coordination meetings with other general contractors working in the area to develop plans that

mitigated the collective disruption to the immediate area. Additionally, Kiewit reached out to

neighboring building management groups to address their concerns about building activities and

served as a liaison to direct questions or concerns.

Construction innovations/state-of-the-art advancement

The project team remained focused on ensuring the One Union Station building would achieve

LEED-Gold status. The following elements were key components to obtaining this certification:

• A high-efficiency variable refrigerant flow mechanical system — a type of system new to

Denver. Kiewit held several design charrettes with the mechanical engineer and client,

involving them in the selection of the system manufacturer.

• A roof designed and constructed to act as a detention basin to collect rain water and, in

the event of a large rain event, control the discharge flow in a manner to minimize the

load on the overall Denver wastewater system.

• Exterior walls (behind the brick veneer) installed with a one-step, spray-applied air

barrier and expansive foam insulation product to minimize the potential for air leaks and

create a more efficient insulation cavity at the exterior walls.

• BIM elements were used to help identify potential coordination and constructability

issues with the structure before field work began.

• Due to site limitations and public exposure in a very busy area of downtown the project

team worked with the subcontractors and determined that sharing scaffolding systems

across trades would save the client overall schedule time on the building’s exterior and

allow multiple trades to access the same building elevation simultaneously, consolidating

the sequencing of various tasks.



Environmental/Safety

“Nobody Gets Hurt” is the guiding principal of Kiewit’s safety program. Through training, work

planning, jobsite inspections, intolerance for disregard of safety rules, planning for pedestrian

traffic and the active engagement of our subcontractors, the project team implemented a site-

specific safety program that instilled confidence that craft workers and subcontractors could do

their jobs on an active urban site both safely and efficiently. Not only was on-site safety

paramount but with the site’s proximity to the city’s stadiums, entertainment districts, and transit

hubs, the team had to stay vigilant on ensuring the safety of the travelling public on one of

downtown’s busiest corners. Notable elements of the site-specific safety plan that set the tone for

excellence in safety, included:

• Monthly safety walks and mass safety meetings by various subcontractors.

• Visible ‘Why I Work Safe’ badges worn as a visual cue and constant reminder that

each and every employee needs to go home safe at night.

• Empowering each craft and subcontractor on-site to foster an attitude where they

looked out for each other on the job.

These efforts resulted in zero lost-time incidents for Kiewit and all subcontractors over the entire

20-month construction duration, with more than 175,000 total manhours (including craft) worked

safe.

Within the community, Kiewit worked to leave as little impact as possible. The team focused on

an aggressive ‘no sediment leaves the site’ mitigation plan for sediment tracking. Throughout the

life of the project, Kiewit did not receive a single complaint regarding tracking sediment onto the

street from its site, appeasing both the community and the Environmental Protection Agency

located across from the site, and the RTD/City and County of Denver who were observing due to

the vast amount of construction around the DUS area.

Excellence in client service and/or contribution to community

Because of Kiewit’s work at One Union Station and at Denver Union Station and the projects’

locations in a typical downtown environment, with limited space, no parking, and plenty of



pedestrian and safety concerns, the team built a strong relationship within the community

including the client, tenants, local businesses, and with their adjacent (and much larger) Kiewit

project.

The team communicated with the City and County of Denver regarding coordination of its

planned events such as the St. Patrick’s Day parade, various 5Ks, special events, Rockies games,

Great Western Stock Show parade, etc., to ensure that construction activities did not impact city

events.

The inspiring results that came from active collaboration, cooperation and positive relationships

made all the difference in regards to the project being a success and went a long way with the

client. Chris Frampton, the Managing Partner at East West Partners said this about the project:

“The team on the ground at One Union Station is killing it. We simply could not be happier with

their work. The job is, obviously, progressing nicely. That is happening because of the care and

attention paid by [The Kiewit Team]. Everyone is working very well with our team, identifying

issues well in advance, and executing on the plan to complete. We thank you for that. Really.”

Category: 11 Best Building Project GC ($70M) -...

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