Last Week

• Frame instal­la­tion for the “walk­a­ble” sky­lights on the ground floor was ongoing.
• Layout work con­tin­ued in prepa­ra­tion for the New AAM’s glass cur­tain wall.
• Construction on the facility’s roof truss con­tin­ued, includ­ing instal­la­tion of spi­ral duct­work and web structures.
• Installation of fire sprin­klers began on the sec­ond level.
• Roofing work com­menced at the site of the freight ele­va­tor and the third level mechan­i­cal room.
• Pre-finished duct­work and fire sprin­kler lines were installed the third level.

This Week

• Construction on the facility’s roof truss con­tin­ues with the instal­la­tion of the system’s top chords.
• Roofing work at the site of the freight ele­va­tor and mechan­i­cal room con­tin­ues on the third level.
• Fire sprin­klers will be stocked in prepa­ra­tion for instal­la­tion on the third level.
• Plywood back­ing com­mences in the lower level galleries.
• Installation of the fluid-applied water­proof­ing mem­brane at the south ele­va­tion commences.

Next Week

• Construction on the facility’s roof truss webs will be sub­stan­tially com­pleted and roof sheath­ing will commence.
• Installation of the pis­ton on the New AAM’s freight ele­va­tor will commence.
• Installation of the fluid-applied mem­brane at the south ele­va­tion will be completed.

Construction Notes

UPDATE: RK Mechanical’s Francisca “Fran” Heusser

MEP con­trac­tor RK Mechanical’s Francisca Heusser con­tin­ues to pass her tests on the way to attain­ing her plumbers license. Fran has been work­ing on instal­la­tion of the New AAM facility’s cold water sys­tem and dili­gently pur­su­ing her license in her spare time. Congratulations, Fran, on your con­tin­u­ing success!

Don’t for­get to check out the lat­est New AAM facil­ity time-lapse con­struc­tion footage here!

http://aspenartmuseum.org/newbuilding/

Last Week

• Construction con­tin­ued on the facility’s top level, includ­ing instal­la­tion of wood deck­ing, spi­ral duct­work, and roof truss elements.
• As per City of Aspen require­ment, work on the New AAM facil­ity was sus­pended on Thursday, November 28, for the obser­va­tion of the Thanksgiving hol­i­day. Construction resumed on sched­ule on Friday, November 29.
• Frame instal­la­tion for the “walk­a­ble” sky­lights on the ground floor commenced.

This Week

• Frame instal­la­tion for the “walk­a­ble” sky­lights on the ground floor is ongoing.
• Layout work con­tin­ues in prepa­ra­tion for the New AAM’s glass cur­tain wall.
• Construction on the facility’s roof truss con­tin­ues, includ­ing instal­la­tion of spi­ral duct­work and web structures.
• Fire sprin­klers are being installed on the sec­ond level.
• Roofing work com­mences at the site of the freight ele­va­tor and the third level mechan­i­cal room.

Next Week

• Construction on the facility’s roof truss will con­tinue, includ­ing instal­la­tion of wood deck­ing, spi­ral duct­work, and web structures.
• Roofing work at the site of the freight ele­va­tor and mechan­i­cal room con­tin­ues on the third level.
• Fire sprin­klers will be stocked on the third level.

Construction Notes

Don’t for­get to check out the lat­est New AAM facil­ity time-lapse con­struc­tion footage here!

Last Week

• Ground floor glaz­ing and win­dow instal­la­tion was sub­stan­tially com­pleted on the east side of the facility.
• Construction con­tin­ued on the facility’s roof truss sys­tem, includ­ing deliv­ery of web struc­tures and Glulam beams—laminated struc­tural tim­ber prod­ucts bonded together with highly durable, moisture-resistant adhesives.
• The tem­po­rary heat­ing sys­tem was installed.

This Week

• Construction con­tin­ues on the facility’s top level, includ­ing instal­la­tion of wood decking, spiral ductwork, and roof truss elements.
• The real­iza­tion of Shigeru Ban’s sig­na­ture roof truss design for the New AAM (one of five key design fea­tures) gen­er­ates some amaz­ing facts, these are just a few:

• There were approx­i­mately 900 hours devoted to the ini­tial design phase of the truss.
• The fab­ri­ca­tion ele­ments for the truss rely on a group of lead­ing experts and man­u­fac­tur­ers from around the globe—Finland, Switzerland, Canada, and the USA.
• Structural test­ing for truss ele­ments were accom­plished at the University of Berne in Switzerland.
• Each truss web weighs 500 lbs., and the hor­i­zon­tal Glulam beams weigh approx­i­mately 4,500 lbs. each.
• Some of the ply­wood tech­nolo­gies used in its man­u­fac­ture are being used for the first time anywhere.
• There are about 20,000 fasteners/bolts used in its installation.
• There is less than a mil­lime­ter of tol­er­ance allowed between each joint within the truss sys­tem upon installation.
• The Swiss-made adhe­sives used in the man­u­fac­ture of the truss are being used in North America for one of the first times on this project, and each ele­ment will be sealed with a moisture-wicking coat­ing to assure that they are com­pletely mois­ture and weatherproof.

• Frame instal­la­tion for the “walk­a­ble” sky­lights on the ground floor commences.
• Roofing work com­mences at the site of the freight ele­va­tor and the third level mechan­i­cal room.

Next Week

• Frame instal­la­tion for the “walk­a­ble” sky­lights on the ground floor will continue.
•  Layout work com­mences in prepa­ra­tion for the New AAM’s glass cur­tain wall.
• Construction will con­tinue on the facility’s roof truss, includ­ing instal­la­tion of wood deck­ing, spi­ral duct­work, and web structures.
• Fire sprin­klers will begin to be installed on the sec­ond level.

Construction Notes

Meet Spearhead Timberworks’ Manfred Elmer

A native Austrian and full-time res­i­dent of Canada since May of 2007, Spearhead Timberworks’ Manfred Elmer has been involved with the tech­ni­cal, logis­ti­cal, and struc­tural ele­ments of the New AAM’s truss sys­tem since the first con­cep­tual phase of the AAM design project began over four years ago. A mas­ter car­pen­ter by trade, Manfred has been on-site in Aspen as a com­pany rep­re­sen­ta­tive for the British Columbia-based firm, tasked with ensur­ing that the roof truss sys­tem is installed accord­ing to its rig­or­ous specifications—no small feat, as he describes each of its cutting-edge ele­ments and their global ori­gins, their unique design and man­u­fac­ture (see “roof truss facts” in THIS WEEK sec­tion above), and the pre­cise nature of their instal­la­tion. Says Manfred: “The truss is truly sin­gu­lar, one-of-a-kind—using tech­nolo­gies in fab­ri­ca­tion, mate­ri­als, adhe­sives and sealants that are the absolute cut­ting edge of engi­neer­ing tech­nol­ogy and push­ing the enve­lope in nearly every sense. It is no exag­ger­a­tion to say that it will be the first and per­haps the last of its kind; wholly unique.” We thank Manfred for being here to over­see what will be one of our new home’s most com­pelling archi­tec­tural fea­tures, and for being an inte­gral part of the AAM’s global con­struc­tion team.

As per City of Aspen require­ment, work on the New AAM facil­ity will be sus­pended on Thursday, November 28, for the obser­va­tion of the Thanksgiving hol­i­day. Construction will resume on sched­ule on Friday, November 29. We wish our con­struc­tion team and all a Happy Thanksgiving.

Don’t for­get to check out the lat­est New AAM facil­ity time-lapse con­struc­tion footage here!

http://aspenartmuseum.org/newbuilding/

Last Week

• Glazing and win­dow instal­la­tion com­menced on the ground and sec­ond floors on the east side of the facility.
• Ground floor frame lay­out com­menced in prepa­ra­tion for instal­la­tion of the “walk­a­ble” sky­lights in the lobby and gallery three floors.
• Construction on the roof truss sys­tem was ongo­ing, includ­ing ele­ments of the top chord being placed and attached to the com­pleted bot­tom chord assem­bly, paint­ing and instal­la­tion of spi­ral ductwork, and work on the truss system’s sup­port columns.

This Week

• Ground floor glaz­ing and win­dow instal­la­tion is sub­stan­tially com­pleted on the east side of the facility.
• Construction is ongo­ing on the facility’s roof truss sys­tem, includ­ing deliv­ery of web struc­tures and Glulam beams—laminated struc­tural tim­ber prod­ucts bonded together with highly durable, moisture-resistant adhesives.
• The tem­po­rary heat­ing sys­tem is being installed.

Next Week

• Construction will con­tinue on the facility’s top level, includ­ing instal­la­tion of wood decking, spiral ductwork, and roof truss elements.
• Frame instal­la­tion for the “walk­a­ble” sky­lights on the ground floor will be ongoing.

Last Week

• Overhead MEP was sub­stan­tially com­pleted in the administration/office area on the building’s sec­ond level.
• The tem­po­rary exte­rior enclo­sure was com­pleted along the north and east sides of the facil­ity in prepa­ra­tion for instal­la­tion of the tem­po­rary heat­ing system.
• Construction of the roof truss con­tin­ued, with the first ele­ments of the top chords begin­ning to be placed and attached to the com­pleted bot­tom chord assembly.
• The first ele­ments of the spi­ral duct­work were painted and installed within the truss system.

This Week

• Glazing and win­dow instal­la­tion com­mences on the ground and sec­ond floors on the east side of the facility.
• Ground floor frame lay­out com­mences in prepa­ra­tion for instal­la­tion of the “walk­a­ble” sky­lights in the floors of the lobby and gallery three.
• Construction on the top level of the facil­ity is ongo­ing, includ­ing fur­ther work on the roof truss sys­tem, paint­ing and instal­la­tion of spi­ral ductwork, and work on truss sys­tem sup­port columns.

Next Week

• Ground floor glaz­ing and win­dow instal­la­tion will be fin­ished on the east side of the facility.
• Construction will con­tinue on the top level of the facil­ity, includ­ing fur­ther work on the roof truss system.
• Installation of the pis­ton on the New AAM’s freight ele­va­tor will commence.

Construction Notes

Meet RK Mechanical’s
Francisca “Fran” Heusser

A New Castle res­i­dent and native of Chile—where her father owns a large con­struc­tion firm—Francisca Heusser is a Plumber’s Apprentice with MEP con­trac­tor RK Mechanical. Fran is cur­rently work­ing on instal­la­tion of the new facility’s cold water sys­tem, and is work­ing on her plumbers license online in between her busy work­days at the New AAM site.

Fran has lived in Colorado for six years, begin­ning her offi­cial tenure in the con­struc­tion indus­try with Kimmel Mechanical (for three years) after a seven-year stint as a flight atten­dant. With Kimmel, Fran worked on numer­ous large-scale projects includ­ing the Aspen Music Festival and School facil­ity and the Aspen Skiing Company’s Treehouse Kids’ Adventure Center in Snowmass.

In her spare time, Fran enjoys spend­ing time at home with her hus­band, as well as being a week­end ski instruc­tor and, dur­ing warm weather, work­ing as a raft guide and play­ing golf. Like all of us on the New AAM team, Fran is very excited about the open­ing of the new museum. We are very grate­ful for her hard work on our behalf

Last Week

• Overhead Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing (MEP) work con­tin­ued on the building’s sec­ond level.
• Metal door frames were received and instal­la­tion began on the lower, ground, and sec­ond levels.
• Construction of the roof truss continued.
• The tem­po­rary exte­rior enclo­sure along the north and east sides of the facil­ity was sub­stan­tially com­pleted in prepa­ra­tion for the tem­po­rary heat­ing sys­tem to be installed.

This Week

Check out the lat­est New AAM facil­ity time-lapse con­struc­tion footage here!

http://aspenartmuseum.org/newbuilding/

• Overhead MEP will be sub­stan­tially com­pleted in the administration/office area on the building’s sec­ond level.
• The tem­po­rary exte­rior enclo­sure will be com­pleted along the north and east sides of the facil­ity and the tem­po­rary heat­ing sys­tem installed.
• Construction of the roof truss con­tin­ues, with the first ele­ments of the top chords begin­ning to be placed and attached to the com­pleted bot­tom chord assem­bly. The first of the spi­ral duct­work ele­ments are sched­uled to be installed within the truss system.

Spearhead Timberworks employee Geoff Lucas installs one of approx­i­mately 20,000 bolts used in the instal­la­tion of the New AAM roof truss system—some of which are up to 3 feet in length!

Next Week

• Glazing and win­dow instal­la­tion will take place on the east side of the facility.
• Ground floor frame instal­la­tion will com­mence in prepa­ra­tion for instal­la­tion of the “walk­a­ble” sky­lights in the floors of the lobby and gallery three.
• Construction on the top level of the facil­ity will be ongo­ing, includ­ing fur­ther work on the roof truss sys­tem and instal­la­tion of wood decking.

Construction Notes

This past week­end, New AAM prin­ci­pal design archi­tect Shigeru Ban paid a visit to Aspen to walk through the new facil­ity and to dis­cuss details of his Shigeru Ban: Humanitarian Architecture exhi­bi­tion sched­uled for the museum’s grand open­ing [Gallery 1—Second Level], in August 2014. Featuring projects selected in col­lab­o­ra­tion with AAM Nancy and Bob Magoon CEO and Director Heidi Zuckerman Jacobson and an exhi­bi­tion design con­cept by Ban him­self, Shigeru Ban: Humanitarian Architecture will cen­ter on full-scale exam­ples of Ban’s ground­break­ing designs for human­i­tar­ian shel­ters in the wake of some of the most dev­as­tat­ing nat­ural and man­made dis­as­ters of the past two decades.

Last Week

• Construction of the bot­tom chord assem­bly of the roof truss was com­pleted, and the first “web” ele­ments of the truss sys­tem were deliv­ered to the site.
• Exterior wall fram­ing was sub­stan­tially com­pleted on the north and east sides of the facility.
• Work com­menced on the tem­po­rary exte­rior enclo­sure along the north and east sides of the facility.
• Overhead Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing (MEP) work was per­formed on the building’s sec­ond level.

This Week

• Overhead MEP work con­tin­ues on the building’s sec­ond level.
• Metal door frames will be received and installed on the lower, ground, and sec­ond levels.
• Construction of the roof truss continues.
• The tem­po­rary exte­rior enclo­sure along the north and east sides of the facil­ity will be sub­stan­tially com­pleted in prepa­ra­tion for a tem­po­rary heat­ing sys­tem to be installed.

Next Week

• Ground floor frame instal­la­tion will com­mence in prepa­ra­tion for instal­la­tion of the “walk­a­ble” sky­lights in the lobby and gallery three.
• Overhead MEP work will be com­pleted in the administration/office area on the building’s sec­ond level.
• Construction of the roof truss will continue.

Last Week

• Last week marked the end of a full year of con­struc­tion on the New AAM facil­ity. With less than a year of con­struc­tion remain­ing, we are on sched­ule for the pub­lic open­ing of the build­ing on August 9, 2014.
• Work was com­pleted on the con­crete curbs/aprons, and the asphalt over­lay was placed along East Hyman Avenue, South Spring Street, and in the alley behind the facility.
• Construction of the roof truss and exte­rior wall fram­ing on the north and east sides of the facil­ity were ongoing.
• Overhead Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing (MEP) work con­tin­ued on the building’s first and sec­ond levels.

This Week

• Construction of the roof truss con­tin­ues, with com­ple­tion slated for the bot­tom chord assembly.
• Exterior wall fram­ing will be sub­stan­tially com­pleted on the north and east sides of the facility.
• Work com­mences on the tem­po­rary exte­rior enclo­sure along the north and east sides of the facility.
• Overhead MEP work con­tin­ues on the building’s sec­ond level.

Next Week

• Ground level frame instal­la­tion will com­mence in prepa­ra­tion for instal­la­tion of the “walk­a­ble” sky­lights in the lobby and gallery three.
• Construction of the roof truss will continue.
• Work con­tin­ues on the tem­po­rary exte­rior enclo­sure along the north and east sides of the facility.

Construction Notes

MEET AAM CONSTRUCTION TEAM MEMBERS SPEARHEAD TIMBERWORKS and CRESTONE CONSTRUCTION

Fabrication and instal­la­tion of the New AAM’s roof truss is being accom­plished by Spearhead Timberworks—a multi-faceted design and value-added wood man­u­fac­tur­ing com­pany head­quar­tered in Nelson, British Columbia, Canada—with the assis­tance of Vail Valley-based Crestone Construction team mem­bers. Fabricated in Spearhead’s Canadian facil­ity begin­ning in July, the roof truss com­po­nents were assem­bled, dis­as­sem­bled, and then shipped to Aspen for instal­la­tion on site. We thank both Spearhead and Crestone for pro­vid­ing their valu­able exper­tise in mak­ing and installing one of the most sig­nif­i­cant archi­tec­tural fea­tures of Shigeru Ban’s New AAM design.

BIM ren­der­ings of the New AAM’s roof truss system.

Last Week

• Work com­menced on the con­crete curbs and aprons along East Hyman Avenue, South Spring Street, and in the alley behind the facility.
• Construction of the roof truss began.
• Exterior wall fram­ing con­tin­ued on the north and east sides of the build­ing, and over­head Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing (MEP) work con­tin­ued on the building’s first level.
• Overhead MEP rough-in com­menced on the building’s sec­ond level.

This Week

This week marks the end of a full year of con­struc­tion on the New AAM facil­ity. With less than a year of con­struc­tion remain­ing, we are on sched­ule for the pub­lic open­ing of the build­ing on August 9, 2014.

In review:

• The process of dig­ging the New AAM’s foun­da­tion took approx­i­mately 12 weeks and saw about 180,000 cubic feet of mate­r­ial removed from the site dur­ing the process. Final exca­va­tion depths reached 24 feet along the alley and 18 feet elsewhere.
• By nine weeks into con­struc­tion, the instal­la­tion of sol­dier beams and wood lag­ging were in process and the hole for Shigeru Ban’s “mov­ing room” glass gallery ele­va­tor on the north­east cor­ner of the New AAM facil­ity was being drilled.
• Crews began form­ing the New AAM’s foun­da­tion walls in late February 2013. The lower level of the museum was begin­ning to take shape as crews began instal­la­tion of the roughly 379,000 pounds of rebar sched­uled for use dur­ing the struc­tural phase of con­struc­tion. Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing rough-in (MEP) began on the lower level.
• By mid-May, the pour­ing of both the foun­da­tion and the lower level slab had been com­pleted. Forming of the street level slab was ongo­ing and instal­la­tion of post-tension cables had begun within the sec­ond level gallery floors. At this point, the con­struc­tion of the New AAM had com­prised 164 days of work and aver­aged 37 work­ers on-site per day—70% of whom were local.
• During July, the third level’s post-tension deck was poured, and the top­ping out of the facility’s con­crete struc­ture was com­pleted on July 23. The roof truss, a sig­nif­i­cant archi­tec­tural fea­ture of Shigeru Ban’s New AAM design, was under­way at Spearhead Timberworks in Nelson, British Columbia, Canada.
• During August, inte­rior and exte­rior wall fram­ing was under­way through­out the new facil­ity, and by mid-September, work had com­menced on the pre­cast grand stair. This unique fea­ture of Shigeru Ban’s design for the New AAM facil­ity allows for the nat­ural blend­ing of out­door and indoor spaces and will fea­ture mobile pedestals where art will be exhibited.
• During the begin­ning of October, exte­rior wall fram­ing on the north and east sides of the facil­ity con­tin­ued, and instal­la­tion of win­dows on the south side com­menced. Utility instal­la­tion neared com­ple­tion and con­struc­tion of the roof truss scaf­fold­ing sys­tem continued.
• Over the past year of con­struc­tion much has been accom­plished, with over 61,000 worker hours logged. Thanks to all the mem­bers of the New AAM con­struc­tion team!

• As we con­tinue the process, work con­tin­ues on the con­crete curbs and aprons along East Hyman Avenue, South Spring Street, and in the alley behind the facil­ity in prepa­ra­tion for the asphalt overlay.
• Construction of the roof truss will be ongo­ing this week.
• Overhead MEP work con­tin­ues on the building’s first and sec­ond levels.
• Exterior wall fram­ing is ongo­ing on the north and east sides of the facility.
•  Work com­mences on a tem­po­rary exte­rior clo­sure along the north and east sides of the facil­ity in prepa­ra­tion for the win­ter season.

Next Week

• Construction of the roof truss will be ongoing.
• Overhead MEP work will con­tinue on the building’s sec­ond level.
• Exterior wall fram­ing will con­tinue on the north and east sides of the facility.
• Work will con­tinue on a tem­po­rary exte­rior clo­sure along the north and east sides of the facil­ity in prepa­ra­tion for the win­ter season.

Last Week

• Installation con­tin­ued on stair num­ber three—a back-of-house stair on the south­west cor­ner (alley side) of the new building.
• Exterior wall fram­ing was ongo­ing on the north and east sides of the facil­ity, and instal­la­tion of win­dows on the facility’s south side commenced.
• Installation of the roof truss scaf­fold­ing sys­tem continued.
• Overhead Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing (MEP) work con­tin­ued on the first level.
• Utility instal­la­tion neared com­ple­tion on the south side of the building.
• Water ser­vice was tied in to the City of Aspen munic­i­pal sys­tem on South Spring Street.

This Week

• Work com­mences on the con­crete curbs and aprons along East Hyman Avenue, South Spring Street, and in the alley behind the facility.
• Construction of the roof truss begins.
•  Exterior wall fram­ing con­tin­ues on the north and east sides of the building.
•  Overhead MEP work con­tin­ues on the building’s first level.

Next Week

• Next week will mark the end of a full year of the New AAM con­struc­tion project. We are on schedule!
• Construction of the roof truss will be ongoing.
• Work will con­tinue on the curbs and aprons along East Hyman Avenue and South Spring Street in prepa­ra­tion for the asphalt overlay.
• Overhead MEP work will con­tinue on the building’s first level.
• Exterior wall fram­ing will be ongo­ing on the north and east sides of the facility.
• Work will com­mence on a tem­po­rary exte­rior clo­sure along the north and east sides of the facil­ity in prepa­ra­tion for the win­ter season.

Construction Notes

MEET AAM PROJECT MANAGER MIKE O’CONNOR

Michael O’Connor (O’Connor Consulting) brings over twenty-five years of devel­op­ment and con­struc­tion expe­ri­ence to the New AAM’s build­ing project team. Currently based in Basalt, Mike’s other projects over the past decade have included site work for Snowmass Base Village­ (a $600M mixed-use project at the base of the ski area) and con­struc­tion of the 7,000 square-foot, LEED cer­ti­fied, on-mountain restau­rant Sam’s Knob; as well as con­struc­tion of multi and single-family afford­able hous­ing projects for both the Aspen School District and the Town of Snowmass Village. Working pri­mar­ily in ski resort areas from New Hampshire to Colorado, Mike was also on the team that devel­oped and built the $250M River Run Base Village in Keystone, CO. Specializing in owner rep­re­sen­ta­tion, Mike man­ages all aspects of each project he works on, and is a key player in keep­ing our New AAM project mov­ing for­ward on sched­ule and on bud­get. We are sin­cerely grate­ful for his efforts on our behalf.

Last Week

• Installation com­menced on stair num­ber three— a back-of-house stair lead­ing from the ground floor to the third level on the alley side of the new facility.
• Utility instal­la­tion con­tin­ued on the south side of the facility.
• Overhead Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing (MEP) work began on the first level.
• Installation of the roof truss scaf­fold­ing sys­tem continued.
• Exterior fram­ing com­menced on the north side of the facility.

This Week

• Installation of stair num­ber three con­tin­ues through mid-week.
• Installation of win­dows on the facility’s south side commences.
• Work com­mences on the con­crete curbs and aprons along East Hyman Avenue, and in the alley behind the facility.
• Exterior wall fram­ing is ongo­ing on both the north and east sides of the facility.
• Installation of the roof truss scaf­fold­ing sys­tem continues.
• Overhead MEP work con­tin­ues on the first level.
• Utility instal­la­tion is com­pleted on the south side of the facility.
• The facility’s water ser­vice is tied in to the City of Aspen munic­i­pal sys­tem on South Spring Street.

Next Week

• Work com­mences on the con­crete curbs and aprons along South Spring Street.
• Construction of the roof truss will begin.  
• Exterior wall fram­ing will con­tinue on the north and east sides of the facility.
• Overhead MEP work will con­tinue on the first level.
  

Last Week

• Utility instal­la­tion work began in the alley behind the site and sewer, gas, phone, and cable ser­vices were per­formed on the south side of the facil­ity.
  
• Installation of the water qual­ity con­trol vault—which helps to clean storm water before it enters the munic­i­pal system—was com­pleted on the east side of the site.
• Interior wall fram­ing on the ground level was ongo­ing and neared com­ple­tion by the end of the week.
  
• Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing (MEP) work con­tin­ued on the lower level.
  
• Installation of the pre­cast grand stair was com­pleted.
  
• The tower crane was erected on the East Hyman Avenue side of the site.
  
• Work began on a scaf­fold­ing sys­tem in prepa­ra­tion for instal­la­tion of the roof truss.
  
• Structural steel erec­tion was per­formed for roof elements.

This Week

• Installation of stair ele­ments com­mences on stair num­ber three. Stair Three is a back-of-house stair that leads from the ground floor to the third level on the south­west cor­ner (alley side) of the new facility.
• Utility instal­la­tion con­tin­ues on the south side of the facility.
• Overhead MEP work begins on the first level.
• Installation of the roof truss scaf­fold­ing sys­tem continues.
• Installation of win­dows on the south side of the facil­ity commences.

Next Week

• Work will com­mence on the con­crete curbs and aprons along East Hyman Avenue and in the alley behind the facility
• Exterior wall fram­ing will be ongo­ing on the north and east sides of the facil­ity through­out the week.
• Installation of the roof truss scaf­fold­ing sys­tem will be com­pleted and the con­struc­tion of the roof truss will begin.
• Overhead MEP work will con­tinue on the first level.
• Utility instal­la­tion will be com­pleted on the south side of the facility.

Construction Notes

Meet Turner Construction Assistant Superintendent Mike Palke
A native of Wisconsin and a recent trans­plant from Detroit—where he worked on a large remodel of the city’s leg­endary sports and enter­tain­ment venue Cobo Hall—Mike Palke is the newest mem­ber of the New AAM’s Turner Construction office team. Mike is thrilled to be in Aspen work­ing on a project that he describes as “dynamic on all fronts,” cit­ing the rig­or­ous atten­tion to each design detail and the metic­u­lous orga­ni­za­tion and coor­di­na­tion of all con­struc­tion sys­tems. Mike’s main duties are to assist with field orga­ni­za­tion efforts, includ­ing act­ing as liai­son with New AAM local archi­tects of record Cottle Carr Yaw on engi­neer­ing and design ele­ments. He finds the New AAM team effort unpar­al­leled, stat­ing: “The coor­di­na­tion between Turner and Summit Construction is amaz­ing, and it is stim­u­lat­ing to work in an envi­ron­ment where excel­lence and the high­est stan­dards are achieved.” We wel­come Mike to the New AAM team and thank him for all his efforts on our behalf.

Last Week

• Utility work was per­formed along the north side of the New AAM site to tie in to the storm drainage system.
• Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing (MEP) and fire sprin­kler sys­tem work con­tin­ued on the lower level, and inte­rior wall fram­ing con­tin­ued on the ground level.
• The pre­cast wall sys­tem was erected on the New AAM’s west exte­rior wall.
• Work com­menced on the steel sup­ports and pre­cast con­crete ele­ments of the grand stair.

This Week

• Utility instal­la­tion work will com­mence in the alley directly behind the site, includ­ing water, sewer, gas, phone, and cable ser­vices on the south side of the facil­ity. Alley access will con­tinue to be obstructed through­out this week.
• Installation of the water qual­ity con­trol vault—which helps to clean storm water before it enters the munic­i­pal system—on the east side of the site will be completed.
• Interior wall fram­ing will be sub­stan­tially com­pleted on the ground level.
• MEP work will con­tinue on the lower level.
• Installation of the pre­cast grand stair will com­mence. The grand stair is an inter­sti­tial three-level pas­sage­way sit­u­ated between the building’s woven com­pos­ite exte­rior screen and its inte­rior structure. 
• The tower crane will be erected on the East Hyman Avenue side of the New AAM site. 
• Work will begin on a scaf­fold­ing sys­tem in prepa­ra­tion for instal­la­tion of the roof truss.

Next Week

• Utility instal­la­tion will con­tinue on the south side of the facility.
• Overhead MEP work will com­mence on the first level.
• Installation of the scaf­fold­ing sys­tem for the roof truss will con­tinue, and roof truss con­struc­tion will begin toward the end of the week.

Construction Notes

On Tuesday, September 3, AAM con­trac­tors Turner Construction held their 9th annual nation­ally observed “Safety Stand-Down.” Turner is ded­i­cated to com­mu­ni­cat­ing the impor­tance of safety and well-being on the job and mak­ing healthy lifestyle choices off the job. This year’s Stand-Down focused on Personal Health & Well Being, and cov­ered such top­ics as the effects of dis­eases asso­ci­ated with the heart and pro­mot­ing car­dio­vas­cu­lar health. The AAM applauds Turner’s efforts to actively pro­mote sus­tain­able and healthy lifestyle choices for our con­struc­tion team members.

Last Week

• The New Aspen Art Museum con­struc­tion team began erect­ing the pre­cast wall sys­tem within the New AAM’s north-side inte­rior spaces. The wall sec­tions, which were cast in Colorado Springs by Stresscon Corporation, weighed up to 21,800 pounds!
• Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing (MEP) work and inte­rior wall fram­ing con­tin­ued on the lower level.
• The east side of the facil­ity was pre­pared for this week’s instal­la­tion of the water qual­ity con­trol vault.

This Week

• Utility work will be per­formed along the north side of the New AAM site to tie in to the storm drainage sys­tem. Pedestrian access and vehic­u­lar traffic/parking will be impacted dur­ing this activity.
• MEP work on the lower level and inte­rior wall fram­ing on the ground level will continue.
• Erection of the pre­cast wall sys­tem will be com­pleted on the New AAM’s north-side inte­rior spaces and will com­mence on the south-side inte­rior spaces. Alley access will be obstructed directly behind the project through­out the week.

Next Week

• Utility work will con­tinue with water, sewer, gas, phone, and cable ser­vices being installed on the south side of the facility.
• Interior wall fram­ing will be sub­stan­tially com­pleted on the ground level.
• MEP work will con­tinue on the lower level.
• Installation of the pre­cast grand stair will com­mence. The grand stair—an inter­sti­tial three-level pas­sage­way sit­u­ated between the building’s woven com­pos­ite exte­rior screen and its inte­rior structure—is inter­sected by a glass wall divid­ing the stairway
into a ten-foot-wide exte­rior space, and a six-foot-wide inte­rior space. This unique fea­ture of Shigeru Ban’s design for the New AAM facil­ity allows for the nat­ural blend­ing of out­door and indoor spaces and will fea­ture mobile pedestals where art will be exhibited.
• The top­ping slab will be poured in the edu­ca­tion work­shop and restrooms on the first level as well as back of house spaces on the sec­ond level.
• The tower crane will be erected on the north side of the New AAM site.
• Installation of a scaf­fold­ing sys­tem in prepa­ra­tion for the roof truss will commence.

Last Week

• Installation of pre­cast ele­ments of stair­case num­ber five was completed.
• The tem­po­rary roof­ing mem­brane instal­la­tion on the third level was completed.
• The New AAM’s boil­ers were deliv­ered to the lower level mechan­i­cal room.
• Interior wall fram­ing con­tin­ued on the ground and lower levels.
• Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing (MEP) work con­tin­ued on the lower level.
• The con­crete top­ping slab was poured in the admin­is­tra­tion space on the sec­ond level.

This Week

• As per City of Aspen man­date, no work was per­mit­ted dur­ing the Labor Day hol­i­day week­end on Saturday, August 31 and Monday, September 2. Work resumes on sched­ule today, Tuesday, September 3.
• MEP work con­tin­ues on the lower level.
• The pre­cast wall sys­tem is being erected within the New AAM’s north-side inte­rior spaces. The cov­ered pedes­trian walk­way on Hyman Avenue will be removed today to allow for this activ­ity. Pedestrian access on the north side of the project will not be avail­able through­out this week.

Next Week

• Utility work will be per­formed along the north side of the New AAM site to tie in to the storm drainage sys­tem. Pedestrian access and vehic­u­lar traffic/parking will be impacted dur­ing this activity.
• On the lower level, MEP work will con­tinue and inte­rior wall fram­ing will be completed.
• Erection of the pre­cast wall will be com­pleted on the New AAM’s north side inte­rior spaces and will com­mence on the south side inte­rior spaces. Alley access will be obstructed directly behind the project through­out the week. 

Construction Notes

Established in 2001 in the U.S., SimplexGrinnell pro­vides a com­pre­hen­sive array of fire sprin­kler, fire sup­pres­sion, and life-safety sys­tems with a his­tory of 150 years of indus­try lead­er­ship. The SimplexGrinnell orga­ni­za­tion is spe­cially cer­ti­fied through the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for their secu­rity, fire, and life-safety inte­gra­tion ser­vices with over 1,700 tech­ni­cians in the field across North America. We are very glad to include them as a part of our New AAM con­struc­tion team!

Last Week

• The cov­ered pedes­trian walk­ways around the New AAM site were relo­cated to their orig­i­nal loca­tions after the con­clu­sion of the USA Pro Cycling Challenge stages in Aspen.
• Installation of stair­case num­ber five—a pre­cast stair­way con­nect­ing the New AAM’s ground level to gal­leries four, five, and six located on the lower level—commenced.
• Steel columns were erected, and inte­rior wall fram­ing con­tin­ued on the ground floor level.
• Structural steel for the New AAM’s roof struc­ture was deliv­ered, and erec­tion of these ele­ments commenced.
• Interior wall fram­ing con­tin­ued on the sec­ond level, and Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing (MEP) work con­tin­ued on the lower level.
• Installation began of a tem­po­rary roof­ing mem­brane on the third level.

This Week

• This week is the 46th week of con­struc­tion on the New AAM facil­ity, with over 49,000 worker hours logged to date by our con­struc­tion team!
• Installation of pre­cast ele­ments of stair­case num­ber five will be completed.
• Scaffolding will be stock­piled on the third level in prepa­ra­tion for instal­la­tion of the roof truss system—one of Shigeru Ban’s sig­na­ture design fea­tures for the New AAM facility.
• Installation of the tem­po­rary roof­ing mem­brane on the third level will be completed.
• The New AAM’s boil­ers will be deliv­ered to the lower level mechan­i­cal room.
• Interior wall fram­ing con­tin­ues on the ground and lower lev­els, and MEP work con­tin­ues on the lower level.

Next Week

• MEP work will con­tinue on the lower level.
• Stockpiling of scaf­fold­ing on the third level will con­tinue in prepa­ra­tion for the instal­la­tion of the roof truss system.
• The pre­cast wall sys­tem will be erected within the New AAM’s north-side inte­rior spaces.

Construction Notes

Our New AAM Construction Team will observe the Labor Day hol­i­day on September 2. As per City of Aspen man­date, no work is allowed dur­ing the hol­i­day in the Central Resort Area. Work will resume on sched­ule on Tuesday, September 3.

Last Week

• Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing (MEP) work con­tin­ued on the lower level.
• Interior wall fram­ing con­tin­ued on the ground and sec­ond lev­els. On the lower level, exte­rior wall fram­ing con­tin­ued, with DensShield com­pleted at the south ele­va­tion. DensShield is a mois­ture resis­tant substrate.
• The cov­ered pedes­trian walk­ways around the New AAM site were relo­cated in prepa­ra­tion for stages one and two of the USA Pro Cycling Challenge—August 19 and 20.
• Materials for the con­struc­tion and assem­bly of the New AAM’s freight ele­va­tor were received on site. The freight ele­va­tor is a cru­cial part of the new facility’s infra­struc­ture, and will even­tu­ally be used to trans­port art­work through­out the museum.

This Week

• The cov­ered pedes­trian walk­ways around the New AAM site will be relo­cated to their orig­i­nal loca­tions after the con­clu­sion of the USA Pro Cycling Challenge stages in Aspen on August 20.
• Staircase num­ber five—a pre­cast stair­way that con­nects the New AAM’s ground level to gal­leries four, five, and six on the lower level—will be installed.
• On the ground level, steel columns will be erected and inte­rior wall fram­ing will continue.
• Structural steel ele­ments for the New AAM’s roof struc­ture will be received on site.
• Interior wall fram­ing con­tin­ues on the sec­ond level, and Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing (MEP) work will con­tinue on the lower level.

Next Week

• Scaffolding will be stock­piled on the third level to pre­pare for instal­la­tion of the roof truss system—one of Shigeru Ban’s sig­na­ture design fea­tures for the New AAM facility.
• The New AAM’s boil­ers will be deliv­ered to the lower level mechan­i­cal room.
• Interior wall fram­ing con­tin­ues on the ground level.
• Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing (MEP) work will con­tinue on the lower level.

Construction Notes

Please note that work on the New AAM site will be sus­pended on Monday, August 19 and Tuesday, August 20 for stages one and two of the USA Pro Cycling Challenge. Work will resume on sched­ule Wednesday morn­ing, August 21.

Last Week

• Framing work con­tin­ued on both the south side exte­rior and the inte­rior wall sys­tem on the New AAM’s lower level.
• Layout of the inte­rior par­ti­tions on the museum’s sec­ond level began. The sec­ond level of the New AAM will house the largest of the museum’s six gallery spaces—gallery one at 3,926 square feet—as well as the facility’s admin­is­tra­tive offices.
• Installation of the lower level mechan­i­cal room stairs commenced.
• Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing (MEP) work on the lower level was ongoing.

This Week

• Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing (MEP) work con­tin­ues on the lower level.
• Interior wall fram­ing on the ground level con­tin­ues. The ground level is com­prised of gal­leries two and three (2,572 square feet and 1,160 square feet, respec­tively), and the New AAM’s museum shop, edu­ca­tion work­shop, and artist studio.
• Interior wall fram­ing on the sec­ond level and exte­rior wall fram­ing on the lower level con­tinue. Framing work on gallery one begins.
• The cov­ered pedes­trian walk­ways around the New AAM site will be relo­cated toward the end of the week in prepa­ra­tion for stages one and two of the USA Pro Cycling Challenge—August 19 and 20, 2013. No work on the site will take place on those dates due to this event.

Next Week

• Covered pedes­trian walk­ways around the New AAM site will be relo­cated to their orig­i­nal loca­tions after the USA Pro Cycling Challenge stages.
• Installation of stair­case num­ber 5 will take place. Staircase five is a pre­cast stair that con­nects the New AAM’s ground level to the three gallery spaces on the lower level—galleries four, five, and six, which com­bine for a total of 3,849 square feet.
• Interior wall fram­ing con­tin­ues on the sec­ond level.
• Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing (MEP) work con­tin­ues on the lower level.
• Exterior wall fram­ing and instal­la­tion of DensShield—a mois­ture resis­tant substrate—will be ongo­ing on the south­ern ele­va­tion of the facility.

Last Week

• Stripping of forms and the removal of the tem­po­rary shoring of the cast-in-place con­crete decks com­menced on the third level, and strip­ping and re-shoring work con­tin­ued on the sec­ond level.
• Structural steel was erected for the New AAM’s entry canopy struc­ture on the East Hyman Avenue side of the building.
• Layout and exte­rior fram­ing began.
• Framing of the inte­rior wall sys­tem on the lower level continued.
• Layout for the ground level inte­rior par­ti­tions commenced.

This Week

• Work con­tin­ues on both exte­rior fram­ing and fram­ing of the inte­rior wall sys­tem on the lower level.
 

• Layout of the inte­rior par­ti­tions on the museum’s sec­ond level begins.
 

• Installation of the mechan­i­cal room stairs commences.
 

• Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing (MEP) work is ongo­ing on the lower level.

Next Week

• Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing (MEP) work on the lower level will continue.
• Interior wall fram­ing on the ground and sec­ond floors and exte­rior wall fram­ing on the lower level will continue.

Construction Notes

The cov­ered pedes­trian walk­ways around the New AAM site will be relo­cated in prepa­ra­tion for stages one and two of the USA Pro Cycling Challenge—August 19 and 20, 2013. No work on the site will take place on those dates due to this event.

Last Week

• Framing of the inte­rior wall sys­tem of the New AAM’s lower level continued.
• Steel columns were set on the New AAM’s ground and sec­ond floors.
• Preparation for the next phase of con­struc­tion began with the removal of con­crete pour­ing func­tions from the site.
• Members of the Aspen Art Museum’s Board of Trustees and National Council gath­ered on the New AAM’s third level to cel­e­brate the top­ping out of the facility’s con­crete struc­ture and enjoy the view from what will be the roof deck sculp­ture garden.

This Week

• Stripping of forms and the removal of the tem­po­rary shoring of the cast-in-place con­crete decks com­mences on the third level, and strip­ping and re-shoring work con­tin­ues on the sec­ond level.
• Structural steel is being erected for the New AAM’s entry canopy struc­ture on the East Hyman Avenue side of the building.
• Layout and exte­rior fram­ing begins with instal­la­tion of DensShield—a mois­ture resis­tant substrate—and fram­ing of the inte­rior wall sys­tem on the lower level continues.
• Layout for the ground level inte­rior par­ti­tions commences.

Next Week

• Exterior fram­ing and fram­ing of the inte­rior wall sys­tem on the lower level will continue.
• Layout com­mences for the inte­rior par­ti­tions on the museum’s sec­ond level.
• Installation of Staircase Three com­mences. Stair Three is a back-of-house stair that leads from the ground floor to the third level on the south­west cor­ner of the facility.
• Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing (MEP) work will be ongo­ing on the lower level.

Construction Notes

Fabrication con­tin­ues on the New AAM’s roof truss at Spearhead Timberworks in Nelson, British Columbia, Canada. The truss is one of the sig­nif­i­cant archi­tec­tural fea­tures of Shigeru Ban’s New AAM design.

Last Week

• The third-level deck was poured dur­ing the early part of the week, and ten­sion­ing of the post-tension cables was accomplished.
• Construction of the shear walls on the New AAM’s third level were ongo­ing in prepa­ra­tion for the roof structure.
• Backfill, com­paction, and water­proof­ing of the foun­da­tion wall on the east side of the site continued.
• Framing of the inte­rior wall sys­tem of the New AAM’s lower level was ongoing.
• Members of AAM staff and the new build­ing project team reviewed gallery ceil­ing and wall mock­ups on the New AAM site, as well as vis­it­ing Harmon, Inc. in Englewood, Colorado, to look at mock­ups of the glass cur­tain wall, sky­lights, roof truss, and mill­work elements.
• Members of the AAM’s New Building Committee took a hard hat tour of the site and inspected the view from the newly poured third level deck. By all accounts, future Aspen Art Museum guests are in for a spec­tac­u­lar treat as they look, eat, drink, dis­cuss, relax, and pon­der art­works — all oppor­tu­ni­ties that this mar­velous space will invite. 

This Week

• Backfill, com­paction, and water­proof­ing of the foun­da­tion wall on the east side of the site will be completed.
• Framing of the inte­rior wall sys­tem of the New AAM’s lower level continues.
• The top­ping out of the New AAM’s con­crete struc­ture will be com­plete this week! Congratulations to our New AAM con­struc­tion team on reach­ing this excit­ing milestone!

Next Week

• Stripping of forms on the third level deck will commence.
• Removal of the tem­po­rary shoring of the cast-in-place con­crete decks will commence.
• Structural steel will be erected for the New AAM’s entry canopy structure.

Construction Notes

Fabrication of the New AAM’s roof truss is under­way at Spearhead Timberworks in Nelson, British Columbia, Canada. The truss is one of the sig­nif­i­cant archi­tec­tural fea­tures of Shigeru Ban’s New AAM design. Completely fab­ri­cated off­site, the truss will be assem­bled and dis­as­sem­bled prior to being shipped to Aspen in its com­po­nent parts and then reassem­bled and installed on the New AAM facil­ity. Spearhead Timberworks is a multi-faceted design, and value-added wood man­u­fac­tur­ing com­pany made up of a col­lab­o­ra­tion of design­ers and tech­nol­o­gists, arti­sans and builders, man­agers and planners.

Last Week

• Shoring, deck­ing, and rein­forc­ing steel work on the third level was ongoing.
• Mechanical, elec­tri­cal, and plumb­ing (MEP) rough-in and post-tension cable instal­la­tion on the third level deck were in progress through­out the week in prepa­ra­tion for the pour­ing of concrete.
• Backfill, com­paction, and water­proof­ing of the foun­da­tion wall on the east side of the site continued.
• Framing of the inte­rior wall sys­tem of the New AAM’s lower level continued.
• Layout com­menced on the ground floor inte­rior partitions.

• Check out the excit­ing progress on the new facil­ity from May until now by click­ing here for time-lapse footage (click on May-July 2013): aspenartmuseum.org/newbuilding 

This Week

• The third level deck will be poured in the early part of the week.
• Tensioning of the post-tension cables on the New AAM’s third level will be accom­plished when the con­crete on the deck reaches the appro­pri­ate strength (75%).
• Construction of the shear walls on the third level will be ongo­ing in prepa­ra­tion for the instal­la­tion of the roof struc­ture. The AAM’s top level will be home to the New AAM Roof Deck Sculpture Garden, which will present museum guests with stun­ning vis­tas of Aspen’s sur­round­ing envi­ron­ment, the only unob­structed pub­lic rooftop view of Ajax Mountain any­where in town, and an acti­vated space for the pre­sen­ta­tion of art.
• Backfill, com­paction, and water­proof­ing of the foun­da­tion wall on the east side of the site continues.
• Framing of the inte­rior wall sys­tem of the New AAM’s lower level is ongoing.

Next Week

• Backfill, com­paction, and water­proof­ing of the foun­da­tion wall on the east side of the site is sched­uled to be completed.
• Framing of the inte­rior wall sys­tem of the New AAM’s lower level will continue.
• Next week will be the 41st week of con­struc­tion and the top­ping out of the New AAM’s con­crete struc­ture will be com­plete! This is another major mile­stone in the New AAM con­struc­tion project. Thanks to all the mem­bers of our con­struc­tion team and con­grat­u­la­tions on reach­ing this excit­ing benchmark!

Last Week

• Forming work on the columns and shear walls on the sec­ond level were completed.
• Shoring and deck­ing con­tin­ued in prepa­ra­tion for con­struc­tion of the New AAM’s third level.
• Work on the fram­ing of the inte­rior wall sys­tem of the lower level continued.
• The strip­ping of con­crete forms on the sec­ond level deck continued.

This Week

• Shoring, deck­ing, and rein­forc­ing steel work on the third level is ongoing.
• Mechanical, elec­tri­cal, and plumb­ing (MEP) rough-in and post-tension cable instal­la­tion on the third level deck will be in progress through­out the week in prepa­ra­tion for the pour­ing of concrete.
• Backfill, com­paction, and water­proof­ing of the foun­da­tion wall on the east side of the site will continue.
• Framing of the inte­rior wall sys­tem of the New AAM’s lower level continues.
• Layout for the ground floor level inte­rior par­ti­tions commences.

Next Week

• Tensioning of the post-tension cables on the New AAM’s third level will be accom­plished in the early part of the week.
• Shear walls on the third level com­mence in prepa­ra­tion for the roof struc­ture. The AAM’s top level will be home to the New AAM Roofdeck Sculpture Garden. One of the main archi­tec­tural fea­tures of Shigeru Ban’s AAM design, the Roofdeck Sculpture Garden will present museum guests with stun­ning vis­tas of the sur­round­ing envi­ron­ment, the only unob­structed pub­lic rooftop view of Ajax Mountain any­where in Aspen, and an acti­vated space for the pre­sen­ta­tion of art.

Construction Notes

Don’t for­get to go by the New AAM site to check out Dave Muller’s amaz­ing new art­work: A Few of Our Favorite Things (w/Halos, According to the Mood of the Artist), 2013—created as part of the New Aspen Art Museum Site commissions.

Last Week

• The post-tension cables within the second-level slab were ten­sioned.
  
• Shoring and deck­ing com­menced on the sec­ond level in prepa­ra­tion for con­struc­tion of the New AAM’s third level.
• Columns and shear walls were formed on the second-level slab to delin­eate the struc­tural ele­ments of Gallery One.
• Backfill, com­paction, and water­proof­ing of the foun­da­tion wall along the north side of the site was completed.
• New AAM con­struc­tion team mem­bers Stresscon Corporation pro­vided the first pre­cast con­crete struc­tural ele­ment for build­ing stair­way #5—which will con­nect the new facility’s lower and ground floor lev­els on the north side of the building—for instal­la­tion in the near future.

This Week

• Forming work on columns and shear walls on the sec­ond level is ongo­ing.
  
• Shoring and deck­ing con­tin­ues in prepa­ra­tion for con­struc­tion of the third level.
• Work com­mences on the New AAM’s entry canopy struc­ture on the East Hyman Avenue side of the site.
• Fram­ing of the inte­rior wall sys­tem of the New AAM’s lower level continues.
• Waterproofing of the foun­da­tion wall on the east side of the site.
• Our New AAM Construction Team will be observ­ing the Fourth of July hol­i­day. As per City of Aspen man­date, no exte­rior work will be allowed dur­ing the hol­i­day in the Central Resort Area. Construction on the New AAM will be tem­porar­ily sus­pended in com­pli­ance. Work will resume on Friday, July 5, on schedule.
• This is the 38th week of con­struc­tion on the New AAM facil­ity. Thus far there have been over 36,000 man-hours of labor clocked by our build­ing team members!

Next Week

• Backfill, com­paction, and water­proof­ing of the foun­da­tion wall on the east side of the site con­tin­ues.
  
• Work on the entry canopy struc­ture on the East Hyman Avenue side of the site continues.
• Framing of the inte­rior wall sys­tem of the New AAM’s lower level continues.

Construction Notes

New AAM con­struc­tion team mem­ber Stresscon Corporation designs, fab­ri­cates, and erects qual­ity struc­tural and archi­tec­tural pre­cast con­crete struc­tures through­out Colorado and the Rocky Mountain region.

Founded in 1967 and a mem­ber of the EnCon Companies since 1993, Stresscon spe­cial­izes in insti­tu­tional and com­mer­cial appli­ca­tions. Stresscon’s project teams of pro­fes­sional engi­neers and tech­ni­cians pro­vide pre-construction ser­vices, con­cep­tual stud­ies, and ben­e­fi­cial design col­lab­o­ra­tion. We are proud to have them as a mem­ber of our New AAM con­struc­tion team.

Last Week

• Layout of the inte­rior wall sys­tem on the New AAM’s lower level com­menced.
  
• Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing rough-ins on the sec­ond level were ongo­ing, and rein­forc­ing steel work, shoring, and deck­ing were completed.
• Backfill and com­paction work was ongo­ing along the north side of the site.
• Installation of post-tension cables within the second-level slab was accom­plished and the slab poured.

This Week

• The post-tension cables within the second-level slab are sched­uled to be ten­sioned early in the week—once the con­crete reaches 75% strength.
  
• Shoring and deck­ing com­mences on the sec­ond level in prepa­ra­tion for con­struc­tion of the New AAM’s third level.
• Columns and shear walls are being formed on the second-level slab to delin­eate the struc­tural ele­ments of Gallery One—the largest gallery space within the New AAM at 3,926 square feet.
• Work on the fram­ing of the inte­rior wall sys­tem on the New AAM’s lower level continues.
• Backfill, com­paction, and water­proof­ing of the foun­da­tion wall along the north side of the site is completed.

Next Week

• Columns and shear walls on the sec­ond level slab are ongo­ing.
  
• Shoring and deck­ing con­tin­ues in prepa­ra­tion for con­struc­tion of the third level.
• Commencement of work on the New AAM’s entry canopy struc­ture on the East Hyman Avenue side of the site begins.
• Backfill, com­paction, and water­proof­ing of the foun­da­tion wall will com­mence on the east side of the site.

Last Week

• Shoring and deck­ing for the sec­ond level was ongoing.
• Reinforcing steel work and Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing (MEP) rough-ins commenced.
• Installation of post-tension cables for the second-level slab commenced.
• Backfill and com­paction com­menced along the north side of the site.

This Week

• Layout of the inte­rior wall sys­tem on the New AAM’s lower level com­mences. Walls will begin being erected on this level, with Bouma Construction crews work­ing in con­sul­ta­tion with New AAM local archi­tect of record Cottle Carr Yaw Architects (CCY).
  For more about CCY, please visit the
  New AAM con­struc­tion web­site.
• MEP rough-ins on the sec­ond level are ongoing.
• Reinforcing steel work, shoring, and deck­ing on the sec­ond level will be completed.
• The sec­ond level slab will be poured.

Next Week

• The post-tension cables within the second-level slab will be ten­sioned once the con­crete reaches 75% strength.
• Columns and shear walls will begin to be formed on the second-level slab to delin­eate the struc­tural ele­ments of gallery one. Gallery one is the largest gallery space within the New AAM, com­pris­ing an area of 3,926 square feet.
• Shoring and deck­ing com­mences on the sec­ond level in prepa­ra­tion for con­struc­tion of the New AAM’s third level.

Construction Notes

Known for his wall draw­ings and large-scale works on paper that employ iconic struc­tures such as the top-ten list to cre­ate uniquely per­sonal por­traits based on the musi­cal pas­sions of their sub­jects, Los Angeles–based artist Dave Muller is cre­at­ing a new work for the walk­ways on the site of the New AAM.

The new mural will incor­po­rate imagery from Muller’s Three Day Weekend held in Aspen over Presidents’ Day week­end 2013, dur­ing which AAM vis­i­tors were invited to bring a favorite object for Muller to trans­late into a one-of-a-kind T-shirt. On one cov­ered walk­way, passersby will encounter some of Muller’s favorite things, while the other will fea­ture some of Aspen’s favorite things.

Muller’s project fol­lows on the suc­cess of Kay Rosen’s Construction Zone, which was exhib­ited on the site from June 2012 through last week.

Visit the AAM web­site for more about Muller’s work.

Last Week

• Shoring, deck­ing, and form­work for the second-level slab commenced.
• Reinforcing steel work and mechan­i­cal, elec­tri­cal, and plumb­ing (MEP) prepa­ra­tion was ongoing.
• Shear walls and columns were poured on the street-level slab for the freight ele­va­tor shaft and street-level gallery spaces two and three, as well as on the south (alley side) and south­east cor­ners of the site.

This Week

• Reinforcing steel work and MEP prepa­ra­tion com­mences on the second-level slab.
• Shoring and deck­ing for the sec­ond level is ongoing.
• Installation of post-tension cables for the second-level slab commences.

The New Aspen Art Museum con­struc­tion web­site
Click here to catch up on our progress, revisit past issues of the New AAM Now e-newsletter, and watch time-lapse con­struc­tion video of the New AAM facility.

Next Week

• Reinforcing steel work, shoring, and deck­ing on the sec­ond level will be completed.
• MEP rough-ins on the sec­ond level are ongoing.
• Layout of the inte­rior wall sys­tem on the New AAM’s lower level com­mences, and plates for the wall struc­tures will be set by mem­bers of the Bouma Construction team toward the end of the week.

Construction Notes

NEW AAM CONSTRUCTION TEAM MEMBERS BOUMA CONSTRUCTION

Founded over 60 years ago by broth­ers John and Paul Bouma, Bouma Construction has grown into a nation­ally rec­og­nized, full-service com­mer­cial con­struc­tion firm that spe­cial­izes in prac­ti­cal, work­able, and cost-effective build­ing solu­tions. Comprised of experts from mul­ti­ple pro­fes­sions, Bouma teams have worked on notable local resorts, includ­ing the Viceroy Snowmass and St. Regis in Aspen. Their con­tri­bu­tion to the New AAM project begins with coor­di­na­tion and lay­out of the first ele­ments of the inte­rior wall sys­tems on the new facility’s lower level. Bouma is respon­si­ble for all inte­rior and exte­rior fram­ing, dry­wall, and acousti­cal plas­ter work on the New AAM.

Last Week

• Mechanical, elec­tri­cal, and plumb­ing (MEP) rough-ins at the street-level slab were ongoing.
• The pour­ing of con­crete for the street-level slab was accomplished—with 317 cubic yards poured on this level. Post-tensioned con­crete slabs form the New AAM’s first, sec­ond, and third lev­els, max­i­miz­ing gallery wall space and cre­at­ing an open floor plan with clear spans.
• Construction of the ground-level shear walls commenced.

This Week

• Shoring, deck­ing, and form­work for the second-level slab commenced.
• Reinforcing steel work and MEP prepa­ra­tion is ongo­ing on the second-level slab.
• Shear walls and columns are being poured on the street-level slab, to delin­eate ver­ti­cal and hor­i­zon­tal struc­tural ele­ments of the freight ele­va­tor shaft and street-level gallery spaces two and three, as well as on the south (alley side) and south­east cor­ners of the site.

Next Week

• Reinforcing steel work and MEP prepa­ra­tion con­tin­ues on the second-level slab dur­ing the early part of the week.
• Work on shoring and deck­ing for the sec­ond level will be ongo­ing, as will the instal­la­tion of post-tension cables for the second-level slab.

Construction Notes

MEET NEW ELECTRIC PROJECT MANAGER TOM SULLIVAN

Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, New Electric Project Manager Tom Sullivan is a 33-year res­i­dent of Glenwood Springs and has worked on indus­trial, com­mer­cial, and large-scale res­i­den­tial projects through­out the Roaring Fork Valley.

Tom’s career as an elec­tri­cian has cov­ered such diverse ground as a stint in the mid-1970s on the Alaska Pipeline Project, and dur­ing the late 70s on elec­tri­cal sys­tems for water and waste water plants through­out Colorado. Here in the val­ley, he has acted as the PM on such jobs as the RFTA Bus Maintenance Facility, the 1980s Wheeler Opera House remodel, as well as the recent and exten­sive Snowmass Base Village project, among many others.

Tom’s work on the New AAM con­sists largely of coor­di­nat­ing mate­ri­als and act­ing as liai­son to other trades and sub­con­trac­tors, as well as sched­ul­ing the instal­la­tion of elec­tri­cal fix­tures of all types. Tom describes his work on the build­ing as both “chal­leng­ing” and “excit­ing,” explain­ing that poured con­crete meth­ods like those being employed on the new facil­ity mean that coor­di­na­tion of each MEP ele­ment must be accu­rately planned and done precisely—in order and on time. He cites the vital impor­tance of build­ing infor­ma­tion mod­el­ing (BIM) coor­di­na­tion in mak­ing sure his job goes smoothly and in achiev­ing effi­cient results for every­one involved.

Tom says he is also excited to be work­ing with the New AAM’s light­ing sys­tems, which will incor­po­rate the lat­est in energy-efficient LED tech­nol­ogy. We are very glad to have Tom work­ing along­side other mem­bers of our con­struc­tion team, lend­ing his valu­able expe­ri­ence to a museum that, as he points out, will truly be “state of the art.”

Last Week

• Continuation of mechan­i­cal, elec­tri­cal, and plumb­ing (MEP) rough-ins at the street-level slab.
• Installation of “post-tension” cables—an impor­tant aspect of the spe­cific con­crete con­struc­tion method used on the New AAM. Post-tensioned con­crete slabs form the building’s first, sec­ond, and third lev­els. This type of struc­ture was cho­sen to help max­i­mize gallery wall space and to facil­i­tate an open floor plan with clear spans.
• Preparations were made for the pour­ing of the street-level slab, includ­ing set­ting of “Bang-It” con­crete inserts to facil­i­tate sub­se­quent instal­la­tion of pipes, duct­work, elec­tri­cal, con­duit, and fram­ing ele­ments through­out the struc­ture. Over 1,200 of the round, threaded, plastic-sleeved pieces (roughly 2.5 inches tall, see photo below) are installed in strate­gic loca­tions through­out the facility’s deck­ing to allow easy “tie-in” or attach­ment for var­i­ous con­struc­tion com­po­nents. Color-coded to make them eas­ily iden­ti­fi­able to each trade, the place­ment of these impor­tant tools are all accounted for within the build­ing infor­ma­tion mod­el­ing (BIM) and design plan. BIM coor­di­na­tion facil­i­tates con­struc­tion team preplanning—eliminating unnec­es­sary delays dur­ing instal­la­tion. BIM pre­plan­ning saves hours and even days of poten­tial rework­ing and con­flict res­o­lu­tion in the field.

This Week

• The pour­ing of con­crete for the street-level slab will be accom­plished, and once the con­crete reaches 75% strength, the post-tension cables within the slab will be tensioned.
• Shoring, deck­ing, and form­ing work on the second-level slab commences.

Next Week

• Reinforcing steel work and MEP prepa­ra­tion will be ongo­ing on the second-level slab.
• Preparation work for the sec­ond level con­tin­ues with shoring, deck­ing, and instal­la­tion of post-tension cables.
• Shear walls and columns will be erected on the street-level slab to begin delin­eat­ing the ver­ti­cal and hor­i­zon­tal struc­tural ele­ments of the freight ele­va­tor shaft, street-level gallery spaces two and three, as well as the south (alley side) and south­east cor­ner of the site—the future loca­tion of the New AAM’s edu­ca­tion work­shop space.

Last Week

• Continuation of form­ing for the street-level slab, includ­ing shoring and decking.
• Mechanical, elec­tri­cal, and plumb­ing (MEP) rough-ins com­menced at the street-level slab.
• Project Superintendent Tim Bottger gave the AAM Community Advisory Committee a tour of the New AAM site to update them on our excit­ing progress.
• The con­struc­tion of the New AAM has accu­mu­lated 164 days of work. Averaging 37 work­ers per day this month—70% of which are local—the project has, to date, accounted for over 28,000 worker hours on site.

This Week

• Continuation of MEP rough-ins at the street-level slab.
• Installation of “post-tension” cables begins—an impor­tant aspect of the spe­cific con­crete con­struc­tion method used on the New AAM. The slabs that form the sec­ond– and third-level gallery floors are called “post-tensioned slabs.” In addi­tion to nor­mal rein­forc­ing bars, these slabs also have high-strength cables that run through lubri­cated sleeves; when the con­crete is strong enough, the cables are ten­sioned using hydraulic jacks and they lit­er­ally lift the slab up to help carry the load. This kind of struc­ture was cho­sen for the New AAM facil­ity pri­mar­ily because, as the slabs them­selves are very thin, they help max­i­mize gallery wall space and facil­i­tate an open floor plan with clear spans.
• Pouring of the street-level slab.

Next Week

• The “post-tension” cables in the street-level slab will be tensioned.
• The lower-level pre­cast stair will be erected. This stair will access the three gal­leries on the lower level.
• Shoring and deck­ing to form the second-level slab commences.

Construction Notes

Meet Turner Construction Project Engineer Brad Fry

An Olathe, Kansas native, Brad Fry grad­u­ated from Kansas State University with a degree in Construction Science and Management. Upon grad­u­a­tion, Brad began work­ing for Turner Construction in Denver on the Centennial Center Park.

For his work on the New AAM, Brad relo­cated to Snowmass Village last fall and has spent his spare time since enjoy­ing all of the activ­i­ties that the Roaring Fork Valley has to offer. When Brad is not in the Turner Construction Office, he enjoys snow­board­ing and other sports, as well as play­ing the drums.

As New AAM Project Engineer, Brad han­dles a vari­ety of respon­si­bil­i­ties, includ­ing review­ing shop draw­ings and sub­mis­sions to check the lay­out of items sched­uled for instal­la­tion in the field, keep­ing doc­u­ments in order such as requests for infor­ma­tion (RFIs) and updated draw­ings, and ensur­ing mate­ri­als are ordered and fab­ri­cated on time, as well as answer­ing ques­tions the project sub­con­trac­tors may have on a daily basis. We are very glad to have Brad’s skilled atten­tion to detail to assist in mak­ing the con­struc­tion of the New AAM move ahead effi­ciently and on sched­ule for our sum­mer 2014 opening.

Last Week

• Forming of the street-level slab com­mences, includ­ing shoring (ver­ti­cal ele­ments) and hor­i­zon­tal decking.
• New AAM team mem­bers cel­e­brated the pour­ing of the slab on grade (lower level) with an on-site bar­be­cue. We are grate­ful for everyone’s hard work in get­ting us to this sig­nif­i­cant moment in our con­struc­tion process.

This Week

• Continuation of form­ing for the street-level slab.
• Mechanical, elec­tri­cal, and plumb­ing (MEP) rough-ins com­mence at the street-level slab.

Next Week

• Continuation of MEP rough-ins at the street-level slab.
• Installation of “post-tension” cables begin—an impor­tant aspect of the spe­cific con­crete con­struc­tion method used on the New AAM. The slabs that form the sec­ond– and third-level gallery floors are called “post-tensioned slabs.” In addi­tion to nor­mal rein­forc­ing bars, these slabs also have high-strength cables that run through lubri­cated sleeves; when the con­crete is strong enough, the cables are ten­sioned using hydraulic jacks and they lit­er­ally lift the slab up to help carry the load. This kind of struc­ture was cho­sen for the New AAM facil­ity pri­mar­ily because, as the slabs them­selves are very thin, they help max­i­mize gallery wall space and facil­i­tate an open floor plan with clear spans.

Construction Notes

Last Week

• Underslab insu­la­tion processes and MEP work were performed.
• Work on the mezzanine-level mechan­i­cal room structure.
• Setting of mechan­i­cal equip­ment on the lower level.
• Our team has logged over 25,000 man hours to date con­struct­ing the New AAM facility!

This Week

• Pouring of the slab on grade (lower level)—yet another major mile­stone in the com­ple­tion of the lower level of the New AAM.
• Forming of the street-level slab com­mences, includ­ing shoring (ver­ti­cal ele­ments) and hor­i­zon­tal decking.

Next Week

• Continuation of form­ing for the street-level slab.
• MEP rough-ins com­mence at the street-level slab.

Construction Notes

MEET NEW AAM CONSTRUCTION TEAM MEMBERS KL&A, Inc.

Structural engi­neer­ing ser­vices on the New AAM are being per­formed by Rocky Mountain region struc­tural engineers/builders KL&A. Known for cre­ativ­ity, econ­omy, respon­sive­ness, and a clear under­stand­ing of client needs, KL&A has 22 licensed engi­neers in most states west of the Mississippi and prides itself on being able to pro­vide eco­nomic struc­tural solu­tions even for com­plex struc­tures. The com­pany has an office nearby in Basalt, as well as two larger offices in Golden and Loveland. KL&A is well known for its unique sen­si­tiv­ity to the rela­tion­ship of archi­tec­tural design to struc­ture and for care­fully coor­di­nat­ing between disciplines—skills that make KL&A a huge asset and an inte­gral part­ner in build­ing the New AAM. You can learn more at www.klaa.com.

Last Week

• Underslab insu­la­tion processes, MEP, and HVAC work continued.
• Work on the mezzanine-level mechan­i­cal room con­tin­ued with steel erec­tion tak­ing place.
• Pouring of the north foun­da­tion wall was com­pleted, thereby fin­ish­ing the foun­da­tion process! Congratulations to Turner Construction and all the mem­bers of our con­struc­tion team on the accom­plish­ment of this major mile­stone in the New AAM project! 

This Week

• Underslab insu­la­tion processes and MEP work are completed.
• Pouring of the slab on grade (lower level)—yet another major mile­stone in the com­ple­tion of the lower level of the New AAM.
• Work on the mezzanine-level mechan­i­cal room struc­ture is ongoing.
• Setting of mechan­i­cal equip­ment on lower level.

Next Week

• Forming of the street-level slab con­tin­ues, includ­ing shoring (ver­ti­cal ele­ments) and hor­i­zon­tal decking.

Construction Notes

Meet AAM Construction Team Member Roy Haycock of RK Mechanical

A native of Glenwood Springs and a cur­rent res­i­dent of New Castle, Colorado, RK Mechanical Plumbing Foreman Roy Haycock has worked with RK in two sep­a­rate stints since the early 1980s. In that time he has worked on numer­ous com­mer­cial projects through­out the Roaring Fork Valley includ­ing The Little Nell in Aspen, Aspen Elementary School, the Viceroy in Snowmass, and as project super­in­ten­dent of the new restau­rant at Elk Camp on Snowmass Mountain. Haycock is cur­rently in charge of all field instal­la­tion activ­i­ties for the dura­tion of the project for all of the New AAM’s plumb­ing and hydronic sys­tems: from sus­tain­able water heat­ing and cool­ing and radi­ant floor heat­ing to inter­fac­ing with HVAC sys­tems and the facility’s snow melt sys­tem. The New AAM will have over seven miles of pipe run­ning through­out the facility!

Roy may also hold the dis­tinc­tion of being one of the few con­struc­tion team mem­bers to have worked on both the New AAM as well as the Aspen Art Museum’s cur­rent facil­ity on North Mill Street dur­ing his long career in the val­ley. In his spare time, Roy is very involved as a vol­un­teer with the Cub Scouts in New Castle with his now seven-year-old son. Their most recent project together was tree plant­ing on Arbor Day. We are very pleased to have Roy’s exper­tise as one of the many qual­i­fied local con­struc­tion team mem­bers work­ing on the New AAM for the next gen­er­a­tions of res­i­dents and vis­i­tors alike.

Last Week

• Slab prepa­ra­tion and mechan­i­cal, elec­tri­cal, and plumb­ing (MEP) work con­tin­ued through­out the site.
• Forming and pour­ing of shear walls and the east wall of the foundation.

This Week

• Underslab insu­la­tion processes and MEP work.
• Removal of lag­ging and beam struc­tures along the East Hyman Avenue side of the site.
• Work on the mezzanine-level mechan­i­cal room.
• Completion of the pour­ing of the north foun­da­tion wall.

Next Week

• Underslab insu­la­tion processes and MEP work will be completed.
• Pouring of the slab on grade (lower level).
• Removal of the lag­ging and beam struc­tures along the East Hyman Avenue side of the site will be completed.
• Work on the mezzanine-level mechan­i­cal room struc­ture continues.
• Commencement of the form­ing of the street-level slab.

Construction Notes

TURNER’S “LEAN BUILDING” PRACTICES

One of the pri­mary rea­sons that the New AAM project remains on sched­ule is due to the Turner Construction team’s imple­men­ta­tion of a prac­tice known as “lean build­ing,” which has its roots in man­u­fac­tur­ing processes devel­oped by the Toyota Motor Company in Japan. The goals of lean prac­tices are to increase pro­duc­tiv­ity and effi­ciency while reduc­ing waste and to fos­ter a team cul­ture that relies on con­tin­u­ous improve­ment and learn­ing. Lean prac­tices take into con­sid­er­a­tion long-term decision-making, fos­ter­ing lead­er­ship that teaches from the top down while also invest­ing in employee sat­is­fac­tion and assis­tance to col­lab­o­ra­tors, project sup­pli­ers, and part­ners to help achieve a par­ity of sim­i­lar pro­duc­tiv­ity in turn.

One of the many ele­ments that turn the phi­los­o­phy into prac­tice is the use of Building Information Modeling (BIM) in every phase of design, plan­ning, and the actual con­struc­tion in order to antic­i­pate each poten­tial sce­nario and pro­ce­dural step in the sched­ule (see images above illus­trat­ing pho­to­graphic and cor­re­spond­ing BIM views of the New AAM lower-level mechan­i­cal room). A major ben­e­fit of BIM coor­di­na­tion is that it allows the team to fix all pipe, duct, and light­ing con­flicts before­hand so that all of the fab­ri­ca­tion can be accom­plished off-site—thus elim­i­nat­ing field cuts, welds, and the delays of mak­ing adjust­ments at the time of actual instal­la­tion. All of the BIM pre­plan­ning saves hours and, in some cases, even days of poten­tial rework­ing and con­flict res­o­lu­tion in the field.

This rig­or­ous approach not only means that even the most com­plex tasks and projects are brought in on time and on bud­get, but also that they are done so safely and to the max­i­mum sat­is­fac­tion of every project stakeholder—from worker to client.

ALLEY CLOSURES CONTINUE THROUGH APRIL 26

A reminder that rou­tine clo­sures of the alley bor­der­ing the south side of the project site are ongo­ing from 8 am to 5:30 pm every day through Friday, April 26. Turner Construction is installing steel plat­ing over the exca­va­tions dur­ing these activ­i­ties to ensure pub­lic safety.

Last Week

• Mechanical, elec­tri­cal, and plumb­ing (MEP) rough-in con­tin­ued with a focus along the east side of the site.
• Extensive slab prepa­ra­tion work con­tin­ued through­out the site.
• The com­ple­tion of the pour­ing of foot­ings along the east side of the site means that the foot­ings are 100% complete.
• AAM con­struc­tion team mem­bers met to par­tic­i­pate in “Pull-Planning” ses­sions. Pull-planning is a process of cre­at­ing a reli­able sched­ule by deter­min­ing inter­me­di­ate project milestones—each rep­re­sented by a sticky note placed on a wall to des­ig­nate the time dur­ing which the activ­i­ties will be com­pleted (see photo below). Responsible per­son­nel rep­re­sent­ing each sub­con­trac­tor fill out dif­fer­ent color notes list­ing their task(s) and the dura­tion, and not­ing any per­ti­nent work needed to be com­pleted prior. These notes are then placed in reverse chrono­log­i­cal order from the desired end-goal date or project mile­stone. This visual process allows all per­son­nel in the room to inter­act and antic­i­pate their tasks in rela­tion to those of other team mem­bers and to ref­er­ence a model time­line in order to under­stand exactly what will need to take place prior to start­ing their own tasks or hand­ing their com­pleted work over to coworkers.Topics dis­cussed were related to all ele­ments of the build­ing con­struc­tion, from lower floor slab fin­ish through exte­rior enve­lope plan­ning and inte­rior archi­tec­tural fin­ish oper­a­tions, and par­tic­i­pants included Turner Construction and sub­con­trac­tors from Bouma Corporation, Douglass Colony, Harmon Incorporated, New Electric, Pioneer Steel Inc., RK Mechanical, RK Specialties, S2M Construction, and Simplex Grinnell.

This Week

• Slab prepa­ra­tion and MEP work is cul­mi­nat­ing through­out the site.
• The form­ing and pour­ing of the east wall of the foun­da­tion per­pen­dic­u­lar to East Hyman Avenue.

Next Week

• Underslab insu­la­tion processes and MEP work.
• Removal of lag­ging and beam struc­tures along the East Hyman Avenue side of the site.
• Work on the mez­za­nine level mechan­i­cal room structure.

Construction Notes

ALLEY CLOSURES THROUGH APRIL 26

A reminder that rou­tine daily clo­sures of the alley bor­der­ing the south side of the project site are ongo­ing through Friday, April 26, with work begin­ning at 8 am each morn­ing and com­pleted by 5:30 pm each day. Turner Construction is installing steel plat­ing over the exca­va­tions dur­ing these activ­i­ties to ensure pub­lic safety.

Last Week

• Reinforcing steel work, water­proof­ing, and form­work was per­formed along the entire east side of the site—from the cor­ner of East Hyman Avenue to the alley per­pen­dic­u­lar to South Spring Street.
• Preparatory work for the pour­ing of the lower floor slab moved for­ward through­out the site.
• New AAM con­struc­tion team mem­bers worked on the elec­tri­cal and plumb­ing sys­tems in prepa­ra­tion for fur­ther pour­ing of con­crete elements.

This Week

• Mechanical, elec­tri­cal, and plumb­ing (MEP) rough-in con­tin­ues with a focus along the east side of the site.
• Extensive slab prepa­ra­tion work con­tin­ues through­out the site, includ­ing under­slab insu­la­tion processes and the rough-in of elec­tri­cal floor recep­ta­cles as the week progresses.
• Pouring of foot­ings along the east side of the site as well as the mechan­i­cal room slab.

Next Week

• Slab prepa­ra­tion work will be cul­mi­nat­ing through­out the site dur­ing the first part of the week, includ­ing under­slab insu­la­tion processes and MEP work, as well as pre­lim­i­nary work on the building’s HVAC systems.
• The form­ing of the east wall of the foun­da­tion, per­pen­dic­u­lar to East Hyman Avenue.
• Work on the mez­za­nine (sec­ond level) of the mechan­i­cal room will con­tinue on the south/southeast cor­ner of the site.

Construction Notes

Throughout the New AAM project, our con­struc­tion team will fab­ri­cate mod­els of select ele­ments of the new facil­ity in order to make sure that the planned design as pre­sented by the project archi­tects can be seam­lessly con­structed in the field at the new site. In addi­tion to pro­vid­ing an oppor­tu­nity for visual inspec­tion and review, these mock-ups also serve as tem­plates for con­struc­tion team mem­bers to refer to on an ongo­ing basis.

NEW AAM LIGHTING MOCK-UP

On Tuesday, April 2nd, AAM Nancy and Bob Magoon CEO and Director Heidi Zuckerman Jacobson met the AAM con­struc­tion team at a ware­house in Gypsum, Colorado, to inspect the first mock-up of the project. In addi­tion to test­ing the planned air han­dling sys­tem, the team also reviewed the ambi­ent light­ing plan for the gallery spaces of the building.

Be sure to look for more forth­com­ing reports on New AAM test ele­ments and mock-ups, includ­ing con­crete test pours for the ceil­ings, gallery walls, and the New AAM’s exte­rior screen.

ALLEY CLOSURES APRIL 8–26

A reminder that rou­tine daily clo­sures of the alley bor­der­ing the south side of the project site will be ongo­ing through April 26. Work in the alley begins at 8 am each morn­ing and is com­pleted by 5:30 pm each day. Turner Construction is installing steel plat­ing over the exca­va­tions dur­ing these activ­i­ties to ensure the safety of the public.

Last Week

• Mechanical, elec­tri­cal, and plumb­ing rough-in (MEP), water­proof­ing, and rein­forc­ing steel work con­tin­ued along with work on the New AAM’s under­drain system.
• Pouring of the south foun­da­tion wall was com­pleted and spread foot­ing work occurred along and around the east side of the site.
• Construction equip­ment is being moved out of the area to con­tinue prepa­ra­tions for pour­ing of the New AAM’s lower floor slab.

This Week

• Reinforcing steel work, water­proof­ing, and form­work move for­ward along the entire east side of the site—from the cor­ner of East Hyman Avenue to the alley per­pen­dic­u­lar to South Spring Street.
• Preparatory work for the pour­ing of the lower floor slab is ongo­ing through­out the site.
• New AAM con­struc­tion team mem­bers are work­ing on the elec­tri­cal and plumb­ing sys­tems in prepa­ra­tion for fur­ther pour­ing of con­crete elements.

Next Week

• Commencement of util­ity ser­vice tie-ins will begin on Monday and con­tinue through­out the month of April. (See details in con­struc­tion notes sec­tion below.)
• MEP rough-in con­tin­ues with a focus along the east side of the site.
• Slab prepa­ra­tion work con­tin­ues through­out the site, includ­ing under­slab insu­la­tion processes and the rough-in of elec­tri­cal floor recep­ta­cles as the week progresses.

Construction Notes

ALLEY CLOSURES APRIL 8–26

A reminder that rou­tine daily clo­sures of the alley bor­der­ing the south side of the project site will be ongo­ing begin­ning on April 8 and con­tin­u­ing through April 26. These activ­i­ties are being per­formed in order to facil­i­tate removal of shoring mate­ri­als; install gas, water, sewer, and elec­tric tie-ins; and back­fill and install fin­ished paving in the affected areas. Work in the alley begins at 8 am each morn­ing and is com­pleted by 5:30 pm each day. Our con­struc­tion team’s goal is to have this work com­pleted dur­ing the least impact­ful time of year (spring, or “mud sea­son”). Turner Construction is installing steel plat­ing over the exca­va­tions dur­ing these activ­i­ties to pro­tect our neigh­bors and the public.

Last Week

• Foundation work moved for­ward on the south side of the site.
• Mechanical, elec­tri­cal, and plumb­ing rough-in (MEP) was ongo­ing near the New AAM mechan­i­cal room, with spe­cific focus on the New AAM’s under­drain system.
• Turner Construction removed the exca­va­tor from the site to make way for under­slab rough-in.

This Week

• MEP, water­proof­ing, and rein­forc­ing steel work con­tinue, as well as work on the under­drain system.
• Pouring of the south foun­da­tion wall.
• Spread foot­ing work along and around the east side of the site.
• Over the next few weeks, con­struc­tion equip­ment is being moved out of the area to pre­pare for work on the New AAM’s lower floor slab.

Next Week

• Reinforcing steel work, water­proof­ing, and form­work will move for­ward along the entire east side of the site, from the cor­ner of East Hyman Avenue to the alley per­pen­dic­u­lar to South Spring Street.
• Preparatory work for pour­ing the lower floor slab will be ongo­ing through­out the site—a very impor­tant mile­stone for the project!
• New AAM con­struc­tion team mem­bers New Electric and RK Mechanical will be doing exten­sive work on the elec­tri­cal and plumb­ing sys­tems in prepa­ra­tion for fur­ther pour­ing of con­crete elements.
• Commencement of util­ity ser­vice tie-in. (See details in con­struc­tion notes sec­tion below.)

Construction Notes

ALLEY CLOSURES APRIL 1–19

The New AAM con­struc­tion team is noti­fy­ing con­struc­tion site neigh­bors regard­ing rou­tine daily clo­sures of the alley on the south side of the project site from April 1 through 19 in order to facil­i­tate removal of shoring mate­ri­als; install gas, water, sewer, and elec­tric tie-ins; as well as to back­fill and install fin­ished paving in the affected areas. Work in the alley will begin at 8 am each morn­ing and will be com­pleted by 5:30 pm each day. Our con­struc­tion team is com­plet­ing this work dur­ing the least impact­ful period of the year (spring, or “mud sea­son”). Turner Construction will install steel plat­ing over the exca­va­tions dur­ing these activ­i­ties to pro­tect our neigh­bors and the public.

Last Week

• Backfill and com­paction work was ongo­ing around the lower-level mechan­i­cal room and water­proof­ing con­tin­ued through­out the site.
• The shear walls of the New AAM freight ele­va­tor were poured. This ele­va­tor will be used exten­sively to trans­port art­work to all six of the new facility’s galleries.
• The north and west foun­da­tion walls were completed.
• Installation of rebar and the pour­ing of con­crete were ongo­ing through­out the site.

This Week

• Foundation work moves for­ward on the south side of the site.
• Mechanical, elec­tri­cal, and plumb­ing rough-in (MEP) is ongo­ing near the New AAM mechan­i­cal room, with spe­cific focus on the New AAM’s under­drain sys­tem in that area. The under­drain sys­tem is an inte­gral ele­ment in the envi­ron­men­tally sound dis­posal of any water accu­mu­lat­ing at the low­est part of the site.
• As we pro­ceed for­ward toward the pour­ing of the lower floor slab of the New AAM, con­struc­tion equip­ment is being moved out of the area. This week, Turner Construction will remove the exca­va­tor from the site to make way for crews to fin­ish work as we pre­pare for this very impor­tant mile­stone of the project.

Next Week

• MEP rough-in, water­proof­ing, and rein­forc­ing steel work will continue.
• Pouring of the south foun­da­tion wall.
• Reinforcing steel work, water­proof­ing, and form­work will move for­ward along the entire east side of the site from the cor­ner of East Hyman Avenue to the alley par­al­lel to South Spring Street.

Construction Notes

AAM Team Members New Electric

New Electric is an Avon, Colorado-based elec­tri­cal con­trac­tor spe­cial­iz­ing in com­mer­cial projects large and small. Serving the Colorado high coun­try for almost forty years, New Electric’s highly qual­i­fied staff has over 200 years of com­bined expe­ri­ence proudly serv­ing Eagle, Lake, Garfield, Grand, Pitkin, Routt, and Summit coun­ties. New Electric has been work­ing on the elec­tri­cal aspects of the MEP work on the site. We thank them for their efforts and for being part of the AAM con­struc­tion team.

Last Week

• During week twenty in the process of our New AAM project we con­tin­ued to move for­ward on sched­ule. Thanks to Turner Construction and all our AAM project team mem­bers for keep­ing us on time and on track!
• The lower-level mechan­i­cal room foun­da­tion wall was poured.
• Work con­tin­ued around the freight ele­va­tor and at the north foun­da­tion wall.
• Waterproofing, instal­la­tion of rebar, and pour­ing of con­crete were ongoing.

This Week

• Backfill and com­paction work is ongo­ing around the lower-level mechan­i­cal room, and water­proof­ing work con­tin­ues through­out the site.
• Reinforcing steel and con­crete work on the New AAM’s shear walls are ongo­ing through­out the week. As build­ings are designed to han­dle the forces of both ver­ti­cal and hor­i­zon­tal load­ing, shear walls are con­structed at appro­pri­ately spaced inter­vals not only to sup­port ver­ti­cal load­ing from the top of the struc­ture down­ward (in con­junc­tion with the foot­ings), but also to aid in the trans­fer­ence and dis­tri­b­u­tion of hor­i­zon­tal loads out­ward to the sur­round­ing foun­da­tion walls (in con­cert with forth­com­ing floor and truss elements).
• The north foun­da­tion wall will be com­pleted and the west foun­da­tion wall will be commenced.

Next Week

• “Spread foot­ing” foun­da­tional work will be per­formed on the south and east sides of the site. In foun­da­tion design, the bear­ing capac­ity of both the sur­round­ing soil and the col­umn loads of the build­ing must be con­sid­ered. Spread foot­ing foun­da­tions are part of an effi­cient and cost-effective method for tak­ing these fac­tors into account.
• Mechanical, elec­tri­cal, and plumb­ing rough-in (MEP) will be ongo­ing near the site of the New AAM mechan­i­cal room.

Construction Notes

RK MECHANICAL

Much of the MEP work on the New AAM has been accom­plished by Denver-based con­struc­tion con­trac­tor RK Mechanical, who devel­ops cus­tomized plumb­ing, pip­ing, sheet metal, HVAC, ser­vice, and steel solu­tions for a wide range of projects around the world. A regional busi­ness with a stel­lar global rep­u­ta­tion for stream­lin­ing mechan­i­cal con­struc­tion processes, RK Mechanical is one of the Rocky Mountain region’s lead­ing mechan­i­cal con­trac­tors with approx­i­mately 450 field per­son­nel, 100 office per­son­nel, and 100 fab­ri­ca­tors on staff. In January 2013, RK Mechanical estab­lished the RK Foundation, whose mis­sion is “to build bet­ter lives by strength­en­ing com­mu­ni­ties and pro­vid­ing oppor­tu­ni­ties for those most in need.” RK Mechanical embraces the oppor­tu­nity to give back and we are proud to have them as a mem­ber of our New AAM con­struc­tion team.

Last Week

• The lower level of the museum is begin­ning to take shape as crews began form­ing the foun­da­tion walls.
• Foundation foot­ings on the south side of the prop­erty were poured. These help spread the ver­ti­cal loads of the building.
• Waterproofing of stem walls and the north foun­da­tion wall, rein­forc­ing steel work, and soil back­fill activ­i­ties were ongo­ing and will con­tinue at var­i­ous loca­tions within the site.

This Week

• Foundation wall activ­ity con­tin­ues at the lower-level mechan­i­cal room. This 1,467 square foot, two-level room will house a myr­iad of equip­ment to allow our new build­ing to run in an envi­ron­men­tally sus­tain­able man­ner while main­tain­ing the proper cli­mate con­trols for the pre­sen­ta­tion of art.
• Work con­tin­ues around the freight ele­va­tor and at the north foun­da­tion wall.
• Waterproofing, instal­la­tion of rebar (short­hand for “rein­forc­ing bar”), and pour­ing of con­crete are ongo­ing. There are roughly 379,000 lbs. of rebar sched­uled to be installed dur­ing the struc­tural phase of con­struc­tion on the New AAM, which, as a point of ref­er­ence, rep­re­sents the approx­i­mate weight of 199 clas­sic Volkswagen Beetles.

Next Week

• Backfill and com­paction work will be ongo­ing around the lower-level mechan­i­cal room.
• The north foun­da­tion wall will be com­pleted and work on the west foun­da­tion wall commences.

Construction Notes

DOUGLASS COLONY

With four offices through­out the state (Commerce City, Greeley, Colorado Springs, and Glenwood Springs), Colorado-based Douglass Colony pro­vides a num­ber of impor­tant con­struc­tion ser­vices through­out the Rocky Mountain region. Douglass Colony crews are cur­rently work­ing at the New AAM to pro­vide their exper­tise in below-grade waterproofing—a process which will ulti­mately pre­vent any mois­ture from pen­e­trat­ing the build­ing struc­ture, reduce the pos­si­bil­ity of leaks, and help sus­tain the struc­tural integrity of the building.