Rudolph & Sletten: Red Hawk Casino

Moving quickly┬áKeith Regan learns how Rudolph & Sletten used the resources and experience from its past, as well as those of its parent company, to help bring the Red Hawk Casino project in ahead of an already aggressive completion schedule.  When the Shingle Springs Tribal Gaming Authority, an instrumentality of the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians, finally won approval to build the Red Hawk Casino in the foothills east of Sacramento, the Tribe, along with its development partner, Lakes Entertainment, was eager to see the project completed in a timely manner. ┬áIn fact, along with some site-specific challenges that derived from the location on the side of a hill, the aggressive construction time frame was in some ways the most notable and challenging aspect of the project, according to Howard N. Mills, a senior project manager with Rudolph & Sletten, the Redwood City (California) company charged with construction management on the project. ÔÇ£We were effectively on site in July 2007, and the casino opened in December 2008,ÔÇØ Mills says. In that time, all site improvements including extensive infrastructure work on the Rancheria and a massive 1.2-million-square-foot parking structure were completed, as well as the casino building itself. At one point, as many as 30,000 worker-hours were being logged on the project each week, meaning that every two weeks as many hours were being put into the project as the average person accumulates during a 30-year working career. With scores of subcontractors often working side by side and as many as 700 workers in a variety of trades on site, at its peak the project was seeing $1 million worth of work completed each day. To accomplish the task of coordinating and managing that much work in such a short time frame without causing conflicts, Rudolph & Sletten leaned on its own experience gained during nearly a half century as a family-owned contractor offering services ranging from construction management to design-build and general contracting. Founded in 1960, the firm helped build the corporate campuses of many of the Golden StateÔÇÖs top companies, such as Apple, eBay and Sun Microsystems, and helped create LucasfilmÔÇÖs Skywalker Ranch film production facility. With 85 percent of its business coming from repeat clients, Rudolph & Sletten was recently ranked the seventh-largest domestic general building contractor by Engineering News Record and in recent years has won statewide industry awards for projects at the University of California at Berkeley, the La Jolla Playhouse and the rehabilitation of the California Theatre. The firmÔÇÖs project team also drew from the resources of its parent company, Perini Corp.ÔÇöwith $4.6 billion in annual revenue in 2007, one of the worldÔÇÖs largest contractors and in recent years an increasingly prominent builder of casinos. Perini has helped build many of the most prominent casinos on the Las Vegas strip, as well as resorts in gaming destinations overseas. At Red Hawk Casino, speed was of the essence because the project had been designed and planned for quite some time before permits were gained. ÔÇ£There were a few challenges with getting the freeway access resolved, and the owners were hungry and ready for the project to get started and completed as soon as possible,ÔÇØ notes Mills. Rudolph & Sletten partnered with Clark Pacific and Cuningham Group Architecture to complete the eight-story design-build parking structure, which was completed in just 19 weeks of above-grade construction, relying heavily on precast components that took just 14 weeks to manufacture, build off-site and assemble as they arrived at the site. The casino is meant to be a gaming destination, with six restaurants, four entertainment bars and other amenities in addition to its 2,000 slot machines and 75 gaming tables.┬á Red Hawk Casino made its way through a lengthy permitting processÔÇöduring which some community members questioned the wisdom of the project, which brought some 1,750 permanent jobs to the area as well as thousands of temporary construction jobs.┬á The project also involved significant off-site work, including a new highway interchange to reach the site, which is 20 miles east of Sacramento. ÔÇ£At the outset of the project, the site presented its own challenges,ÔÇØ Mills recalls. ÔÇ£ItÔÇÖs one of the more beautiful job sites IÔÇÖve ever seen construction being done on. The topography and the fact that the casino itself was essentially being built into the side of a hill added complexity to the job in addition to limited storage and staging areas.ÔÇØ The topography required a step-foundation system that in turn meant extensive drilling and blasting in the early phase of the project. Before that could happen, access had to be gained for the heavy equipment used on the project. ÔÇ£That was a challenge that we knew was a big one, and we prepared for it early on. For a while when the project started we had three shifts up there seven days a week making it possible to move into the next phases.ÔÇØ The owners were thrilled to have the project delivered ahead of an already aggressive schedule, with the casino opening for business before the end of 2008 and a red-carpet grand opening event in mid-January. ÔÇ£ItÔÇÖs a beautiful facility and a real iconic landmark now and for a long time to come,ÔÇØ Mills says. ÔÇ£ItÔÇÖs a real credit to the entire project management team on the site, design team, consultants, and all the subcontractors we worked with over the life of the project.ÔÇØ At the peak of work, Rudolph & Sletten had approximately 20 employees on site as part of the project management team, with more than 40 subcontracting firms providing services and some 700 workers on site bringing the project to fruition. ÔÇ£TheyÔÇÖre the people who made it happen.ÔÇØ ÔÇôEditorial research by Greg Petzold┬á