About the Project
At a breathtaking altitude of 9,494 feet, the Chamonix Casino Hotel marked Hensel Phelps’ highest elevation project yet, with the three tower cranes reaching an impressive 9,800 feet when erected. The $222 million project is a multi-use hotel and casino in the heart of Cripple Creek, Colorado consisting of a 300-key four-star hotel with guest rooms and VIP suites, a spacious casino gaming area totaling 16,000 SF rooftop pool, fitness center, spa and salon, ballroom space, meeting rooms, fine dining restaurants and a new 126,000 SF parking garage accommodating 307 vehicles.
The nine-floor, 428,111 SF Chamonix Casino Hotel ties into the existing Bronco Billy’s Hotel and Casino, offering a new high-end hotel and casino experience merged directly with the historic feel that Cripple Creek offers. The project team renovated a portion of the existing casino space, tying into the newly built hotel and casino. The renovation, which preserved a large portion of the original building, also unearthed relics dating back to the town’s reconstruction in 1896 following a devastating fire. Hensel Phelps dedicated significant efforts to maintain the historical integrity of the building, acknowledging its significance to the local community.
Doubling the city’s available hotel accommodations, the Chamonix Casino Hotel project is anticipated to be one of the largest economic drivers for the city. Given that December 26 marks the busiest day of the year for gambling, the project team successfully delivered the hotel and casino on time and on budget for an exciting holiday grand opening.
“Chamonix is a special place, unlike any other casino hotel in the state. It offers a high-end Las Vegas experience in our beautiful mountain town.”
BAXTER LEE, GENERAL MANAGER – CHAMONIX CASINO HOTEL
Challenge
Early on, the team immediately recognized that transporting ready-mix concrete up to the jobsite, at an elevation of 9,494 feet, for the building foundation’s structural cast-in-place needs would be problematic, as there was not a ready-mix concrete plant located in Cripple Creek. With the next closest location being Colorado Springs, at an elevation of 5,994 feet, and nearly an hour away, transporting a perishable load of concrete would take approximately three-and-a-half hours per truck driving on mountain roads. With concrete’s perishable time at 90 minutes, the team knew hauling concrete from Colorado Springs was not a viable option.
Solution
The project team focused on developing solutions to determine building systems that minimized the need for transporting perishable concrete, resulting in the mobilization of one ready-mix concrete batch plant within two miles of the jobsite. The batch plant’s accessibility facilitated the construction of the superstructure. Additionally, Hensel Phelps made the strategic decision to supplement the concrete plant operations by shipping in precast concrete pieces, keeping the project on schedule.
Result
The hotel and casino’s superstructure is made up of four primary materials, including 8,000 CY of cast-in-place concrete, 527 pieces of precast concrete shipped from Colorado Springs, structural steel fabricated in Wyoming, and load-bearing light-gauge wall panels fabricated in Kansas City. Hensel Phelps self-performed $12 million in cast-in-place concrete on the project, totaling 5.7% of the total cost of work, including 34,623 hours with over 20 Hensel Phelps craft and up to 320 trade partner craft working on-site. This solution resulted in cost savings and allowed for additional employment opportunities while maintaining the project schedule.
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