The Ice Center renovation project is a major project that is in the development and gathering stage with hopes that the City Council will approve a renovation of the Ice Center's refrigeration plant and both rink floor along with other mechanical equipment. The Ice Center has also been targeted as the "Model Facility" with the City's adopted Sustainable plan. To this end, the Ice Center staff will work to improve different areas within the Ice Center to become more sustainable. Improving the refrigeration plant with a geothermal solution is just one piece of that puzzle that staff hopes will become reality.
The Burnsville Ice Center is currently using Stevens Engineers to perform two tasks in relation to the Burnsville Ice Center's anticipated renovation project, that if approved will take place starting in March of 2010. As each step of this project comes up, staff will continue to update this website to keep the public informed of our progress.
The first task that Stevens Engineers is completing for the City of Burnsville is to write a grant so we can apply for Federal Stimulus money in the form of a
Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant. This grant is through the Department of Energy. The Burnsville Ice Center will be applying for $360,000.00.
The second task that Stevens Engineers will be completing for the City is the Pre-Design and Development. This is necessary to complete the grant. Items like construction costs, energy savings projections and more are part of this process.
On May 14, 2009 the first step was taken to gather information about the soil that is under Rink 1. Next week we will have pictures posted here for you to view.
June 29, 2009
The soil testing is now complete and the Ice Center received good news! The anticipated frost under Rink 1 was minimal and the soils were sandy. What this means to the potential project is that we don't have to use valuable time and money to thaw out the earth before replacing the Rink 1 floor.
We are currently awaiting our final report for the Design Development phase. This will explain technical terms, give some specification minimums and give the City a good measuring stick as to the cost of the project.
What is Geothermal Energy - PDF
The test well is now connected to the conductivity machinery for the next 48 hours. Once the results come back from this test, it will give the engineers a measurement as to how many wells that this project will need to make ice, heat the building, dehumidify the building and more. Below are pictures of the testing equipment.
October 19, 2009
It has been a while since the last posting. Since June the City has sign a contract for professional engineering services to be performed by Stevens Engineers. They have formed a team to put together the preliminary design and final design for the project. At our last meeting on October 8, 2009 our timeline for the project was updated and we are hopeful that we will start advertising bids on November 16, 2009.
On other news, the conductivity test showed that the project will need 200 wells at a depth of 200' for the well field. Based on the findings this will assure the Ice Center that our well field will not be undersized nor oversized so we can maximize the waste heat that our system will create.
November 12, 2009
The design is now complete and the advertisement for bids have been published for contractors to receive the bid documents. All bids must be submitted by December 11, 2009 for the bid opening. Once the bids have been submitted and opened the design team and staff will be meeting to discuss the scope of the pricing and the project. The next phase will be presenting City Council with the contract the team selects. We hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving and we will update the site in December.
January 29, 2010
The renovation project has now been approved by the City Council at the January 19th meeting. We received 15 bids for Bid package 1 and two bids for Bid package 2. Harty Mechanical from Austin, MN will be the general contractor on the project. Becker Arena Products from Savage, MN received the bid for the dasherboards. We are now awaiting the signed contracts and proper paperwork before we continue with pre-construction meetings with Harty Mechanical.
The Ice Center will close from March 15, 2010 through September 10, 2010 for the renovation. We anticipate re-opening on September 10 with one sheet of ice and the second sheet up and running around October 10, 2010. In the meantime, we will be conducting business out of HASSE ARENA in Lakeville, MN.
March 15-19, 2010 - Week 1
The demolition of the dasher boards took place this week. Staff had to remove all of our items from the Ice Center and store them so they are out of the way. This took three staff members the entire week to do this. The compressors and rink floors were evacuated of freon (around 10,000 lbs). This took all day Thursday and Friday. You can now check out the weekly updates through pictures at the following link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/burnsvilleicecenter/.
March 22-26, 2010 - Week 2
All the ductwork on the south side of the Gary R Harker rink was removed and prepped for new resized ductwork that will be installed for the new dehumidification unit. Rink 2 floor was saw cut and is ready for removal next week. Electricians have been removing most of the overhead rink lights and running new conduit for the new lights that will be installed near the end of the project. All of the HVAC units were removed and hauled away and finally trees were cut down to make room for the well field. Things definitely look different around here! It has been pretty exciting overall and we look forward to next week with more demolition.
March 29-April 2, 2010 - Week 3
This week the well driller's made significant progress with over 30 wells being drilled. The compressor room was being cut up and removed as well. We had some delay's with the rink floor removal and the saw cutting of the Gary R. Harker rink this week. I am sure not everything always goes as smoothly as we think it might. Electrician continue to get the electrical portion of the project ready. Physically a lot has not changed since last week.
April 5-9, 2010 - Week 4
The well drillers are now half way done with 100 wells having been drilled. The compressor room is now totally empty with the exception of the electrical panel. The Gary R. Harker rink cement removal was halted for a day because their was a concern that the vapor barrier between the cement and the sand may contain asbestos. Thankfully, after getting the material tested it was negative. Cement removal has been a very slow process to date.
April 12-16, 2010 - Week 5
The well drillers have finished 180 wells of the 200 proposed. We will now have three wells tested to determine the final number of wells needed. Rink demolition continues with the removal of concrete. Sub grading and compaction should take place starting next week. Air ducts have been installed in Rink 2 for the dehumidification unit. This was a fairly uneventful week.
April 19 – 23, 2010 - Week 6
This week we had more of the same, demolition of the rinks, sub grading the rinks to get them ready for sub floor heating systems. The geothermal well testing is taking place this week and the fusion weld test was done this week. Harty Mechanical is starting to fuse weld some of the pipe. We have piles of sand everywhere. It is amazing how much sand is actually in each rink. We estimate that 30 trucks loads are being removed to get ready for the subfloor heating.
April 26 – 30, 2010 Week 7
This week the rink floors were leveled and removed of excess sand, lots of sand! Trenches for the headers were made and the subfloor heat for Rink 2 was laid out and fuse welded. Headers for the Gary R. Harker subfloor heating system are being fuse welded on Friday. The transformer lines were dug and buried and the preparation for the transformer pad has been completed. Just waiting on the pouring of the pad and not sure when that will take place. On Friday, the sprinkler company started installing the sprinkler system that has been added to both rinks over the bleacher areas that were previously un-sprinkled. We are still waiting for the results of the well testing that was completed on Monday. Things are being put back and that is exciting and also make one feel like you can see progress as the owner.
May 3 – 7, 2010 Week 8
This week they saw cut the resurfacer room floor. Continued with putting the sub floor heating tubing in place on the Gary R. Harker Rink and fuse welding the mains. The sprinkler system was installed on Rink 2. Once the cement was removed in the southern part of the resurfacer room the crews then dug out the sand to create the trenches that the main will run in for the Gary R. Harker Rink. Next week they will finish that going to Rink 2. The transformer pad was poured and the cabinet was installed and next week will be hook up day. That’s the basics of this week.
May 10 – 14 Week 9
This week saw quite a bit of progress. The snow melt pit was dug out, the floor was formed and was poured as well. The new addition which will become the mew mechanical room was being dug out so they could get the footings poured. Harty’s crew was busy fuse welding the refrigeration mains for both rink floors and completing the install of the subfloor heating system. We have had some “surprises” digging into a 38 year building and the contingency budget is getting nicked, but we will survive. It is starting to come together!
May 17 – 21 Week 10
This week the snow melt pit walls were formed and poured. Refrigeration mains from the Gary R. Harker Rink were run through the resurfacer room and into the old mechanical room. The plumbing for the snow melt pit was run and hooked up as well. The new mechanical room had the footings poured and the walls began to be put up on Friday. Harty continues to fuse weld the mains for Rink 2. This process takes a lot longer than I ever thought it would, but is interesting to watch and ask questions. Most of the work is being done in the resurfacer room and outside this last week. Until they can put the sand back into the resurfacer room they can’t put the sand back on the rink floors to cover the sub floor heating tubing. The project is officially 5 days behind schedule as of Friday, May 21, 2010.
May 24 – 28, 2010 Week 11
Footings were poured this week for the screen walls for the dehumification unit for Rink 1 and the condensing unit for locker rooms 3 and 4. Main lines are being run through the resurfacer room as well this week. The new mechanical room is being built and the walls seem to be going up very fast. The walls went up and at the end of the week they put the precast ceiling on the new mechanical room.
June 1 -4, 2010 Week 12
This week, they spent all week bringing the sand into the rinks to cover the subfloor heating system, then compacting the sand, and leveling for the upcoming survey to meet the spec. Not much else happened on the short work week.
June 7-11, 2010 Week 13
The rinks got surveyed on Monday and Tuesday. Rink 2 had to have some sand removed and the Gary R. Harker Rink was okay. The crew started putting the Styrofoam insulation down on the Gary R. Harker Rink this week and should be finished by the end of the week. The masonry crew is putting the brick facing on the cement walls of the new mechanical room and the pillars of the screen walls.
June 14 – 18, 2010
This week the crew completed the insulation of both rink floors and the vapor barrier. They then placed all the chairs on the floors. Once this was done a survey was completed to verify that they met the specifications on the tolerances. They have been working Saturday’s each week and will continue through the end of the project is the word. On Saturday the 19th, they started pulling the refrigeration tubing on Rink 2 floor. Outside, the work has continued with the geothermal well company fuse welding the transmission mains that will connect the wells to the manifold in the mechanical room. The brick layers completed the exterior of the new mechanical room. That completed this week work but things are really shaping up.
June 21 – 25, 2010
Crews continued on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday to pull the Rink 2 refrigeration tubing and then proceed to fuse weld approximately 400 connections in two days. On Thursday they pulled all of the tubing for the Gary R. Harker rink floor. Then on Friday and Saturday of this week they fuse welded all the connections. Also on Thursday the surveyor that Harty hired came and surveyed Rink 2 in the morning with Stevens Engineers crew repeating the survey in the afternoon for verification. In the meantime, Harty was flushing the tubing and mains on Rink 2 and doing a hydro test at 100 psi. Outside work continued with all the scaffolding coming down on the new mechanical room. The geothermal company is prepping to begin digging 6’ under grade to connect each well to the transmission mains that will eventually end up in the new mechanical room. Next week is a big bench mark with both rink floors being poured!
June 28 – July 2, 2010
This week was spent preparing the refrigeration tubing to the correct tolerance. The original schedule going into the week was to pour Rink 2 floor on Tuesday and the Gary R. Harker Rink on Thursday. Because the tolerances weren’t met on Monday the pour was canceled. The crews started shimming the low areas. A survey on Tuesday resulted in the tolerances still not being met. No pour on Thursday. On Wednesday they shimmed and didn’t pass the tolerance, but set the pour for Friday. On Thursday, after a final survey, the pour for Friday was approved. Then, on Thursday afternoon the concrete contractor says they don’t want to pour as they are making sure they are ready so they make sure they meet the tolerances. The pour is canceled; it has been set for Tuesday, July 6th, 2010.
The geothermal wells started being fuse welded to the transmission lines. The first (what I call – run) has been welded, pressure tested and backfilled. The contractor digs a trench about 15’ wide by 6’ deep. They then fuse weld the well to the transmission lines, once they put a pressure test on at 100psi and it holds for 4 hours, they can start backfilling the trench. This is another interesting process to watch. This has truly been a learning experience that requires patience at times and other times it is very interesting and exciting. Happy Fourth of July to everyone and don’t forget to register for the Fall Conference by August 1st.
July 5 – 9, 2010
Since Monday was an observed holiday for the crews and City staff alike no work was done. On Tuesday morning the big pour took place on Rink 2. Northland Concrete started pouring just before 7:00am and had the entire floor poured by 11:30am. The remainder of the day was used to do finishing work and lay the plastic on the concrete for the 14 day wet cure. In the meantime, Harty’s crew was shimming the Gary R. Harker Rink and getting it ready for the Thursday morning survey. With a few minor adjustments the floor passed the survey and we are scheduled to pour the Gary R. Harker Rink on Monday, July 12th. Mineral Services continue to dig the trenches to run the geothermal transmission mains, fuse weld, pressure test and then bury them.
July 12 – 23, 2010
I was on vacation for a few days so I will highlight for a two week period. On July 12 they poured the Gary R. Harker Rink. This started at 6:00 a.m. and they were done by 10:30am. Then later in the week they poured the resurfacer room floor and the mechanical room floors. The week of the 19-23 a lot of things started happening. Placement of the compressors, heat pumps ammonia tank and chiller vessels took place. Our dehumidification units were placed and all other roof top HVAC units were placed as well. Things are really starting to shape up and look like we could operate, however we know that won’t be realistic until early September.
July 26 – August 13, 2010
Sorry that is has been so long. Because of items that needed attention over the last few weeks I didn’t get around to posting information.
The mechanical rooms continue to get filled with equipment and pipes, lots of pipes! They are making the heating coil for the snow melt pit and will be installing in the next week or so. All the Rink 2 lighting has been installed, cleaning of Rink 2 has taken place to some degree, and acid etching of the floor took place on August 13th in preparation for the painting of the floor in the coming week.
We had a major flood of water and mud run into the new mechanical room, pump room, boiler room, resurfacer room and all the way out onto the Gary R. Harker Rink on August 10th. We had about 6-8” of water and mud. Crews spent about 2 hours cleaning up before they could get back to work.
The dehumidification Unit for Rink 2 was installed on the flat roof along with two other HVAC units. The rubber membrane roof was also installed. The evaporative condenser was installed on the roof of the new mechanical room as well. Electrical work continues on Rink 2 and in the mechanical rooms so Rink 2 can be started up and ice can be made starting September 13 for skating to begin on September 20th. Everything is coming down to crunch time to get the first sheet up and running.
We have had probably on average 15 to 20 workers onsite these last three weeks compared to 5 to 10 workers before that. So things are flying now. More to come……