Photo courtesy AGC of Washington The Silver Reef Hotel & Spa was built on 527 stone columns due to the site’s dampness.

Before construction began on the 105-room hotel, Aecon Buildings faced two challenges: protecting substantial wetlands surrounding the site and stabilizing the land without damaging the adjacent casino. Both impacted the schedule and budget of the six-story building.

Working on the damp site required extraordinary measures to protect the existing casino, such as stabilizing the site by installing 527 stone columns on 8-foot centers. The footings totaled 20,186 linear feet of underground columns using 8,050 tons of stone. More than 1,200 wick drains were installed approximately 100 feet below ground to allow water to be pushed to the surface during the preload process.

Aecon made several adjustments to bring the project back on budget, including working with its mechanical contractor on detailed value engineering measures.

There were no accidents or time-loss incidents in more than 93,400 worker hours on the project.