Special Applications
Technical Merit

Location: 2000 Hewitt Ave., Everett

Owner/developer: Everett Public Facilities District

Project team: PCL Construction Services, general contractor; LaRusso Concrete Co., concrete contractor; LMN Architects, architect; Magnusson Klemencic Associates, structural engineer; Glacier Northwest, ready-mix supplier

The $71.5 million Everett Events Center is home to the Everett Silvertips hockey team and is also a venue for concerts, trade shows, rodeos and other events.

The cornerstone of the 350,000-square-foot building is its two competition ice rinks. Each of the 17,000-square-foot rinks has 27 miles of under-floor heat and cooling pipes connected to a self-contained, ammonia-based cooling system.

Slabs had to be made in one continuous pour, due to stringent requirements for ice slab floor flatness and level.

The 500-plus cubic yards of concrete for the rink floors had to be a special low-shrink mix that could be placed with extreme consistency. The 6-inch-thick slabs, which encase the cooling pipes, were reinforced with No. 5 rebar and wire mesh.

Floor flatness was critical to the project to prevent soft and hard spots on the ice. The result was an FF94/FL51 specification for the main rink and FF93/FL40 for the practice rink.

The slabs, which were designed with no control joints, have not cracked under the intended freeze and thaw cycles.

Finalists in the category included the Skinner Building seismic upgrade project in Seattle and the Koppenberg Mausoleums project in Monroe.