October 25, 2022 ‘Fantastic Partner’ Sturgeon Electric Delivers Excellence on Shamrock Foods Project
NECA recognizes unique commercial project for project excellence
The first thing you notice entering the Shamrock Foods Project Peak warehouse in Aurora, Colo. is its immense scale. Even the tallest individuals are dwarfed by the 70-foot ceilings of the vast 1.2 million square foot refrigerated building.
Working in a building that size came with unique challenges and experiences. Sturgeon Electric Operations Manager Jason Boyle recalled his team installing underground conduit in one section of the building while concrete was still being poured in another section.
The warehouse was also 70 percent cold storage, including two freezers of -10 and -22 degrees, respectively. Safely working in those freezers required frequent rotation of workers and tools.
Boyle’s team installed 510,000 feet of conduit, 2 million feet of wire, 3,400 light fixtures, 471 pieces of electrical equipment, 105 dock door controls (including raceways and terminations), BAS raceways and cabling, the fire alarm system and low voltage and security raceways. They also prepped four other buildings on the campus with for future electric utility services. The electrical construction work began in October 2019, wrapping up in November 2021.
Relying on proven construction methods and extensive experience, Sturgeon Electric successfully navigated those challenges and changes of contractor management. And through thoughtful planning, avoided potential material and labor shortages.
“When schedule difficulty arose, Sturgeon Electric stepped in and brought an amazing amount of manpower to save us from additional lost time. Sturgeon Electric was without a doubt a team player and a schedule maker,” Shamrock Foods’ Vice President of Construction and Engineering Patrick Greiner said.
Sturgeon Electric’s attention to the client’s needs, excellent communication with all parties, and ability to come up with new solutions earned recognition from the National Electric Contractors Association (NECA). Sturgeon Electric representatives were handed a 2022 Project Excellence Award at this year’s NECA Show in Austin, Texas this month.
Fresh Ideas, Prefab and Value Engineering Led to Project Success
Led by project manager Jason Boyle, the team developed new solutions as the project called for them.
For example, the project required more than 3,000 light fixtures to be installed. Assessing the volume and redundancy of the work to be done, Boyle said they were inspired to devise a new system that simplified how to hang the lights and worked with local authorities to get approval for their new method. The implementation reduced material costs and saved time without sacrificing quality, structural integrity, or safety.
They also offered value engineering solutions to the client such as recommending a more efficient location for the transformers.
“Sturgeon Electric was a fantastic partner. They went out of their way to help design or redesign areas for efficiencies and for longevity,” Greiner said.
To deliver quality and efficiency, Sturgeon Electric scaled up many of its successful existing processes and methods to fit the large project scope, such as modeling the conduit and having it built by 1912 Manufacturing, a local manufacturing/pre-fabrication shop.
Building out panel lineups helped avoid pandemic supply chain challenges, increased the quality and consistency, and saved time. In several cases they were delivered, immediately set in place and wired the same day.
“Our entire team is exceptionally proud of earning the NECA 2022 Project Excellence Award for commercial and institutional projects valued at more than $1 million,” Boyle said. “In an industry with so many variables in typical years, it is extremely satisfying to have had a project of this magnitude go so well in extraordinary times, with pandemic uncertainties and significantly longer lead times for material and equipment. All our great partners – from the owner, general contractor, vendors, and the Sturgeon team – are what made that success possible.”
Project Details: Shamrock Foods Project Peak
