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| WESTERN
STATES FIRE PROTECTION INSTALLED AN AUTOMATIC FIRE
SPRINKLER SYSTEM IN THE COLORADO CONVENTION CENTER |
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Western
States Fire Protection Company installed an automatic
fire sprinkler system for the Colorado Convention Center
Phase II Expansion. This 285 million dollar project
doubled the size of the Convention Center, adding approximately
1,400,000 square feet of new space and transformed
the building into a landmark that represents a gateway
to downtown Denver. The project was completed in
January 2005.
The
expansion includes:
- A
new 1,000-space parking garage.
- A
new 5,000 fixed seat auditorium.
- A
new 50,000 square foot ballroom.
- The
existing exhibit hall increased from 290,000
to 600,000 square feet that can be divided into
blocks of space according to the needs of the
event.
- 23
new covered truck-loading docks, served by their
own roadway that completely encircles the building.
- The
existing 65,000 square feet of meeting space
was increased to 93,000 square feet.
Western
States Fire Protection Company installed 23 dry systems
feeding the parking structure, loading docks and over
the RTD light rail track & Stout Street. They also
installed 25 wet systems feeding the exhibit hall,
ballroom and lecture hall meeting rooms; 60 additional
fire hose valve stations and 4 separate valve rooms.
Approximately 15,000 fire sprinkler heads were added
with the expansion project.
Project
Challenges
The
new design required the city street and light rail
train be relocated from it's existing alignment which
was in the middle of the new Convention Center expansion.
The city street and light rail train was moved north,
to bend around the expansion. This required the Convention
Center be built over the top of the light rail in order
to facilitate the installation of the overhead catenary
power lines, which were anchored to the new building.
The work had to take place while the street and light
rail line were still in service. Very tight coordination
limited the outages to the weekends. Due to careful
planning, the rail service did not have any un-scheduled
downtime. |
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The
fire detection system had to be incorporated into the existing
fire alarm panel while not taking the system off line for
over 8 hours. Western States Fire Protection Company was able
to design and install a new fire alarm panel and make a single
point termination from each existing fire alarm device to
the new panel, with no interruptions to the facility.
During
the first quarter of construction, the owner requested that
the parking garage be completed a year early so that they
could generate revenue from the parking fees. Western States
Fire Protection Company was able to design and install a temporary
life safety and egress path in order to receive a TCO from
the City of Denver in order to open the 1,000 car garage early.
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