Right on Track

L'Auberge du Lac Hotel and Casino opens on time despite addendums

By Karla Wall

Despite rain delays and an addendum to architectural plans that forced a seven-day, 10-hour-day work schedule, the new $325 million L'Auberge du Lac Hotel and Casino in Lake Charles opened on schedule May 26.

"We got 100 in. of rain the first year we were onsite, starting in September 2003," said Duane Duffy, project manager for Manhattan Construction of Houston, primary contractor for the project.

In addition to delays caused by the weather, the job scope increased late last year.

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The new plans called for the addition of 20,000 sq. ft. on the first two levels of the 26-story, 750-room hotel. Twenty-two luxury suites were added on the second floor, as well as four 2,000-sq.-ft. villas in a low-rise wraparound on the two lower levels of the hotel. A 60-ft.-wide interstitial area was also added on the side of the hotel.

At the peak of the project in the third quarter of 2004, Manhattan had 1,400 workers on the 227-acre site, all working six- and seven-day schedules to complete the hotel tower and public areas (casino, parking garage, golf course, business center, restaurants, spa and fitness center) in time for the opening.

"We had to bring people in from all across the South," Duffy said. "There just weren't enough people locally."

Gene Williams of Wilhite Electric/Sulphur Electric of Sulphur, said that since January to the opening, "we had one day off, for Easter. Our crew peaked out at 145 workers on site in February."

Though the tower and public areas have opened, work was still under way on the villas, suites, floating dock, pool and lazy river water attraction. Work was to be completed on these final portions by July 15.

No compaction or dirt work was needed for the wetlands site, originally a dredge disposal area, Duffy said. The hotel rests not on a slab foundation, but on roughly 2,700, 5,000-psi prestressed concrete piles that create a 4-ft., 11-in. crawl space beneath the hotel's lowest level.

Most of the piping and electrical conduit are routed through the crawl space.
A four-level parking garage and the top 24 levels of the hotel tower are made of about 53,000 cu. yds. of poured-in-place concrete. Concrete work, including pile-cap foundations, was performed by Baker Concrete of Houston. The lower two levels of the hotel, containing the suites and villas, are formed of structural steel, fabricated and erected by Steel Fabricators in New Orleans.

A central plant beneath the parking garage holds four 1,000-ton chillers for the HVAC system, said Ken Mathieu, project manager for Mechanical Construction of Metairie, mechanical contractor for the project. More than 1 mi. of chill-water piping is located in the crawl space alone, ranging from 24-in. diameter for the condenser water pipe to 12-in. pipe for the chill-water system.

The crawl space was utilized for the mechanical piping for expediency.

"Our objective was to start up the chill-water system to condition the hotel tower quickly, prior to completing the public areas," Mathieu said.

Plumbing in the villas and suites is unique.

"Fill spouts for the tubs are located on the ceiling rather than the wall," Mathieu said.

"The bathrooms feature top-of-the-line Kohler SOK tubs."

Millwork in the villas and suites was installed by Architectural Specialties Trading Co. of Pensacola, Fla. The vaulted ceilings of the villas are formed with white oak beams, said Architectural Specialties project manager Wayne Gottshcall. Eight-piece crown molding is featured in the great rooms and 6-in. cornice molding is in each bedroom.

Five-ft.-wide stained hickory vanities are in each bathroom. The bar areas hold stained hickory bars with 16 ft. of counter space and sinks formed of Venetian glass.

All lighting and mechanical components in the hotel and public areas are controlled by an automated control system manufactured by Siemens and installed by Wilhite Electric/Sulphur Electric.

The system is controlled through devices placed in each of 20 electrical areas, said Gene Williams of Wilhite.

"The main power source is located in the central plant. Five 2,500-kva, pad-mounted transformers serve five 4,000-amp switchboards," Williams said. "Fifty-thousand ft. of 4-in. conduit and roughly 300,000 ft. of wire are routed under the crawl space and divided into four sections at the hotel tower, each fed by riser cables.

Other electric work provided by Wilhite included the installation of the pump system for the 2,500-sq.-ft. plaster and gunite pool and 650-ft. lazy river. Keith Wilhite said the pool and lazy river are serviced by five pumps ranging from 5- to 25-horsepower.

The riverboat casino, the largest single-deck riverboat in the United States at 225 ft. wide by 330 ft. long, is housed in a dredged, drained basin enclosed by sheet piling. It was formed in sections, one manufactured at LEEVAC Industries' shipyard in Jennings and one at Quality Shipyards in Houma.

A floating dock was completed, at least partially, for the July 4 weekend. The Unifloat Concrete Floating Dock System surface, constructed of a lightweight concrete shell, will sit on 11 16-in. steel piles driven from a barge by Boh Bros. of New Orleans.

The dock will measure 240 by 150 ft. and accommodate up to 16 boats as well as a seaplane owned by the casino. Configured in an L shape, it will feature 30-ft. "fingers," or gangplanks, leading off the main dock.

Useful Source:

For a fact sheet about the project, go to:
http://www.pnkinc.com/i/downloads/Lauberge_FactSheet.pdf