documents and conducting pre- and post-project underwater inspections of the dam complex to overseeing the construction process , the Ayres team performed excellent work consistently , Petersen said .
“ Always , with a project of this size , there are some tense moments with contractors . There were a lot of minor constructability issues on site ,” he said . But he credits Haug and his team with handling those issues while keeping the project on budget and on time .
“ Budget was a huge focus for the County . Ayres made sure it was a big focus for themselves as well ,” Petersen said .
The dam renovation project cost about $ 7 million , at least $ 1 million less than the original engineer ’ s estimate .
Money also was saved because Ayres ’ excellent reputation with FERC allowed for quick approval of its design documents .
“ The good thing about Ayres is they had the kind of expertise on staff that FERC was confident in ,” Petersen said . “ Everyone ’ s real happy with how the project turned out .”
Additional opportunities presented
So happy , in fact , that the County hired Ayres to plan and oversee the next major project at the Byllesby Dam site – renovating or replacing the dam ’ s original powerhouse .
“ When you get a good company and a good project manager , you tend to go with them and continue to go with them ,” Petersen said .
Raivo Balciunas , an Ayres architect who will design the powerhouse renovations , said this project poses significant challenges – the first being the sheer age and condition of the structure . “ It ’ s in pretty bad shape in some places ,” he said .
County officials prefer refurbishing the existing building to tearing it down and building a new structure .
“ That would be the most costeffective approach ,” Petersen said . “ But ,” he conceded , “ you ’ re talking about a building that ’ s more than 100 years old . It needs a lot of sprucing up .”
A historic preservation aspect adds to the challenge , Balciunas explained . In essence , the County would like the inside of the building to be
updated with the latest electricalgenerating equipment and other modern amenities , including office and conference spaces , while the exterior of the powerhouse is simultaneously restored to its original appearance , including many large windows that over the years were covered over . “ The County is interested in getting it back to its former glory ,” Balciunas said .
A major problem in refurbishing the powerhouse is that the construction methods used in building the structure often deviated from what is laid out in the original architectural drawings , Haug said . None of those deviations ever were recorded .
HD scanning aids process
To know exactly what they ’ re dealing with , the Ayres team is using high-density ( HD ) laser scanning technology in a process known as building information modeling , or BIM .
A survey crew conducted HD laser scans of the entire Byllesby Dam site
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