The Sacramento Convention Center project is a partial replacement of the existing structure and installation and erection of 3,261 tons of new steel. The project totals 384,400 square feet and 4 floors, including a new 40,000 ballroom, an expanded kitchen, new lobbies on both the east and west side of the facility and a new activities plaza.
The ballroom floor area consisted of (31) plate girders, 7’-6” deep with flanges up to 4” thick, to that required field splicing, with the longest plate girder being 120 feet long and weighing 60 tons. WSE developed a detailed procedure to splice together the plate girder sections on the ground prior to erection to allow for a shorter erection duration and better quality control. Crews were required to layout needle beams, trench plates, and plate girder alignment, and check for sweep, camber and squareness during fitup, and throughout and after the welding process. Due to site size restrictions the WSE project management team developed precise locations for material layout to allow for the splice to occur on the ground and have the finished plate girder readily accessible for erection.
The roof included (15) trusses that required field assembly, with the largest truss being 16 feet deep and 160 feet long and weighing 42 tons. Again, the project management team developed in depth procedures for assembly and stacking to allow for these to be assembled before erection started. Field crews were responsible for shimming, checking length, height, camber and cross squaring all pieces.
The WSE project management team also developed an erection procedure that required the use of WSE’s 330-ton crawler crane, and 75-ton hydraulic crane. The Sacramento Convention Center project also contained numerous cantilevered plate girders and beams that required the team to develop and install shoring towers for erection purposes.