By Chuck Friedbauer

The dog days of summer may be approaching, but construction at Chanhassen High School is in full swing.

“We’ve really come a long way,” said Jim Eickman, the site’s construction manager. “The weather has been conducive and we’ve picked up some good time on our schedule.” Major construction activities are planned to be complete by June or July 2009, with only minor punch list items left, he said. The school is scheduled to open in fall 2009.All facets of construction are busy, with 180 to 190 workers typically on site each day.

A couple weeks ago, crews poured the concrete for the entire academic first floor of the school building, covering nearly one-and-a-half acres. “At five inches thick, it doesn’t sound like much, but that is a massive amount of concrete, totaling about 780 cubic yards,” said Eickman. “We received permission from the city to start early and we poured concrete from 3:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. that day.”

With the concrete in, a multitude of tasks can begin. “It was key to get the floor done, as it was our bottleneck,” said Eickman. “Now we can do the fireproofing, erect the metals studs for walls and get the other trades going in the academic areas as well.”

Progress continues on the outside of the building as well. “We’re well into installing brick, stone and glass along many sections,” said Eickman.Just as winter conditions brought challenges for workers, so does the summer weather. The black vapor lock applied to walls prior to the brick acts like a huge heat sink on most days, said Eickman.

“It is almost insufferable to lay the brick in the sun when its 90 degrees,” he said. “So we move them to different areas throughout the day to let them work in the shade.”

Grass and turf

The grounds surrounding the school are beginning to take shape. The site will have three artificial turf fields: the main football field and two practice fields.

A concrete curb surrounding the first practice field was installed recently. “One practice field will have about 1,500 feet of concrete curb around the turf,” said Julio Mackedanz of North Country Concrete of Ramsey. The curb provides a barrier to fasten a wooden ledger to which the turf is attached. “We expect the turf installation in August,” said Eickman.The baseball and softball fields are beginning to take shape, as surveyors mark the locations of foul poles and fences. “We’ll start hauling in the lime for the fields themselves soon,” said Eickman. “We’d like to start growing the grass in the fall.”

The grass needs water to grow, but the site does not yet have irrigation controllers due to the reconstruction of Lyman Boulevard. “The road’s final grade is expected in November, but we hope to be able to get electricity to the controllers prior to that so we can run our sprinklers,” said Eickman.

“Other than the detours trucks have to make to get here, the road construction hasn’t been a big impact for us.”

Few setbacks

Very few major setbacks have appeared so far, said Eickman. Inflation and a weakening economy have not had much of an impact on the construction. “A lot of our materials had been previously purchased and stored,” said Eickman. “Fuel prices are hitting those contractors with heavy equipment for excavating or running forklifts though.”

Damage from the intense storms passing through the area the past few weeks was minimal. “We’ve lost a few sheets of insulation here or there, but very, very minor impact,” said Eickman. “Everyone has cell phones, so they know what weather is coming better than the forecasters and prepare for it.

”Unstable soil on the site has been somewhat of a surprise, said Eickman. “We’ll have to fix several spots in the parking lot, because water bubbles up into it in a few spots, even though it hasn’t rained for two weeks,” said Eickman. “I’m told that’s typical in Carver County, but its new for me.”