Mortenson Construction announces the “topping out” of the Ralph L. Carr Colorado Judicial Center

Denver, CO – Mortenson Construction is pleased to announce the successful “topping out” of the new Ralph L. Carr Colorado Judicial Center’s 12-story, 495,000 square foot office tower, which is adjoined by a 200,000 square foot, four-story courthouse building.  The topping out signifies the placement of the final steel beam, a major milestone as the buildings will now transition from the structural to enclosure stage of the construction process.  The final steel beam was placed by Mortenson on May 27th.  Trammell Crow Company serves as program manager, overseeing the financing, design and construction of the project and Fentress Architects is the architect.

“Construction of the Ralph L. Carr Colorado Judicial Center is continuing to make significant progress, and the topping out of the office building represents another important step towards the successful completion of construction,” said Bob Hansen, vice president and general manager of Mortenson Construction.  “We’re honored to be part of this important addition to downtown Denver and mark this most recent achievement.”

Bill Mosher, senior managing director of Trammell Crow Company, commented that “the team on this project, including representatives from the State, Mortenson, their subcontractors, and Fentress, have been exceptional in creating a very high quality building with a strong focus on the safety of the construction trades who have achieved this topping out milestone.”

Some of the interesting aspects of the construction of the new Judicial Center include:

• An estimated 2,500 jobs will be created by the construction of this project.  Currently there are approximately 275 people working on-site each day.
• The project is currently recycling 90 percent of total waste materials.
• The total tonnage of steel for the office tower is 3,004 tons. 
• The concrete core of the office building was finished by Mortenson three weeks ahead of schedule and included 2,295 cubic yards of concrete and 2,242 embeds.
• Concrete for the entire third floor of the Courthouse has been poured, with more than 27,000 cubic yards of concrete poured to date (pouring for the entire complex will be completed in July).
• Upon completion of the project in the spring of 2013, the Judicial Center will accommodate the consolidation of 7 judicial and legal agencies from 10 different locations, including Colorado’s State Supreme Court and Court of Appeals, the State Court Administrator, the Attorney General’s Office, and several other judicial-related state offices and agencies.
• The LEED Gold-targeted center is projected to save the State $60 million over 30 years in lease and operating costs.
• The project is being built using the very latest in Building Information Model (BIM) construction technology, which maximizes the collaborative exchange of electronic information among the project team.
• Court fees and lease revenues will pay the debt service on this $258 million project.  No general fund monies are allocated to the project. 
• The project encompasses the entire State-owned block between 13th/14th and Broadway/Lincoln in downtown Denver.