High Noon Data Center Utilities
The Work
A 907,000 square-foot data center for a large U.S. corporation was being built on 500 acres of former farm property in Dekalb, Illinois. Berger was contracted to complete the underground utilities and the wet utilities infrastructure, including sanitary, water, storm, and fire suppression.
This data center is massive—it required 1/2 million tons of stone, as well as 7 miles of water main for the LEED Gold certified facility. Berger installed 4 miles of sanitary pipes at depths of 30 feet across 315 structures.
The Challenge
The volume of materials required for a job of this magnitude was enormous. Berger collaborated closely with vendors to procure the stone, structures, and pipe materials necessary to complete the project, while managing timing for deliveries. The compressed time table required our team to complete the project within 38 weeks. This meant sourcing materials with little lead time.
The 30-foot depth of the structures presented a unique safety situation, which required extremely strict safety guidelines. In addition, the area for the dig is located on unstructured farmland, which meant a constant effort to re-route and pump water away from the work areas.
The Result
Even with a tight timeline, we were able to source materials and keep up with the fast pace of construction, completing the entirety of the project on time, despite a 7 week start date delay. To complete such a large-scale project within the short timeline, the Berger team installed utilities just two steps behind the design, with a lot of decision-making and planning happening as the project moved forward. This project was completed using 100% BIM modeling.
The team attended safety meetings every morning and upheld strict safety standards throughout the project. Our savvy operators and their familiarity with our equipment allowed the Berger team to complete this challenging project ahead of time, with zero safety incidents.
