More than 1 million square feet of concrete was placed to complete the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The new stadium seats 20,000 people and cost $375 million. A big component of this project was to place large concrete columns that provide the core structural support for the arena decking, siding, and roof.
Working with local concrete suppliers, Thor Construction developed some custom mixes that adapted well to the extreme desert climate conditions. The company also used a variety of retarders, plus ice, to achieve the desired setting times for the concrete. As many as 67 workers were on-site at various times during construction of the arena. Thor placed a total of 44,000 cubic yards of concrete.
“We completed the four cores in two months, half the time called for in the original schedule,” says Scott Swenson, Thor general superintendent. Each core measures 40 by 30 feet, and rises 115 feet from ground level. “We had all four cores going in at the same time, so we were working 24/7 for several weeks,” says Swenson.
Thor had the right resume for the project, as it had previously handled self-performing concrete work for numerous similar sports and entertainment venues, including Target Field, Xcel Energy Center, and TCF Bank Stadium in the Twin Cities.
