Consolidating two elementary schools and a middle school into one campus, Denver Public Schools’ Trevista at Horace Mann opened in 2008. In 2018, 360 Engineering was hired as the prime consultant by the District to lead an upgrade project as part of their Architect/Engineer Design package. The project’s primary goal was to replace existing steam and condensate piping throughout the entire building. The scope of work also included the replacement of the kitchen grease waste line, floor drains, floor sinks, and grease interceptor. This required the removal of existing floor tile and finding new tile to match.
During initial site investigations, 360 Engineering worked with DPS to redefine the proposed construction budget to ensure all costs were covered for the piping replacement. To achieve as much as possible within the budget and the summer construction schedule, the project was split into three phases. 360 Engineering documented the areas where the piping was in most-need of replacement, which was in the tunnels beneath the cafeteria/kitchen as well as beneath the art/computer classroom wing.
Complete record drawings were not available for more than half the building. Using what plans were available, 360 Engineering spent significant in-field time documenting existing steam and condensate piping and associated equipment throughout the building. This included tracing lines from the boiler room into the crawlspaces and tunnels, above ceilings, and inferring locations of piping in the walls. Another challenge was the incorporation of new access hatches for each of the lower level tunnels. To detail the requirements for the hatch installation, 360 Engineering and Martin/Martin spent time sifting through the DPS archives to find the original structural drawings for the building to better understand the slab and tunnel construction. With these drawings, the team put together complete details for installation of the new floor access hatches.
