Convention Center expansion begins concrete pour

Work has begun on one of the largest and most time-intensive aspects of the $980.3 million Las Vegas Convention Center West Hall expansion project.

Construction workers with the Turner-Martin Harris Joint Venture general contractor last week began work pouring 600,000 square feet of concrete flooring in the main exhibit hall.

The process is expected to take four to five months to complete.

Crews will pour 75 million pounds of concrete to fill the hall floor, requiring 1,800 trips by fully loaded concrete trucks.

The floor will have a 10-inch reinforced concrete slab capable of supporting the largest trade-show exhibits.

Plumbing, electrical and data lines are being installed beneath the floor so exhibitors can connect without the need for on-ground wiring.

The entire project is about 77 percent completed and there are 1,100 workers on the site.

Crews have logged 2,173,337 hours on the project since work began in 2018.

Working through outbreak

They are continuing to work through the coronavirus outbreak.

Workers are following all guidelines issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with limited numbers of workers in confined areas, no congregating in break areas, daily health and well-being status reports by subcontractors and the cleaning of all offices and work spaces with antibacterial products. Protocol managers are at the site to make sure the rules are being followed.

Workers plan to complete the project by December in time for January’s CES convention.

The expansion will add 1.4 million square feet of space to the existing 3.2 million-square-foot campus. A renovation project on the other three halls — North, Central and the two-story South — is expected to be completed by the end of 2022.

In addition to the exhibit hall, the expansion will include an outdoor plaza with a view of the Las Vegas Strip and a grand atrium. The new facility will feature state-of-the-art design and technology.

Underground people-mover

As part of the $1.5 billion expansion and renovation, The Boring Company is building a $52.5 million underground people-mover.

The mile-long transit system will feature dual tunnels and three stations that will be above ground at the endpoints and one underground beneath the Convention Center parking lot near the convergence of the North and Central halls.

The above-ground endpoint stations will be just east of the South hall near an existing parking lot and near the west end of the new West Hall.

Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on Twitter.