UMA Member in the News

Big-D Construction Awarded Dinosaur National Monument Project

By Business Wire


SALT LAKE CITY--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Big-D Construction (www.big-d.com) was recently awarded the Dinosaur National Monument project located at the Quarry Visitor Center in Uintah County, Utah.

"This Visitors Center has been such a large draw of visitors over the decades and ties well to the new Utah Natural History Museum Big-D is currently building at the University of Utah," said Rob Moore, President of Big-D Construction. "Together, they will provide for a very interesting economic impact and draw from visitors and students all over the world."

The Quarry Visitor Center protects and provides visitor access to 1,500 dinosaur fossils in a quarry wall. The quarry wall is an invaluable and priceless park resource. In 2002, the Quarry Visitor Center was declared a National Historic Landmark due to its significant representation of American Architecture and National Park Service history. However, the facility closed several years ago due to challenging subsurface conditions, including expansive clays that caused the building structure to deteriorate.

The rehabilitation of the facility requires careful protection of conserved building elements in the course of selective demolition, protection of exposed building components, and the integration of new construction. The project will also include:

o Installing micro-piles under the existing structural elements of the Visitor Center

o Major structural elements will be removed and/or replaced

o Monitoring the integrity and safety of the overall structure as the work progresses and
portions are demolished and replaced

Construction activities are planned to occur above and around the quarry wall. Protection of the quarry face from the elements, dust, vandalism, theft, and rodents during construction will be of utmost importance. The new Visitor Center building is to be formally submitted for LEED® certification. The lower Shuttle Staging Area is to be remodeled, enclosed, and expanded. The existing facility is composed of several detached masonry structures connected by an open-air, space-frame, roof structure.