HOTEL : Complete site Prep, Excavation, concrete, & Asphalt paving

NEED: Located on the bank of Henry’s Fork, Mack’s Inn Springhill Inn Suites in Island Park required a specialized approach. High ground water, proximity to the river, unique site conditions, and a tight construction schedule dictated by weather required flexibility. Thompson was hired in part because of our ability to handle change orders with the Rexburg Springhill Suites.

SOLUTION:  To meet project timelines, Thompson worked with client engineers to manage evolving requirements. Site plans were changed over 24 times to accommodate unexpected conditions and requirements like high sub water, high snowpack / runoff, drainage (working extensively with DEQ), and bedrock excavation. Adopting a collaborative “On-site Engineering” approach, Thompson worked with project engineers to adjust grades, expand a turn lane for state highway 20 (with all the coordination), work around existing utilities, provide hot asphalt from over 2 hours away, and provide additional site concrete for another contractor to meet deadlines. Our last contribution was to finish paving in October (past the normal season in Idaho) to obtain a certificate of occupancy in time for the April opening date.

OUTCOME: Springhill Suites was able to open on schedule, meeting their obligation to pre-sold reservation holders. The general contractor provided steak dinners to our entire crew for going above and beyond to meet the opening date, and sent signed us up to finish paving their Moab, Utah Springhill Suites.

Education : bedrock Excavation, drainage, & concrete

NEED: Much of BYU Idaho’s new construction is affected by the lava bedrock directly under much of the campus. The university needed a large scale, full service contractor capable of navigating change orders, city requirements, and working around / with existing utilities.

SOLUTION: Thompson provided extensive bedrock demo and removal to allow adequate stormwater drainage. We excavated foundation and utilities, coordinating with the City of Rexburg to tie into existing infrastructure (street, septic, water) while maintaining traffic throughput. We provided site concrete, city curb & gutter, tied into BYU Idaho’s steam ice removal system, and worked around (even underneath) existing mechanical facilities to maintain and connect to services. We adjusted site access and scheduling to accommodate continued student access to the surrounding campus.

Additionally, when scheduling conflicts jeopardized the project, we took on additional scope to install the “best concrete stairs at BYUI”. Our attention to detail on those those concrete stairs led to additional unscoped campus concrete work “since we were there”.

OUTCOME: Thompson’s flexibility with change orders and coordination with multiple outside entities helped complete the Spori Annex in 2021. Students maintained access to adjacent facilities, municipal traffic remained unimpaired, and Thompson met the added challenge of change orders and excavating bedrock without significant project delays.