Replacing two 350-ton chillers in two buildings (both requiring 24/7 cooling) in downtown Bellevue required more planning and adjusting than most Special Projects.

This project required 18 months of planning and continuous pivoting due to supply chain issues. The equipment was six months late, which caused three scheduled start changes. Some additional hurdles included street closure planning, noise variance regulations, and a 10-story building foundation hole across the street.

There were quite a few challenges to overcome, but thankfully we had great partners on the project:

• 15 semi-trucks and a 120-ton support crane were needed to assemble the NessCampbell Crane and Rigging 600-ton Liebherr luffing jib crane. Lifted chillers were 47 ft long and over 12 tons!
• Plumbers and Pipefitters from MacDonald-Miller prepared removal of the existing two 350-ton chillers and prepped the site for the new chillers.
• Sellen Construction steel workers removed and reinstalled the overhead structure steel.
• The City of Bellevue coached us through the needed noise variance and land usage permits along with recommendations for the street closure, detours, and pedestrian bypasses.
• Prime Electric removed and reinstalled all the overhead street light cables.