IP Casino Dry Dock Project is ENR Project of the Year

A project led by Thompson Engineering to dry dock the IP Casino has been named an Engineering News Record (ENR) Project of the Year. The project received the top award out of more than 100 entries in the Texas / Louisiana / Mississippi region. “This is one of those projects that excites engineers because there were no limits except our imaginations,” said Henry Seawell, Principal Engineer with Thompson Engineering. “We had to think big and bold to find the right solution.”

In 2011, Thompson Engineering began work to design a first-of-its-kind solution to create a stable foundation and graving dock for the 32-million-pound IP Casino vessel, essentially turning the floating building into a land-based structure without moving it. Thompson and several key partners worked in extreme conditions to complete the job. “Much of our work was done in a zero-visibility, underwater environment,” said Seawell. “There were so many unknowns. We relied on our many years of experience in construction projects in difficult, coastal environments to get the job done safely.” The IP Casino, which is owned by Boyd Gaming Corp., was never closed to customers during construction.

Thompson Engineering and the IP Casino Dry Dock project were honored at an awards ceremony in Houston Tuesday. The project is featured in the ENR Texas/Louisiana Dec. 7 issue.

Key Project Partners:
Owner Boyd Gaming Corp.
Lead Design Firm/Structural/Civil Thompson Engineering
General Contractor W.G. Yates & Sons Construction Co.
MEP Engineer Balfour Design LLC
Geology/Hydrology Expert James Conner, PhD, University of South Alabama
Concrete Materials Consultant Mr. Herb Gelhardt