With over 22 years of professional hockey and other entertainment events taking place on the St. Louis Blues’ home ice, the system was ready for retirement and to bring in some fresh ice. Having worked with Murphy Company the previous summer on a critical project, Scottrade knew just who to approach for this important, time-constrained, total replacement of Scottrade Center‘s ice sheet piping and refrigeration system – Murphy Company.
Starting June 26th, the project team was able to remove and replace the entire ice system in just 10 weeks! This amazing feat could not have been accomplished without careful planning and a LOT of manpower. When ice re-appeared on September 8th, the project was deemed a smashing success by the Blues and Scottrade.
Murphy did a complete ice sheet system replacement. We installed 15,000 linear feet (2.8 miles) of permafrost piping within the sand layer, and 62,000 linear feet (11.7 miles) of schedule 40. 1-1/4” carbon steel refrigerant piping, and completed and tested 2,400 welds.
Many factors contributed to making this project successful. First, every piece of pipe was inspected with a camera to verify there was no leftover manufacturing debris. Next, Murphy pre-fabricated the u-bends for one side of the “U” on every pipe. This provided excellent quality control in the shop and reduced field installation and welding time. We also pre-fabricated the refrigeration skid with the 300-ton chillers to improve installation.
Safety was of utmost importance when manning a job 24/7 for 6 weeks at approximately 10,000 manhours, and installing 80’ lengths of pipe across a 200’ x 100’ floor with rebar and pipe chairs. Every member of the Murphy team was conscious of hazards and there were no accidents on the job site.
The Engineer marveled that this was the fastest removal & replacement of a steel pipe rink that he had ever witnessed in the over 75 rinks completed. It was completed in 1/3 of the time he would normally expect for this type of project.
