The owners of Enterprise Center (formerly Scottrade Center) contracted Murphy Company to remove and replace the facility’s ice sheet in a short, 10-week time frame. There was no room for error because of time constraints dictated by a busy concert event schedule and the opening of the St. Louis Blues’ 50th Anniversary season.
With over 22 years of continuous professional hockey and other events under its belt, the ice system was ready for retirement and it was time to bring in some fresh ice! The extremely time-constrained, total replacement of the Center’s ice sheet piping and refrigeration system required careful camera pre-inspection of piping; pre-fabrication of HDPE u-bends and of the refrigeration skid/300-ton chiller; installation of 2.8 miles (15,000 linear feet) of permafrost piping and 11.7 miles (62,000 linear feet) of Sch. 40, 1-1/4” carbon steel ice sheet piping; and 2,400 ASME orbital welds completed and tested. Safety was of the utmost importance while working around the clock installing 80’ lengths of pipe across a 200’ x 100’ floor with rebar and pipe chairs required precision, patience, and great attention to detail and quality in order to achieve a level floor and verify the integrity of the piping system. Every member of the Murphy team was conscious of hazards and there were ZERO injuries on the job site. The strict design-build (lump sum) budget also had to be achieved and comply with the City’s and Owner’s MBE/WBE requirements.
The engineer marveled that this was the fastest removal and replacement of a steel pipe rink he had ever witnessed in the over 75 rinks completed. In fact, it was finished in one-third of the time normally expected. The actual ice sheet replacement took 39 days, with the entire project lasting 10 weeks, including staging and pre-planning as well as material and equipment procurement on this 10,000-man-hour job. Murphy delivered a high-quality project deemed an overwhelming success by both the St. Louis Blues and the Owner. The ice rink was level with no leaks, ready in time for the 2020 NHL All-Star Game on Jan. 26, 2020, and another St. Louis Blues Championship season! A cause for celebration for the entire St. Louis region, the home for our beloved NHL team now boasts “one of the best ice sheets” in the country.”
