Work began on the New Sandy High School in late July 2010.

Over 70,000 cubic yards of soil on site had to be moved to construct the building pads of the class wings and the core of the high school.

Earthwork Contractors worked six and seven days a week, 10 hours shifts, to beat the winter weather.

More than 30 pieces of earthmoving equipment was on site on any given day.

The next phase of the project was the construction of the concrete foundation and 1 million gallon cistern tank, which sits under the band and choir areas and is used for the recycling of rainwater harvested from the roofs.

The construction of the building’s structural and skin systems was the most challenging phase of the project. Structural materials varied from masonry to precast concrete, skin from “ weathered” steel panels to lap siding formed pre-insulated precast panels, more than 50 different roof elevations, all constructed into a sloping site, which falls 100 feet across the project, while keeping the existing trees between classrooms intact.

Following the “closing in” of the buildings, the installation of interior finishes took place beginning summer 2011 thorough completion in May 2012.

More than 2 million square feet of drywall, 100 miles of conduit, 10,000 miles of wire and 5,000 miles of piping were installed in the project.

Images designed by DOWA-IBI Architects were transferred to the fabricators computers and cut out and etched by computer-operated sophisticated equipment to yield the decorative wall and glass panels adorning the media center and main entry walls.

During the complex construction, more than 30 miles of below-ground geothermal tubing was bored under the existing ball fields to supply heating and cooling to the radiant slab systems in the building.

In addition, solar panels were installed on the building roof to help generate power and heating of the buildings systems.

In all, the project took 20 months to build. More than 150 subcontractors worked on the project, creating more than 3,000 jobs. At the peak, 275 workers were on site.

Local involvement by businesses and the community was key to the success of delivering this project on time and on budget.

Cary Bubenik is the senior project manager at Hoffman Construction.