design came from the owner,IPS assigned a project manager,Dave Sawtell, to the job. Much of the project’s design phase overlapped the construction phase. In other words, IPS was building one part of the ship before other parts were even on the drawing board. This was another unusual characteristic of the project. Sawtell said while the ship’s main deck was getting built, drawings for what would be above weren’t yet seen. “We never really knew the whole scope of the job until 6 or 7 months later,” he said.

All the drawings and submittals were done onsite, Maus said. “All our submittals and drawings were done electronically. We would have to submit information to the marine architect; they would then approve it.” When it opened to the public on Jan. 30, the new Blue Chip Casino boat in Michigan City, Ind., still claimed the title of "America’s largest floating casino." Two key characteristics of the ship could raise the bar for competitors. One is a far roomier, more stylish casino deck than is typically seen on gambling boats; the other is its heavy-duty, state-of-the-art HVAC system, which operates with 100 percent outside air capable of 15 air changes each hour. Maus said the HVAC system is on a par with a hospital operating room for air quality. “Smoking seems to go hand in hand with gambling,” he said, noting that air quality has been the number-one complaint of patrons of gambling vessels. The owner was careful to make sure it wouldn’t be a problem in the new boat.

IPS was the lead mechanical contractor on the job, having contracts not only for HVAC and process piping but also sheet metal, fire protection, and insulation. Being able to coordinate the trades gave the contractor a big advantage; however, it didn’t enable them to decide when it was time to get to work. Installation of mechanical systems had to follow construction of the ship’s hull. The vessel was built entirely in place in a man-made slip alongside a waterway connected to nearby Lake Michigan. The pit remained dry while boilermakers welded sections of steel plate to form the ship’s hull. Chicago Bridge & Iron Co (CB&I), constructed the ship. As the vessel took shape, IPS went to work as completed areas in the lower hold deck became available. There were boilers, chillers, compressors, pumps, air handlers and their related piping and ducts; also process piping for water intakes, bilge removal, ballast tanks — the normal marine systems found aboard ships — and generators the size of automobiles that could supply 100 percent of the ship’s power if it should go to sea: Much, if not all of it, had to be in place before the deck was covered. Mechanical equipment, ballast tanks, and other large components were laid out symmetrically on both sides of the ship’s centerline, or keel, to balance the vessel. Sawtell said the piping, because it was high up, went in first. Behind this came the plumbing, fire protection and ductwork. Crews began in the aft end of the vessel and worked from one side to the other. “As we finished here, another trade moved in. It worked out well,” he said. When the insulators finished, the interior joiners put up the walls and ceilings.

Keeping in step with the ship builders required getting materials delivered on time and in the right sequence. Sawtell and Maus worried about delivery of big-ticket items like boilers and chillers, but they said it worked out well in the end. On the flip side of the coin, there was plenty of space onsite to store things that arrived weeks before needed. Piping assemblies were prefabricated as much as possible with all the 8-inch and smaller pipe fabbed onsite.