Raiders Stadium Construction Chief Operating Officer: Building Stadium Is Like ‘A Rubik’s Cube That’s In Four Dimensions, Not Three’

By Alan Snel

LVSportsBiz.com

 

Dave Durbin, a Raiders stadium construction foreman with one helluva back story, had announced the Raiders fourth round draft pick as the $1.8 billion stadium project loomed as the backdrop Saturday morning.

 

And Don Webb, the stadium construction chief operating officer dressed sharply in gray business slacks and a white construction helmet, was heading back inside the fenced off area where the Raiders draft pick announcements were taking place on the stadium site.

 

The stadium on the west side of I-15 across from Mandalay Bay is taking shape as four of the 26 300-ton roof trusses have been installed. It looks like the world’s biggest erector set, but Webb likes to describe it this way: “It’s a 14-acre Swiss watch, a Rubik’s cube that’s in four dimensions, not three.”

 

 

There’s been talk of steel shortages and potential delays and Webb is amused at the source of the chatter because the stadium construction executive who lives in Summerlin said he’s the one who is alerting the local public stadium authority whenever steel isn’t being delivered on a certain schedule. But Webb said Saturday there’s “plenty of steel” and “we’re still finishing on July 31, 2020.”

 

Construction of the domed, 65,000-seat stadium requires 22,000 different tasks over 31 months and not every task is going to smoothly interlock. “There are changes to the schedule on an hourly basis sometimes,” Webb said. “If one key component comes in late, you work around it.”

 

For example, sheet rock is being done ahead of schedule to “accommodate the interruption of steel we experienced,” Webb noted as an example. Mortenson and McCarthy are teaming up to oversee the stadium construction.

 

Webb said being upfront about construction issues is his approach. “If we were late, there’s no sense going around saying it’s on time. The truth would eventually come out.”

 

Stadium builder Mortenson, with a vast track record of building stadiums, is experienced at reacting to unforeseen venue construction issues, Webb pointed out. Webb said the company is skilled at figuring whether the approach is to overlap tasks, perform them out of sequence and/or beef up work force. About $70 million worth of construction is being done each month, and that number will bump up to $90 million a month, he said. As a comparison, the Las Vegas’ new luxurious ballpark that’s selling out 10,000 strong in Summerlin cost $150 million to build.

 

For the record, construction foreman Durbin announced that the Raiders’ fourth round pick was defensive end Maxx Crosby, a six-foot, five-inch 247-pounder from Eastern Michigan. Webb said Durbin’s had an amazing back story — a Mortenson employee and big Raiders fan from Seattle who picked up his family and moved to Las Vegas for the purpose of working on the Raiders stadium construction. Here’s Durbin announcing the fourth round pick.

 

Local 872 construction worker Amale Garcia was scheduled to announce the Raiders fifth round draft pick at the construction around 12:30 p.m. Saturday.

 

Las Vegas will be hosting the 2020 NFL draft only two months before the Raiders stadium is scheduled to open.

 

Here’s the Raiders 2019 draft class.

 

 

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