Challenges  
In the mid 1990s the Rumsey Band of Wintun Indians initiated a series of expansion projects to transform its small bingo hall and card room into a world-class resort.  The first significant facilities expansion project was initiated in 1997 and Laugenour and Meikle was retained to provide needed civil engineering and land surveying services.  We worked closely with other members of the Owner’s design and construction team through programming, schematic design, design development and construction document phases of the design process.  Plan review, bidding and construction phases were integrated into the overall process to provide for value engineering and fast tracking as the Owner’s project completion schedule was very demanding.

Laugenour and Meikle’s ability to provide a full range of civil engineering and land surveying services dovetailed well with the project’s varied requirements.  Our services included planning, topographic surveying, design and construction documents, cost estimating, bid evaluation, construction engineering, staking and administrative assistance.

The project site’s hillside terrain, proximity to State Highway 16 and very limited infrastructure were exciting challenges.  Terraced site grading design was utilized by our engineers to accommodate new building pads and parking lots.  Storm water collection and detention facilities were designed to mitigate increased runoff.  Site improvements were coordinated with State Highway 16 frontage reconstruction design to minimize traffic impacts and improve site circulation.  Because the site is not serviced by public water supply or wastewater treatment facilities, we also needed to design groundwater wells, pump stations and transmission and distribution pipelines to provide improved potable water service.  A wastewater collection system was designed to convey sewage to the onsite wastewater treatment facility.  Our designs provided for almost $5 million worth of necessary civil improvements, phased to match the $40 million project’s fast track schedule.

A 1999 law allowing California tribes to offer slot machines and more table games generated a second expansion phase in 2002 that would eventually replace the 113,000-square foot facility completed in 1999 with a much larger facility, the new Cache Creek Casino Resort.  During construction of the new $260 million casino, parking garage, fire station, convenience store, hotel, spa, pool, warehouse and supporting facilities, the existing facility had to remain fully operational with free-flowing pedestrian and vehicle traffic.

Because the magnitude of this new gaming facilities project dwarfed the previous casino expansion, the complex terrain, highway frontage and infrastructure challenges initially faced by our civil engineering team in 1997 were greatly magnified. Strategic phasing of numerous building and infrastructure construction elements, including staging of several temporary site modifications, and development of on-site traffic circulation management plans were essential to keep the existing facilities operational through the new facilities construction effort. 

Again, Laugenour and Meikle worked closely with the Owner’s project design and construction team and responded with comprehensive site planning and infrastructure design services to accommodate the accelerated project schedule, providing designs for more than $20 million of civil improvements.

In 2007, the Tribe initiated planning and design for a $350 million expansion of the Cache Creek Casino Resort project completed in 2004.  Laugenour and Meikle is proud to have been selected to provide civil engineering services for this Cache Creek Destination Resort project.  Our professional engineering staff is a key member of the Owner’s project team, providing initial siting and infrastructure guidance necessary to cost-effectively define many features of the resort project.  We are currently preparing construction documents for the extensive civil improvements that support this latest resort project.

Solutions
Through the course of three casino resort expansion projects, two constructed and the third currently in planning, Laugenour and Meikle has worked diligently to meet the challenges presented by the site’s hillside topography, varied project infrastructure requirements  and hurried construction schedules.  Our designs encompassed terraced site grading for building pads and parking lots, involving more than a million cubic yards of earth excavation and numerous retaining walls; groundwater and surface water supply facilities; potable and recycled water distribution systems; storm water runoff collection systems and a drainage detention basin for peak flow attenuation and storm water quality management; wastewater collection system; coordination of site electrical, low voltages (communication, data, security) and gas utilities with our master utility plans; and highway frontage improvements.  We also provided significant assistance to the Tribe’s entitlement team in its interface with County and State regulatory agencies.  All of our work was carefully integrated into the Tribe’s overall project development program.

Outcome
We have provided professional civil engineering and land surveying services to the Rumsey Band of Wintun Indians since 1997, helping the Tribe successfully overcome grading and infrastructure obstacles presented by hilly terrain and remote site location, as well as keep up with the need to serve an ever-increasing number of guests.  This collaboration has resulted in the current Cache Creek Casino Resort featuring 3,000 slot machines and 142 table games, championship golf course, entertainment venue, 200-room luxury hotel, swimming pool and health spa, eight restaurants, gift shop, gas station and mini mart, and fire station.  Our relationship continues today as the Rumsey Band looks to the future and another expansion to accommodate thousands of new and returning guests each year.