Las Vegas Stadium development involves digital blueprint — VIDEO

Developers of the Las Vegas Stadium will have a record of the location of every pipe, conduit and light switch thanks to new digital tools.

Stadium developers will have a precise record of every inch of the building so that when modifications or improvements are needed years from now they’ll have the ability to see the location of everything that eventually will be buried under tons of concrete and steel.

“These systems, which have been created by Mortenson-McCarthy in-house, are being used for the first time on the stadium project and bringing an incredible level of sophistication to the construction process,” said Don Webb, chief operating officer of the Raiders’ stadium development subsidiary.

The system was developed by Joel Jacobson, integrated construction manager for the Mortenson Construction-McCarthy Builders joint venture.

Jacobson explained that a GPS-positioned drone is regularly flown on a predetermined route. He has written a software program that coordinates the drone footage with construction plans to create a three-dimensional animation of time lapse for the stadium’s construction.

The animation also helps pinpoint the location of on-site cranes in preparation for the installation of the stadium roof later this year.

Exterior wall trusses line the perimeter of the stadium and several roof trusses are being built on the ground around the exterior. The roof trusses will be hoisted to the top of the wall trusses starting in early April to provide an additional 40 feet of height to the building.

The translucent roof, to be built on the ground within the stadium’s interior, will be hoisted and attached to the roof trusses.

The Las Vegas Stadium Authority last week saw a demonstration of the technology and how it will benefit the $1.8 billion project.

Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on Twitter.