Thursday, July 9, 1998 | 10:26 a.m.
No structural damage has occurred and no construction delays are expected due to the settling of Mandalay Bay, a Circus Circus Enterprises Inc. executive said Wednesday.
But an expert for the company brought in to stop the new Strip resort from sinking unevenly into the ground said it "requires a proactive response so it doesn't become a significant problem."
"It's important to pay attention on a quick basis because the movements are ongoing," Seth Pearlman, an engineer with Nicholson Construction Co., said.
As a result, Pearlman's company -- which specializes in propping up buildings and other structures that settle after construction -- won an emergency license from the State Contractors Board Wednesday.
While Pearlman wouldn't estimate the total cost of shoring up the structure, a Circus Circus executive said privately the impact on the $950 million budget for the new Strip hotel-casino will be minimal.
The cost could run between $4 million and $8 million -- or less than one-10th of 1 percent of the building's cost, the executive said.
Pearlman said his company will begin installing temporary pilings under the center core of Mandalay Bay, which has settled about 5 to 6 inches more than the outer parts of the building.
The temporary pilings, which consist of steel pipes into which high-pressure grouting concrete is pumped, will "help slow the movement" that is occurring as the massive structure squeezes water out of the soils beneath it, Pearlman said.
While that's being done, soil and construction engineers will complete their study of the land beneath the 43-story building to determine the scope of the permanent pilings needed to solve the uneven settling.
The final plan will need approval from the Clark County Building Division, which has asked contractors to drill test holes beneath Mandalay Bay to determine the soil structure, particularly the layers of moist clays likely to be affected by the building.
"It's not an option" to do nothing, Pearlman said in response to a question about whether the temporary pilings are necessary.
Pearlman said Nicholson Construction, of Pittsburgh, has installed the special, small-diameter, high-density pilings beneath "very large-scale projects from coast to coast."
Nicholson has propped up the Williamsburg Bridge and West Side Highway in New York City and several bridges and buildings in California as part of a seismic retrofitting project designed to make the structures less susceptible to earthquakes.
So far, the damage to Mandalay Bay has been limited to "minor cracks in the valet parking garage," according to Circus Circus spokeswoman Sarah Ralston. The resort is still scheduled to open next spring, she said.
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