MGM National Harbor

Situated on 23 acres near I-495 and just north of National Harbor’s waterfront district, the MGM complex includes a 23-story hotel with 308 rooms, 135,000 square feet of gaming and retail space, a spa, seven restaurants, a 3,000-seat theater, 27,000 square feet of meeting and event space, and a parking garage for 4,800 cars.

The Anderson Company’s role in the development of the MGM was truly one for the record books. With an incredibly aggressive schedule right out of the gate, Anderson was tasked with moving more than 600,000 cubic yards of soil and rock, 90% of it contaminated.

To meet the schedule, Anderson’s crews focused on moving an average of 6,000 cubic yards per day. But according to Shaine Adams, who oversaw the job, on multiple occasions, Anderson increased the rate to 10,000 cubic yards per day. “It was an incredibly impressive job of logistics management,” he said.

In addition to the high-speed schedule and historic volumes of dirt removal, Anderson faced two additional obstacles. Almost from day one, the company encountered enormous quantities of contaminated soil that needed to be carefully collected and removed.

Second, the shoring piles began to shift. “It was the most unstable soil I’ve ever encountered,” said Adams. “There are monitors used to gauge whether they’re moving, but you didn’t need those – they were moving so much you could see it with your eyes.” As a result, Anderson had to remove the existing shoring system.

Despite all of these hurdles, The Anderson Company completed the job on time and on budget.