The $350 million 5-year renovation project of the existing Harrah’s casino located in downtown New Orleans included a full restoration of the casino’s interior and a new 15-story 340-room hotel adjacent to the casino.

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Highlights of the interior casino renovations include a new Sportsbook area with a 147ft long curved LED screen that cantilevers down 25ft below the main roof structure, an updated central bar that incorporates new suspended ceiling finishes and a grand chandelier which were both hung from the existing roof trusses 60ft above the casino floor, and various eating and amenity areas that required support for new mechanical equipment, chandeliers, specialty bar and dining counters, and other unique architectural features. External renovations of the existing casino included modifications to the main entrances, reskinning of the façade, and various demolition of existing structures to make room for new outdoor terraces. Morphy, Makofsky, Inc. provided full structural design services for the existing casino renovations.

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The new 15-story hotel is located at the casino’s main entrance and sits on top of an existing abandoned roadway tunnel that measures 100ft wide by 25ft deep and crosses the property directly under the new hotel footprint. Morphy, Makofsky, Inc. provided full structural design services related to the hotel’s new foundation and 1st floor, alterations of the existing tunnel structure and casino at the hotel interface, and demolition of the existing tunnel and casino where large portions were removed to make room for the new hotel.

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Highlights of the new hotel work that MMI was responsible for include some of the following: Steel pipe piles up to 300ft long and 24” diameter with capacities of 500 tons were used to support the new hotel. The piling used for the project is the longest and highest tonnage used on a commercial project in the New Orleans area to date. It was selected to minimize the impact on the existing tunnel structure where selective removal and replacement of the tunnel’s roof, intermediate floor, and base level was required to permit pile driving through the tunnel structure. New piling was strategically located to avoid existing tunnel framing that was to remain and was installed through pilot holes that were cored through the existing 30” basement slab of the tunnel. Custom water mitigation seals were designed at each new pile penetration to withstand up to 25ft of water head pressure. The hotel’s new foundation utilized concrete pile caps up to 9ft thick placed on top of the existing tunnel’s basement slab. To compensate for the hotel’s expected settlement of up to 6” over time relative to the existing structure, isolation between the new and existing structures consisted of pile caps placed on void forms above the basement slab, slip joints between the hotel’s columns and shear walls at the tunnel roof and intermediate level, 1st floor of the hotel, and at the tunnel retaining walls where new foundation elements intersected. Additionally, double-hinged connecting structures not unlike a ship’s gangway were incorporated on the 2nd floor and roof connecting structures between the casino and the hotel to accommodate the long-term settlement of the hotel.

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Before and during construction, MMI also provided design assistance for the general contractor and various subcontractors. This work included structural reviews for various heavy equipment of up to 100 tons on the existing tunnel and casino structure, reinforcing of hotel column and shear wall construction resulting in low concrete breaks, delegated structural steel connection and stair design for the new hotel, foundation design for material hoists and a tower crane, and shoring plans for various construction scaffolding and concrete formwork.