Dave Suder ’79 is the President/CEO of KHS&S Contractors and a member of the Servite High School Board of Regents.
KHS&S has just completed the remarkable rockwork structure for the Cadillac Mountain Range at Cars Land. Cars Land at Disney California Adventure Park is a 12-acre themed land being constructed as part of the $1.1 billion expansion plan for Disney California Adventure Park. As the main Cars Land attraction, it will take up about half of Cars Land and is the backdrop for the Radiator Springs Racers ride.
The 280,000-square-foot structure is the largest single rockwork job in the United States. The height of the “mountain range” eclipses 125 feet while the massive width extends beyond 44 feet. The attraction consists of 4,000 tons of steel with 23,000 pieces assembled to the steel structure.
KHS&S completed both the design and construction with industry leading technology. This technology allowed coordinating and assembling more than 8,000 rebar/mesh panel pieces to attach to the steel support structure. Finally large sections of the rockwork were painted to resemble Lake Powell, the inspiration behind the Cadillac Mountain Range.
A simple approach and explanation to how the rockwork was created:
