Imagine the track gangs of old, building the Canadian Pacific Railway, moving across the Prairies, laying down four miles of track a day.

Now picture 25 different sub-trades, 400 workers and specialists, constructing CP Rail System's new headquarters in Calgary's Gulf Canada Square facility, moving through the building on target for an official opening early in September.

The general contractor committed to hitting that deadline is Ellis Don of London, Ontario. Avery Stetski, whose phone on the site never stops ringing, is the project manager responsible for overseeing a 40 page construction schedule.

Stetski says stripping out and refitting five floors at Gulf Canada Square, each larger than a football field, is a straightforward, light construction project.

However, it's the logistics of compressing an eight-month project into a five-month schedule that has turned the construction project manager into a choreographer. Everything happens at once, he says.

"The trick is to make sure that the trades don't step over one another. We can't miss a day on this job."

The 22 storey building is more than a city block long. Construction is moving from the east to west through the building with each trade marching on the heels of the other. About 100 electricians, 50 drywall specialists, 50 mechanical technicians, and 200 general trade workers are working shifts around the clock.

All incoming and outgoing material, much of it being recycled by CPRS, moves in one freight elevator; "A small logistics nightmare in itself," Stetski said. Noisier jobs are scheduled at night when possible.

One of the more challenging aspects of the project is to build a stairwell connecting floors 4, 5, and 6. Gulf Canada Square is held together between floors by cables under high tension. A cable must be cut, the stairwell installed and the cable redirected around the stairwell.

Ellis Don is also installing two 500 kilowatt, natural gas powered generators on the east side of the building. These will provide the Network Management Centre (NMC) with backup electrical power. Meanwhile, the NMC, a 24 hour centre for train operations to be located on Gulf Canada Square's fourth floor, has been temporarily located on the 23rd floor at Palliser Square.

Additional fans will be installed on floors 4, 5, and 6 for improved air circulation. This will mean more control of the temperature on all CPRS floors and reduced fan noise, as the workload is better distributed.

Strengthening the foundations of the plaza along 9th Avenue on the north side of the building also figures into the work schedule. Here, CPRS will proudly display CPR steam locomotive Number 29, built in 1887, and now undergoing a complete refurbishing.

"It's a lot of work in very short time, but the important thing is that everything is on schedule and that's the way it will stay," the project manager said.