TIVERTON — With frequent glances at the calendar and weather forecast, swarms of workers are going all out in the woods of northeast Tiverton with the goal of buttoning up the new Twin River casino and hotel by winter.

Company chairman John Taylor led a busload of media on a tour Wednesday and the transformation out of sight beyond William Canning Boulevard near the Fall River line is stunning.

Weaving into the 51-acre site around trucks lugging stone, concrete sections and steel, the bus rounded a bend in the gravel road to reveal a construction site the likes of which this town has seldom seen.

Straight ahead was the 84-room hotel, its exterior nearly complete.

To the left and up a rise was the skeleton of the 95,000-square-foot “convenience casino.”

Originally planned for 85,000 square feet, its size has been increased by 10,000 square feet to offer more interior elbow room (not gaming tables) and “improve the player experience, Mr. Taylor said. The smaller size just didn’t feel right, architects and owners believed.

And in the foreground was the shell of the two-story, 840-car parking garage.

That, too, was added late in the game, he said, in part to answer environmental concerns voiced by Tiverton officials.

Costs have nearly doubled, Mr. Taylor said, from an initial budget of $75 million to between $135 million and $140 million, all of which the casino is paying.

That’s a “significant increase,” he admitted, but Twin River leadership believes it is worth it to provide the visitor experience they are aiming for.

For all the hustle, and cost they are behind schedule but doing their utmost to make up the difference, Mr. Taylor said.

He cited several reasons for the “modest delay.”

The “challenging topography”, including “rock ledge just about everywhere we dug,” and “wetlands that we were well aware of.”

Tiverton’s zoning and planning process, which began at the start of last January and only produced a final building permit on October 13, were also a factor.

As was the fact that the town wouldn’t let Twin River do late night or early morning work, “which we understand.”

Mr. Taylor said the company took a leap of faith and got Gilbane Construction “off to an aggressive start" on foundations and more even before the final permits were in hand.

“We are pushing to get the buildings enclosed and winterized by mid-December,” he said, which will enable interior work to continue through the winter.

The goal now is to open the finished casino by October 1, 2018, four to six months later than first planned.

Mr. Taylor marveled at the scope and speed of progress once crews were let loose.

All that ledge prompted a rock crushing operation back behind the casino that still runs all day, every work day. Huge boulders are being crushed to ever small size stone. “Every bit of blasted ledge and boulder is being processed on site” and being put to use there.

Some has been used as building footing for the hotel and casino, much more to raise and level off parts of the property including the parking garage.

“And we may not have enough,” he said, pointing to mountains of stone still to be processed.

Also under way is the traffic roundabout designed to calm traffic and prevent delays at the complex set of intersections that existed there even before a casino entrance and exit was added to the mix.

The state had already planned for such a roundabout and that plan, with revisions, works well for the casino. Crews are now working on Twin River property to start the rounded route that the pattern will follow, and are dealing with drainage and underground utilities that need to be added or moved.

“Whatever we have to do” to keep traffic moving smoothly, we will do, he said, adding that they can’t very well call it a “convenience casino” if arriving or leaving is inconvenient.

Hiring to start soon

The casino will provide some 500 jobs, Mr. Taylor said.

Hiring priority will start with the roughly 150 people who have been employed at Twin River’s Newport facility.

Next, jobs will be offered to Tiverton residents at a job fair to be held sometime in mid-December. Employment will then be offered to Rhode Island resident, and finally to all who wish to apply.

And locals are well represented on the construction workforce, he said.

Thirty-five percent of the workers live within ten miles of the job site and a third of those are Tiverton residents. Asked how many are employed there right now, a company official wouldn’t hazard a guess — “an awful lot,” he laughed with a gesture around at the dust and din.

Those job fairs will be held in Twin River’s office building that is being rented next door off William Canning Boulevard.