The Week of April 2, 2018 — Section Three and a Potpourri of This N That For the Week

On April 2, I was told that a significant portion of the ground floor (level one) had been turned over to McCarthy, which meant that I was free to make my way from grade onto the ground floor. As on “A” level, I had to be cautious as I stepped on the high side of the corrugated decking.

Construction Watch, a Daily Ritual

Along  the sidewalk on Anderson Street, there is a small section where the safety screen is rolled halfway up the chain-link fence.   It is here pedestrians can stop, stoop, and crane their necks as they attempt to get a glimpse of the construction behind the walls. This activity is repeated time and again during the day, yet there are a few who pass the gates consumed in their own thoughts (or eyes glued to their cell phone screen) and never break stride. The photo below is a good representation of the daily ritual of stop, stoop, and crane.

A Glimpse of the Underground World of the New Hospital Structure 

The video below was taken as I made my way to the north stairway, which leads to “B” level (the basement or the mat floor). It had been some time since I had been lead through the maze of dampers, pedestals, isolator bases, and a plethora of construction workers moving about like ants on a hot summer day. Today, I would be on my own. The steel company had handed the area over to McCarthy and so, I was quite anxious to make my way through the dark, damp, bowels of the building. The following photos gives one an idea of the solitary complexity and existence of the steel, dampers, and isolators that meld into harmonic absorbers that reduce the vibrations caused by an earthquake, which could cause damage and/or structural failure.

Standing on the upper drive above the staging yard, I had a splendid view of the existing Children’s Hospital and Medical Center. In the foreground, the steel skeleton of the new hospitals was taking on the look of the building’s Podium. In the background the roar of a helicopter could be heard as it chuf, chuf, chuf, chuf, chuffed its way toward the north helipad. Note a life-flight helicopter to the left, on the south helipad, which had landed earlier. After the helicopter landed, I headed around the building to the left where I would descend the stairs.

As I made my way down the stairs, I noticed two inspectors (in the dark hats) discussing a weld sequence on the column above. Notice the welders shoes on the rung of the ladder.

The north stairway that I descended to the basement. The shaft of sunlight stealing its way down through the north moat would be mutted as I made my way under the massive support beams that rested on the isolators.

To my left mechanical pipes that would connect to the power plant hung along the north wall. These pipes wrap around the west and south walls and exit out the south tunnel and connect to the mechanical pipes that run to the FMO (Faculty Medical Office buildings).

Turning again to my left, I faced a long runway-like isle flanked by isolators on each side with light streaming down through the mechanical vault along the south wall. It was eerily quiet down under the beams compared to the cacophony of sounds echoing off the foundation walls from the floors above.  In the distance, I could see a lone figure making his way toward two workers further down the runway. Yes, Mable, there is life down there.

Stacked on a utility cart roller stirrup hangers that will be hung from the basement ceiling to support mechanical pipes that service the building.

I first saw the few blotches of light a few yards ahead to my left along the mat. As I continued, ducking occasionally under a support beam, the light became more intense I could see a florescent-like glow that seemed to envelope a specific area. Stooping under the last support beam, I immediately recognized the source of the light: two self-righting Wobble-lights. The corrugated steel ceiling was clearly visible as well as several dampers wrapped in a protective blue plastic. After taking a couple of photos, I had to pause to take it all in: I imagined I was in a cave deep under ground and on the walls (the foundation beams) were written strange symbols (hieroglyphics) and numbers. I could decipher two spud wrenches with four dots that were painted on a beam. The four dots, I concluded, could have several meanings; one of which could be the number of hand turns were required using the spud wrench. As for the numbers and arrows, I had no clue. It was all Greek to me.

Further on down there was an area where I could see four pairs of dampers (the first two sets are easily seen in the photograph) mounted to a bracket welded on to the damper pedestals. The thirty-foot six-thousand pound dampers connect to a node, which is bolted and cemented to an isolator, which is bolted to the isolator base. The holes in the support beam(center right) are for mechanical pipes, which will be supported by roller stirrup hangers secured by rods bolted to the ceiling. The plywood resting on the dampers is for protective purposes as heavy equipment and tools are used in the area.

This photo illustrates how the node of a foundation beam is bolted to the top of the isolator (H-65). Once the bottom of the isolator is bolted to its base a grout-like material is pumped into the predetermined gap between the isolator and the base. This procedure is required to prevent the metal of the isolator from rubbing on its base as vibrations occur.

Two members of the clean-up brigade watch as sparks fly off of a welders grinding wheel. By this time in my underground sojourn, I was very grateful for the earplugs that Rudy (center right) had given me along with a terse statement: “YOU WILL NEED THESE.” In this particular area, I needed the earplugs: Noise of varying decibels ricocheted off of every surface imaginable. I needed a break from the noise!

My escape from the noise was the moat along the south wall. The photo illustrates how the structural steel rises off the foundation nodes, which are mounted on the isolators. The steel columns never touch the foundation walls. As on the north side, the mechanical pipes hang off of the foundation wall and bend into the mechanical room to the left. From this perspective (standing on stairs between “A”  and “B” levels), I was able to see four floors: the mat or “B” level; “A” level; ground level aka the first floor; the second floor; and the third floor corrugated steel, which hangs out over the concrete cap slab.

Before I made my way along the south moat, I climbed a few more rungs of the temporary stair case and stepped on the corrugated metal decking to get a look at the mechanical pipes and how they were stubbed out in the mechanical vault. Eventually, the pipes will connect to the mechanical pipes in the tunnel which runs to the Faculty Medical Offices.

While on “A” level, I turned the camera to the northeast to get another progress shot. I knew that the areas to the center and to the right would be changing rapidly in the next several days: more support beams, columns, and infill trusses would be set.

As I made my way to the western end of the south wall, I heard another grinding sound, which was much louder than what I heard earlier. At the end as I turned right, along the western wall, I saw the source: A welder was grinding away on the “A” level decking in preparation to weld what a section of metal called a “Bent Piece,” which when welded end to end will go all around the perimeter of each floor. The Bent Pieces are used as permanent metal forms to retain the floor concrete on each level.

As I made my way back out under the giant steel support beams, I heard human voices behind me. I turned to see what was going on and there were the two men from the cleanup brigade pushing their brooms across the mat floor. I took a shot just below the damper, which was in front of me. These men are multitalented: One day one might see them work along side the carpenters, or with the concrete crew. Other days they may be driving tractors and loaders. Looking at these two figures, one can get a real sense of the vastness of this underground world. Soon this area will be humming with activity again: There will be electricians, pipe fitters, welders, plumbers, IT and telephone technicians, mechanical engineers and others working in tandem to get the building ready for occupancy. Yes, I have seen small forklifts and other small vehicles making their way around the isolator bases and pedestals.

~The End of My Underground Venture~

A delightful Exterior Phenomenon — Color-Shifting Glass 

From time to time during my photo shoots, I made a effort to checkout a mockup of the exterior of the completed hospitals. I found it interesting to watch as various hardware was installed.  Recently, during one of my stops, I had to take a double take and backup a few steps. Taking a few steps forward, I saw the phenomenon again: A narrow panel of vertical glass as tall as the mockup changed colors as I walked past. After a few more passes, I decided to video what I had seen. This short video, in slow motion, depicts a mockup of the south side of the hospitals facade. One of the exterior features are narrow vertical color-shifting panels that change with the movement and location of the sun. The referenced test panel is near the left of the frame.

Between the Columns:

From the Ground Floor a View Through the Building 

A Telescopic View Through The Building: From the west to the east a view through the building at ground level.

From The Outside Looking Inside Between The Columns: Looking through the ground floor to the existing Children’s Hospital from the eastern edge of the cap slab.

From The Inside Looking Out : From inside looking from the ground floor decking to the east bank where the previous photo was taken. For about twenty-minutes, I sat on the decking in a folding deck chair watching and photographing the ironworkers as they set the steel trusses and girders.

The two bays (center and center right) are being connected by the steel joists. Once connected decking will be laid out completing the floor decking between section one (1) and section three (3).

A New Milestone —

The Structural Columns Reach the East Foundation Wall–

The Eastern Moat is Delineated

April 6, 2018

By noon on April 6, 2018, three columns had been set on the last three nodes on the eastern edge of the project. As the steel skeleton rises and expands, north to south, east to west, within the concrete pit, the foundation walls will no longer define the project. The steel skeleton will now define the framework from which the two hospitals evolve. Once again, as on the other sides of the structure, a moat between the steel columns and the wall becomes visible.

A very large, east/west, crossbeam settled into its western position, but the ironworkers are having trouble maneuvering the eastern end into place. Kenny, leaning into the large column is retrieving a tool called a ram, which will be used to spread the pocket flange/bracket so that the beam can slide into place. Seemingly oblivious to the problem on the other side, a welder works on a cross beam in the foreground.

With the camera lens zoomed in, one can see the arc from two welders torches as they work on the nodes down in the moat. Iron workers are bolting crossbeams and splice plates. The two ironworkers, Kenny and Jason, are still working on the eastern column bracket.

This short video illustrates how two ironworkers finally fit the ends of the large crossbeam in place using a ram and a sledgehammer. Once aligned, the bolts will easily slip through the holes to be tightened.

By mid-afternoon, the iron workers were having the BRBs (Buckling-Restrained Brace) lowered into place to aid in stabilizing the columns. The placing of these braces have to be done in a proper sequence. Notice how the crane operator threads the BRB through the infill braces. Kenny, one of the iron workers used his feet to jostle the upper flanges into place. Jason down below was having a little trouble getting his end to slide into the groves, however with persistence and the help of a lever block/ratchet puller, he was able to slide the flanges into place.

A Little Bit of This N That to End the Week

A Double Node Spline Beam Arrives and is Lowered Into Place

In the morning a low bed arrived carrying a large double node spline beam.

The double node spline beam was lowered by the south crane down on to two isolators in section four (4). Note how hard it is for the ironworkers to control the beam as the crane operator carefully  lowers and sets the very heavy beam onto  the isolators.