The Week of May 20, 2018–The Podium Level Reached; Section Four Rises From the Pit

On Sunday, May 20, 2018, the iron workers began hanging steel for the podium roof on the west side of the building. The feature photo is of the southwest bay of what will ultimately be the tower for the Adult Hospital. The iron workers are in the process of manipulating the large girder into place.

At the same time the iron workers were laboring on the sixth-floor girders and beams, the iron workers in section four were busy hanging steel on the second floor. Steel columns on all sides of the pit now rise above grade. The north side reaches podium height at level 5; the iron on the northwest side is now being hung at podium height at level 6. Currently the southwest side of the structure reaches level 3, while the southeast quadrant, by weeks end, will most likely reach the third level.

As I approached the southeast corner of the sight, I observed the helicopter rotor blades begin to turn–A photograph in the making. Framed by the existing Children’s Hospital and the steel columns of the future Children’s Hospital.

Looking to the west along the south moat and foundation wall: Just a week ago, “A” level of the southeast quadrant (section four) had been covered with corrugated metal decking. Now all of the columns have be set and the beams and girders are being hung. The last bay in the southeast corner is the last to receive the metal decking for the first floor.

Steel columns silently reach to the heavens like tombstones of a bygone era.

Taking it–a welding gas cylinder tank–in stride.

An iron workers jungle gym–six-floor up from grade or eight-floors above the basement (“B” level) floor. Jason stands on the slanting girder as Kenny kneels in place as he waits to rope up a piece of equipment.

Jungle Gym as viewed from the west. A neat Sunday afternoon activity!!

From this vantage point (the southwest corner) one can begin to visualize how this giant erector set is coming together and where the Adult Hospital Tower will be positioned on the west side. The Children’s Hospital will be located closer to the foreground, but it is too early in the process to draw lines denoting where the tower will be located.

An overhead view looking down on the west side of the Adult Hospital side, which delineates the location (yellow vertical lines) where the tower will rise out of the podium.

A view of the west side of the structure as defined on a scale model of the project.

Musings

As one takes the flyover going south off of the Interstate 10, have you looked to the east and imagined what the new hospital will look like when the steel is toped out at the 16th floor? Well, I decided to overlay my imagination onto a photo of the existing Medical Center. Although this rendering of the Adult and Children’s Hospitals are not to scale, I had fun letting my imagination run wild. Note to self: Once the steel has topped out, overlay a photo of the actual structure onto a similar photo to see how far off I was in my guesstimation.

There are times when a photographic opportunity presents itself and the sun and the steel align just at the right angle. This is one of those times. I happened to be standing on the decking of the fifth floor when the north crane hoisted the load to the sixth floor.

Well, why not? Not to long after I shot this photo another favorable occasion presented itself. You’re right, I couldn’t resist getting the moon dancing above a flag.

From the west along the corridor between the current Children’s Hospital and the steel structure, an excellent view of  four vertical bays of the Adult Hospital.  To the left the third and fourth floors of the podium bays, The two center vertical bays depicts floors three, four, five, and six (floor steel only). To the right, the three vertical podium bays represent floors three, four, and five.

Today, I had the pleasure of hosting David Colwell (left), Advancement Operations Officer for Loma Linda University Health and John Ruffcorn (right), former President of Loma Linda University Medical Center. Mr. Ruffcorn, a very inquisitive, spry, and alert nonagenarian, at 91-years young, wanted to see the construction site up close and personal. After viewing the structure from grade, I took David and John to the top floor of the patient parking structure (P4) to get a birds-eye view of the construction site and the clover-leaf towers of the current medical center, which of course brought back a flood of memories.

A view of the steel skeleton, looking north, as seen from the sixth floor of Parking Structure P4 located just south of Barton Road. Note the center right where it is labeled: Emergency Room Entrances.

Even the south crane, “Cheese,” (the crane in the foreground in the previous photo) has its own cupboard for cleaning supplies located on the inside of the left track. I can picture it now, the ole crane lumbering down the road to pick up some cleaning supplies.

In the west corridor between the Children’s Hospital and the steel structure Patrick , a welder’s apprentice, grinds a 45-degree edge to a metal plate that will be welded on a beam somewhere on the fifth floor. Note the microwave oven in the upper left of the photo. Got to have the convenience of home.

Hanging from the sixth-floor girders is what the welder’s call the standing floater. This hanging platform allows the welder to maneuver, at eye level, around a column and/or beam.

The standing floater in action: Thps welder is welding, layer-by-layer, the 45-degree angle joints between two columns.

Not to be outdone by the welders carrying a gas cylinder tank (see a previous photo), the blue-helmeted electricians lockstep it back to their tool shed.

A Field Trip to the Basement–“B” Level

It had been a few weeks since I had taken a field trip down to “B” level to take a look at what, if anything, had gone on since my last visit. I knew the northwest quadrant had been roped off because the concrete floor had been poured on “A” level and the drip, drip, drip of water from the water cure process was not conducive to vagrant vagabonds wondering around on that section of the basement. With this visit, it was evident that the electricians and pipe fitters had made their presence known.

The sun was at the right angel where I could take advantage of standing in northwest section of the moat and shooting a photo from the basement–“B” level–past “A” level, the first floor, the second floor, and on up to the east tower of the current Medical Center. I will not have the opportunity to take such a photo much longer.

Turning 180-degrees, this is the view of the moat (the space between the foundation wall and the steel on the right)        from “B” level. To the right, noted the HVAC support straps hanging from the first floor ceiling. This photo is another good example of how the building does not touch the foundation walls. Notice the mechanical pipes hanging at the left. Eventually, the pipes will connect to the power plant to the north, service the new buildings, the existing Medical Center, and the Faculty Medical Offices to the south. Presently, temporary pipes are being used to services these the existing areas.

Columns of base isolators in the northwest section of the basement. Kind of a funny feeling knowing that there are now six-stories of steel above where I’m standing. For some reason, I was the only one down in the basement. But, oh the noise from above ricocheted off of the foundation walls and the beams above.

One of the first things I noticed was some fabricated support brackets lying on the concrete. Obviously, the pipe fitters were beginning to place support brackets in areas where the large mechanical pipes would run.

A few feet away, just to the left from where the above photo was taken, I came upon a chain hoist block and tackle hanging from a spline beam. A small steel box header beam is positioned on the concrete below ready to be hoisted in place.

The topside (floor): Inorder to put the following photo into context, we need to take a look at the ground floor corrugated metal decking. Prior to pouring the concrete flooring,  subcontractors, such as electrical contractors, will pop multipurpose threaded rod inserts and/or raceways through the metal decking as shown in the highlighted area in this photo. Other inserts are in areas outside of highlighted areas as well. These inserts will be used for various hanging systems that hang from the ceiling below. Another example is the HVAC subcontractor will punch through the decking and insert long, narrow strips of sheet metal through a small hole. These narrow strips of sheet metal look like the silver tinsel that was once hung on ones Christmas tree back in the 50s or early 60s (see earlier photo in the blog). Do you think tinsel will make a comeback like vinyl records?

The underside (ceiling): This is the view of the ceiling as the electricians begin to hang the threaded rods, hangers, and or straps. We will revisit the threaded rod inserts as the project moves along.

Sometime Friday morning, the subcontractor who will be spraying the fire resistant substance on the the structural steel members called Monokote arrived and set up their work station on the the north east corner of the building. Now that the concrete has been poured and cured on the two west quadrants on “A” level, the company will begin in that area.

On Friday, May 18,  I made my way down the west stairs, from the ground floor, to “A” level to check out the activity. Nearing the bottom of the stairs, I noticed fine mist in the air. There on a scaffolding, one of the crew was using a high pressure washer to clean the steel members. I knew the Monokote team would be on site shortly.