The Week of December 3, 2018 — The Week Before the Topping Off Ceremony: All Hands on Deck

We know that the topping off of the project is near. The ceremony will be held and viewed from the top of parking structure P4, the area from which many of the south elevation photos were taken. Plans are in the works to memorialize this historic event. Loma Linda University Health president Richard H. Hart, MD, DrPH wrote of this upcoming occasion in the most recent News Notes, which appeared on the LLUH campus website dated Thursday, November 29, 2018. Under the circumstances it is only fitting that his message appears on this blog.

The feature image of this post is of the penultimate level—the 16th floor— of the Adult Hospital’s east wing. The final level is the roof also referred to as the 17th floor. The late afternoon sun is obscured by a large column that will support the girders for the roof. An American flag, secured to the elevator tower, is framed by two columns to the left of the portable toilets. Mable, I did my best to keep them out of the photo, but when the field of view is narrowed, I had no choice.

Off Campus Views of the Steel Frame

The day before the working week began (December 3, 2018), I took a few photos around campus to document how the height of the building was now effecting the skyline of the community.

As viewed from the parking lot of the Loma Linda Ronald McDonald House, the steel frame stands, near its designed height, above the intersection of Barton Road and Anderson Street.

As viewed from the Loma Linda Hills: The top photo was taken in 2005. Thirteen years later, I took the second photo from the same location. What a difference thirteen years makes. Another photo will be added to this duo once the project is completed.

This undated black and white photo was also taken from the south Loma Linda Hills near where the previous two images were taken. The Medical Center rises above the campus in all of its iconic glory sometime before the Children’s Hospital was built in the early 1990s, but after the School of Dentistry multi-story building (nestled in the background, but appearing adjacent to the east cloverleaf tower to the right) was constructed in the late 1970s.

Looking west down the corrugated metal decking of the 16th floor.

The two images above (the first the featured image) stitched together in photoshop to produce a panoramic view from the 16th floor.

Due to the fact that aerial lift door of the aerial lift can not open all the way at the present time, I had to take this photo of he northwest side of the 16th floor through the mesh of the lift’s door.

A reproduction of Dr. Hart’s letter informing the reader of the upcoming Topping-off ceremony to be held on December 11, 2018, at 4 pm.

As viewed from behind the mesh of one of the south aerial lifts: The top (6th floor) of parking structure P4 from where the Topping-off ceremonies will be held.

A Visit to the Roof of the Children’s Hospital

Today (12.03.18), I took one the south aerial lift cars to the top of the Children’s Hospital tower. I have seen and photographed the roof from the top of the existing Children’s Hospital because the various levels have not been as easy to access with my camera gear. The aerial lift will make it a lot easier to move about from floor to floor at the Children’s Hospital.

At my left upon exiting the aerial lift on the 10th floor was the southeast ledge of the roof. Before me was this magnificent view down Barton Road to the east valley, Banning Pass and the mountains beyond. On a clear day one can see forever.

A bookend image of the previous photo, which overlooked Barton Road to the east as viewed from the Children’s Hospital roof. This photograph again overlooks Barton Road and the Children’s Hospital from the roof of parking structure P4.

A southeast view of the 10th floor/roof of the Children’s Hospital tower. Rod busters were hard at work tying rebar in preparation for a concrete pour on Thursday (weather permitting).

Shifting my position, I could look north across the roof, through the Adult Hospital tower and out to the San Bernardino valley, and the foothills in the distance.

A southwest view of the Children’s Hospital’s roof. The south helipad on the the existing Children’s Hospital can be seen at the lower left of the image.

West bound traffic on Barton Road below, the existing Children’s Hospital and helipad with the parking structure P3 beyond. To the right is the roof, floors nine, eight, and seven.

Before I took leave of the roof, I could not help but take a photo of Old Glory waving in the breeze  above.

Three Towers, Two Views

An east elevation view of the three towers as photographed inside the security fence.

The east elevation as photographed outside the security fence while standing in the driveway to the Alumni Association, School of Medicine of Loma Linda University.

A Moment When the Steel of a Chapel Falls in the Shadow of the Steel of a New Hospital’s Tower

Two campus construction projects, two crane booms: Both are in sync.

As viewed from Campus Street and University Avenue two cranes hoist steel for two new future campus buildings: In the foreground the steel frame for the new University Church chapel and Sabbath School rooms appear to meld with the steel frame of the Adult Hospital tower under construction east of the current of the current Loma Linda University Medical Center.

The above photo was taken in 2005, from the same approximate angle as the previous photo.

A GFRC (Prefab Curtain Wall) Update

As Viewed Down the East Corridor

The east corridor, which prior to the current construction, passed in front of the existing Children’s Hospital, and served a short-term patient loading zone.

The image in the upper left (circa 1994) before the paint on the Children’s Hospital began to fade. In late 2015, the make ready crew were preparing (upper right) the site for the upcoming excavation. The image at the lower left (06.16.16) depicts the area where the east corridor fronted the Children’s Hospital. At the time the photo was taken, the ground had been trenched to receive the temporary mechanical pipes, which would connect to the power plant a block to the north. Finally the photo at the lower right (12.04.18) portrays the east corridor as it is today bound on three sides by buildings: the existing Children’s Hospital to the left, the Schuman Pavilion to the north, and the new hospitals (under construction) to the east.

The east corridor as viewed from parking structure P4. GFRC installation continues on the west side of the podium.

The east corridor as viewed from the Medical Center’s webcam number 1.

The Helipad Update

I arrived on the top of parking structure P4 just as the crane was lowering infill beams for the ironworkers to hang on the helipad steel frame.

An ironworker, standing on an infill beam, waits for the next beam to be lowered.

At the end of the day, the helipad is taking shape above the west wing. The inset image portrays the steel frame before the ironworkers installed the outside curve on the southwest corner.

A Midweek Pause of Misty Skies and Rain

This collection of six images begins with the photograph at the upper left, which captures the east elevation on the morning of December 4, 2108.  Rain was forecast for the following day. By sunset, there was not a cloud in the sky. By 6:50, the following morning (December 5, 2018) storm clouds were gathering as shown in the upper right. The bottom row depicts sky as the clouds began to tear up, the clouds became darker, and then around around 9:30 AM the rains came down and the umbrellas came out. The collage above is a representation of several photographs taken over a twenty-four hour time frame focusing only on the the east elevation of the two towers fronting Anderson Street. The once visible clover leaf towers viewed from this vantage point are now over shadowed by the massive soon-to-be towers of healing, which are nearing their designed height.

The day pretty much ended as it began, under a canopy of dark clouds.

Another Seismic Reduction Building Feature

In previous posts, we have seen various seismic reduction features that the architects and engineers have incorporated (required by current California code) into the current building project. The primary reduction features that have been focused on (because they are large) include base isolators; isolators, damper pedestals, dampers, and the massive structural spline beams that are bolted and welded to the isolators. On a smaller scale, we have taken a look at the reduction features applied to the large mechanical pipes and electrical conduits. Also included is the two-story moat that surrounds the structural foundation and the steel frame. The photo above reveals six (6) pipes that run up through the ground floor concrete from level “A”. I was curious to note that the each of the pipes are secured by two small shock absorbers positioned opposite each other. These shock absorbers allow the pipes to move, during seismic activity, vertically an horizontally.