At this stage, the Cancer Center project has been all about pouring concrete. And, more concrete. And then, more concrete. Followed by some more concrete. And then … well, you get the picture.
In top photo you can see the yellow forms for the monumental concrete girders being poured to support a partial concrete structure and the entire steel portion of the building. Each girder is 4 feet thick, 8 feet high, 120 feet long, and contains over 100 cubic yards of concrete. The unique fact about these girders is that they are more often encountered in bridge and stadium construction.
Of course, all the concrete contains steel rebar for support. At this point in the project, the weight of the steel rebar in the building is equal to more than the weight of two Statues of Liberty.
You can get a better look at the girders in the aerial photo, as well see the amazing progress that has been made. Soon we'll be seeing steel rising as the building continues its upward climb.
Because the cancer center will be home to very sensitive samples and experiments, the construction team is going to great lengths to make sure outside vibrations will not affect them. Any vibration, even from a car in the garage 7 stories below, could jeopardize research results.
Imagine building a major facility on stilts that sits 5 stories in the air. Now imagine interweaving a parking garage underneath that facility while making sure each structure avoids touching the other. That’s how the Cancer Center is being constructed.
The parking structure is actually being built as its own building within the main structure to cut down on vibrations that the vehicles may cause. The parking structure and the research center are being erected on their own sets of columns. The columns supporting the garage and the primary building columns, while side-by-side, are separated by just two-and-a-half inches.
The two structures, that occupy the same space and appear as one, are actually separated by about the width of three fingers! The product of clever engineering and skillful construction.
A major milestone was met in the early morning hours on Friday, August 28th, when the crews began pouring the concrete slab for the first floor of the parking garage. Over 150 cubic yards of concrete were poured for both the slab and a portion or the ramp that will lead to the 2nd floor parking level. Work has begun on the forms for additional ramps, columns, and beams in preparation for the elevated slab of the next floor. The top photo shows the pre-dawn pour in progress, and the middle photo shows the concrete finishing crew still at work. The bottom photo shows how the site looked in March before the foundation pilings were started.
The large monolithic pilecaps have been completed, and over 2,800 yards of concrete have been poured in the pile caps, walls, and columns. While construction of the concrete forms and steel for the shear walls and columns continues (Top photo), communications and electrical duct banks are being installed (Bottom photo) along with sanitary and storm drains. Manpower on the site has increased to sixty-five. A 63% increase from last week.
Sometimes the work site doesn't appear to change much week-to-week so let's take a look at the numbers. They show how well we are moving forward:
250 Tons of rebar steel have been placed to date.
8,400 yards of spoils hauled off.
2,300 yards of fill placed.
1,800 yards of Concrete placed.
27 pile caps for the main building structure completed along with 15 Large columns and 10 small columns
Man power is increasing and the current estimated head count of workers is in excess of forty (40) workers in the field
Brice has started installing building grade beams, concrete material and forms are in place as this activity will continue for many weeks ahead. Completion of large monumental pile caps is expected very soon weather permitting, and first floor underground preparatory work has begun- all electrical, communications and plumbing systems supporting the first floor will be complete before the end of August .
