Work is continuing now on a critical phase of the project, the shear wall installation. This work will continue through fall 2010, and is a time when the building really begins to take shape. Several crews are also on site at once, working with steel, welding, concrete, rebar, drainage, utilities, and more.

The Laurel Grove site has been cleared and is now paved to serve as parking for the construction workers through 2013. The former parking area across from the Emergency Department will serve as a construction staging area until crews begin work there on the medical office building. As part of the project’s commitment to responsible “green” practices, virtually 100% of the Laurel Grove Hospital building, materials, foundation and landscaping has been recycled.

Question of the week: What will happen to the flag and the tree used in the Topping Off Ceremony?

The flag will move to the peak of the south side of the building, at the height of the main tower, throughout construction. The tree, a Weeping Norway Spruce, is being cared for by the landscape architect and will find a new home in the gardens of the new hospital landscape.

The main hospital tower is taking shape as workers continue welding the structural steel and shear wall installation. This is now the view of the project site, from the top of Eden Hospital.

Inside the tower, crews are making tremendous progress:

Another shear wall ready for concrete pour

Columns are wrapped in rebar reinforcement

Under-slab electrical conduit in the area that will be home to the future electrical room

And just what is that small, standalone structure seen from Stanton Avenue? That is a mock-up of a section of the building exterior, allowing the construction team to view and test the exterior materials to be used on the finished building.

A model of the exterior building materials

And across the campus, the Laurel Grove site has changed dramatically as the building has been deconstructed and recycled. The area is now being graded to make way for parking for the construction crews. The Sutter Medical Center Castro Valley construction will create more than 1,000 construction industry jobs throughout this project.

The site of the former Laurel Grove Hospital

We welcome your questions and comments.

My name is Bob Bosold, and I am the Project Director for Eden Medical Center. I’ve worked at Eden for 33 years, starting out as an engineer back in 1977. My career at Eden spans thousands of projects that define the buildings of Eden Medical Center. Early on I managed projects ranging from simple office designs and renovations to major expansions and development. Among them are the development of Baywood Court Retirement Community and the complete remodel of Laurel Grove Hospital back in 1990. More recently the renovation of the 6th floor Sutter East Bay Neuroscience Center and the Emergency Department.

Today, I manage projects on the hospital campus, including issues related to the new hospital construction. The demolition of Laurel Grove Hospital is perhaps one of the more bittersweet projects on campus. On the one hand, it symbolizes the progress of our new hospital. On the other, it means the end of a great facility that provided care for thousands of patients and was home to so many great employees. I was a patient at Laurel Grove following knee surgery five years ago, and the care I received was excellent. Yes, it was sad to see the old hospital go.

From a facilities perspective, the demolition of Laurel Grove was far more complex than the actual deconstruction photos show. Our last patient at Laurel Grove was discharged home in December 2009, and the final employee celebration was held December 30. From that moment on, our teams worked to identify and remove virtually every piece of equipment, furniture, fixture and countless other things people don’t even think about that support a hospital structure, such as boilers, propane and diesel fuel tanks, an emergency generator and air conditioning chiller.

Where Did It All Go?

While our patient care staff worked to transfer all patient records to Eden, our facilities team focused on assessing all of the equipment from the rooftop all the way down to the soil. We cleared out major rooms such as Radiology and the kitchen, and gathered the smallest of items found in desk drawers and cabinets. All equipment was identified and relocated according to areas of greatest need and value. In other words, some equipment was given new life where needed at Eden or San Leandro Hospital, or at another Sutter Health facility, or donated to another hospital or clinic in need. This by far was the most gratifying part of this project.

Some equipment was sold or stripped for parts for use where needed, but that represents a small percentage compared to what we were able to reuse or recycle. Although Laurel Grove looked small from the outside, it held a significant amount of furniture (hospital beds, tables, curtains, chairs), office equipment (desks, bookcases, filing cabinets) and supplies (wheelchairs, walkers, office supplies) and so much “stuff” in every room.

Fortunately, we found a home for almost everything. Our specialized LaserOptics equipment was donated to UC Berkeley Vision Sciences and their School of Ophthalmology. Physical and occupational therapy equipment, wheelchairs, walkers and related items were donated to Alameda County Medical Center and several other clinics. Much of our furniture, office supplies, cabinetry and kitchen equipment made its way to schools, clinics, local businesses and organizations including MedShare, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving healthcare through the redistribution of surplus medical supplies and equipment to developing countries. I would have to say that about 95 percent of the interior equipment was donated or used elsewhere. The rest was recycled along with the building (more on this later).

What’s next?

Once the abatement was complete and the connection between the hospital and adjacent medical office building was closed and remodeled and new walkways installed, the old hospital was torn down in less than two days. From the street, what is left looks like a big pile of rubble. But what is really happening behind the fence is amazing. Over the next two weeks, virtually every part of the building and site will be recycled: metals, woods, plastics, concrete, vegetation, landscape materials, all of it.

The metal is separated from the fiber by a large sorter on site. All the metal will be recycled, and the fiber material will be sent to Waste Management, where it will be used in composting and come back to life as, among other things, potting soil! Some of the material will find new life as colored bark that is used in gardens. And best of all, the concrete (including Laurel Grove’s foundation), will be ground up, set aside and later used as site fill on the  new hospital site.  Laurel Grove will live on.

Here is a quick look at how the materials are separated for recycling at the site:

By April 15, the Laurel Grove site will become a paved parking lot for the hundreds of contractors working on the project. Once the underground utilities are taken care of, the site will have new landscaping that will enhance the aesthetics of the neighborhood. The lot will remain parking for contractors throughout the entire building project, and will convert to employee parking in 2013.

A Time of Change

From my perspective, seeing the end of Laurel Grove Hospital comes with mixed emotions. Eden purchased Laurel Grove in 1986, and from that moment I was involved in expanding, remodeling and upgrading the entire facility. And so, many years later, I watched it come down. I feel a sense of pride in being involved in creating a good facility that provided care to so many people, and a sense of sadness in seeing it go. But I am also excited, knowing this is progress and we are making way for our new hospital.

One project ends, another begins. I spend a lot of time putting things up and making them work, and a lot of time taking them down and making them work as something else. That’s the nature of my work and I wouldn’t want to do anything else.

I will write more on the recycling in my next post. In the meantime, I welcome your comments and questions.

View the demolition images.

Significant Progress!

The upper foundation pad after completion of pier drilling.

The contractors have finished drilling all 560 piers for the foundation of our new hospital! While more work continues around those piers, including concrete, pile caps, grade beams and the underground electrical and plumbing work, this is a significant step forward for the project. Very quickly, the crews will begin erecting steel at specific locations of the site (weather permitting). Later this week, perhaps as early as Friday if the weather permits, the largest crane yet on site will arrive to handle the steel loads. The crawler crane will reach a maximum height of 300 feet when it moves to the upper foundation.

Garage bridge

Work is also moving along for the ramp connecting the garage to the main hospital driveway. Rain has caused delays in this area, setting the opening back to the end of February. This new access route will greatly improve traffic flow and convenience for our patients and visitors.

The empty corridors of Laurel Grove Hospital

Also this week, the contractor took over Laurel Grove Hospital to begin abatement and deconstruction of the facility. A great deal of effort went into closing down the facility after the last patients were discharged at the end of December. Much of the equipment found new life at Eden, San Leandro Hospital and other Sutter Health affiliates. And many other organizations received supplies, equipment, furniture and more as staff cleaned out the last of the hospital before turning it over to DPR Construction. Some of the organizations that received supplies and equipment include MedShare (with much of the equipment going to Haiti relief efforts), Castro Valley Unified School District, Davis Street Family Resource Center,  Fairmont Hospital and UC Berkeley Vision Sciences, to name just a few. We’ll share more information on this effort in a post from Eden Project Director Bob Bosold later this week. Laurel Grove is now secured by fencing as crews begin their detailed work before removing the building in March.

By Jeff Moore, President, Greenwood & Moore

Greenwood & Moore is currently completing the Phase 4 construction drawings for the hospital. Phase 4 encompasses the area directly around the new hospital.  In total, there are seven individual construction phases associated with the site Civil Engineering services.  Each phase of construction requires a complete set of construction documents that are coordinated with the work performed in the previous phases of construction.  Had the new hospital been constructed on a “greenfield site” (raw land with no previous development) then only one set of drawings would be required.  The need for seven sets of plans illustrates the challenges and complexity of constructing the new hospital adjacent to the existing hospital.

The seven phases of constructions are as follows:

Phase 1 – Demolition of the existing Pinecone Apartments and Medical Office Buildings

This work was completed in the summer of 2009.  In general, this was a very straight forward scope of work.  Interestingly enough, one the more challenging aspects of this phase of work were relocating the existing doctors who occupied the medical office spaces that were to be demolished.  The amount of design and coordination needed to relocate the doctor’s was immense! Add to the mix, the individual personalities of the doctor’s, different lease terms, differing needs for new office space and a drop-dead demolition deadline, and you get more excitement that a civil engineer is typically used to!

Phase 2 – Construction of the new Helistop, Large Site Retaining Walls, Garage Vehicle Access Bridge and a Temporary pedestrian access bridge.

The work in Phase 2 is referred to as “Make Ready” work.  That is, this work needs to be completed before significant work on the hospital can begin.  The large site retaining walls, pedestrian bridge and helistop were completed in late 2009.  Work on the garage vehicle access bridge continues and is expected to be completed in a few weeks.  From a civil engineering standpoint, the design of the helistop was the most challenging aspect of this phase of construction. This was due to the extensive design regulations set forth by the FAA.  Oddly enough, the design of the ramp leading to the helistop was particularly challenging.  The height of the landing pad above the roadway, airspace clearance requirements and patient gurney maneuverability issues were all pieces of the ramp design puzzle.  When all was said and done the final ramp configuration solved the hospital’s technical requirements.

Phase 3 – New Temporary Ambulance Parking

This work was simple but critical.  In order to facilitate the construction of the new hospital, it is necessary to relocate the ambulance drop-off area for the existing hospital.  This work was completed in late 2009.

Phase 4 – Site Improvements around the new Hospital.

This is a very complex phase of the civil engineering design services.  This phase of work incorporates all of the detailed site construction around the new hospital.  Some of the aspects of the phase of work are

• Soundwalls for adjacent residential areas
• New 18’ high, curved, retaining walls for the outdoor eating area
• Truck loading dock
• Site utilities
• Underground fuel storage tanks
• Underground fire sprinkler storage tank
• Mobile technology (i.e., MRI) trailer location
• Ambulance parking

Extensive coordination with the architect and other design team members is critical to make sure that all of the pieces fit together properly.

Phase 5 – Demolition of Laurel Grove Hospital and New Parking Lot

The demolition of the existing Laurel Grove Hospital and the construction of new parking on the site are the major components of Phase 5.  Currently, Laurel Grove Hospital is physically connected to an existing medical office building to the north of the project.  In order to remove the hospital, it will be necessary to provide minor reconstruction of the adjacent office building.  The removal of Laurel Grove is expected to occur in early 2010.  Its removal is critical to the construction schedule, as the site will be used for temporary construction staging and parking for the next two years.

Phase 6 – Demolition of the Existing Hospital

The removal of the existing hospital – after the new hospital is complete and everything is transferred over — will present some unique challenges.  When the building is gone, there will be a very large hole in the ground that will need to be filled and a foundation that will likely remain intact.   The civil engineering plans need make sure that these structures will not adversely impact the new parking lot that will be constructed on the site of the old hospital.

Phase 7 – Construction of the Main Parking Lot

Once the existing hospital has been removed, construction of the main parking lot can begin.  Phase 7 and Phase 4 are the two most complex parts of the civil engineering package.  The most notable aspect of the Phase 7 civil design is the stormwater control system.  This system provides required treatment to rainwater run-off.  From the public’s point of view, the stormwater control system looks like regular landscaping.  In reality, it is a complex filtration system that helps to keep pollutants and debris out of the public creeks and storm drain system

So, there has been a lot going on in the civil engineering world.  The design process will continue throughout the first half of 2010 until all aspects of the design are complete.

I welcome your comments and questions.