New Parkland Hospital Construction Update

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1 August 2012 New Parkland Hospital Vol. 2, Issue 2 New Parkland Hospital Construction Update While construction for the new Parkland Hospital is still on track for completion in 2014, the main concern for the joint venture team of Balfour Beatty Construction, (BARA) this summer was to continue at the same pace while staying safe. The crews acclimated well to the heat and the rain is cooperating, said Sam Moses, BARA general superintendent. Workers are reminded to take breaks in the shade and drink plenty of water to help deal with the higher temperatures. With the intense heat wave during the summer of 2011, the BARA team made a conscious effort to accommodate scheduling and planned for additional measures to keep workers safe. So far, progress Inside This Issue Building the Walls of Parkland: BARA Pushes the Limits on Post Tension is going very well this summer. Our schedule is on track, says Moses. With the garage demolition complete, construction on the M/WBE Spotlight: Working Relationships & Reputation - Ace Door & Repair, Inc. BARA Feature: Optimizing Resources through Lean Construction Becoming a Reality: Touring the New Parkland Hospital New Parkland Hospital Featured: ENR Magazine Glass is installed up to level 15 on the Acute Care Tower portion of the new Parkland Hospital while the rest of the structure is completed expansion of the Women and Infants Specialty Health (WISH) Tower is continuing to progress. Piers for the WISH Tower are about 90 percent complete, the foundation walls are about 85 percent complete and the first slab on grade is finished. The structure cantilever, one of the most visual pieces of the new Parkland Hospital, is a 60-foot hangover facing Harry Hines Blvd. and is structurally complete through level 14. To support nearly 180 feet of unsupported building, including the cantilever, the BARA team constructed a series of post tension (PT) walls in order to keep the building structurally sound. The team spent a tremendous amount of time on the logistics and Story continues on page 3 Page 1

2 Building the Walls of Parkland: BARA Pushes the Limits on Post Tension At the new Parkland Hospital, the joint venture team of Balfour Beatty Construction, Austin Commercial, H.J. Russell & Company and Azteca Enterprises (BARA) is constructing a series of post tension (PT) walls that will provide support for areas of the hospital that will span nearly 300 feet. This PT support load begins at level 10 of the main Acute Care portion of the hospital and continues up to the roof. Although PT walls are rarely used in building construction, BARA accepted the challenge to facilitate the architect s design, adding yet another visual and intricate structure to the Dallas cityscape. The team met every two weeks for over a year and covered everything related to building the PT walls, said Sam Moses, general superintendent at BARA. The team even went to the extent of building a full-scale model to practice construction methods and predict any conflicts that could arise. We only had one shot to get it right, and we did not want to leave anything to chance, said Moses. BARA workers set rebar preparing for concrete to be poured for the post tension walls. The BARA team recently released the support scaffolding from the unsupported areas of the building and the PT walls are complete. It was a fulfilling moment for our team. The wall is now selfsupporting and we are very pleased with the results, Moses said. We poured over 13 million pounds of concrete for these walls alone, says Moses. It really shows what this team is capable of and we are proud to be part of these milestones. Want more information about construction on the new Parkland Hospital? View newsletters and upcoming Register as a vendor Explore M/WBE Sign up to recieve information regarding BARA and the new Parkland Hospital Find contact information Visit Page 2

3 BARA M/WBE SPOTLIGHT: Working Relationships & Reputation - Ace Door Ace Door & Repair, Inc. was founded in 1982 in Irving, Texas, and specializes in the production, installation and repair of custom designed commercial hollow metal and wood doors, frames, storefronts, wall cutouts and architectural hardware. Owned and operated by Johnny Gonzales, Jr., the first 20 years of Ace Door and Repair focused on installations and repairs. In 2002, they began contract work on school renovations and new construction. Ace Door & Repair utilized a long-standing relationship with Performance Door, Inc. to provide specialized skills needed for the new Parkland Hospital (NPH). Having worked alongside them for 18 years, Gonzales took advantage of his strong work history and reputation to solidify work on the new hospital. Currently, Ace Door & Repair works with both Performance Door and the Balfour Beatty Construction, (BARA) joint venture team, on supplying materials and labor for field repairs on the new Parkland Hospital. It has been a pleasure to be part of NPH and the BARA team, said Gonzales. Being a minority business has given us opportunities, and working on the new Parkland Hospital has helped us grow in the Dallas area despite current economic times. Because of their work ethic and other various projects in the area, the Dallas Business Journal recently ranked Ace Door & Repair as one of the top 50 largest minority-owned businesses in Dallas. Ace Door & Repair looks forward to finishing this project and gaining additional work beacuse of the experience with BARA and NPH. It has been a great learning experience, and we have thoroughly enjoyed the work we have done on this project, Gonzales said. We hope to work on more projects in the future in the Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) area and continue to grow as a prominent minority-owned business. In an effort to maintain a presence in the DFW area, Gonzales has dedicated himself to not only remaining at the forefront of current innovations in the hollow metal door industry, but also to continue to uphold a customer service excellence standard which has greatly contributed to the success and continual growth of the company. To remain an asset to our current and future clients, we at Ace Door & Repair, Inc. are dedicated to a continual stride to not only meet the needs of the consumer, but exceed those needs every step of the way, said Gonzales. New Parkland Hospital Construction Update: Continued from page 1 planning that went into the configuration of the PT walls to ensure that no conflict would arise when construction began. To read more detail about PT walls and their construction, please see the feature article on page 2 or click here. In the next three months of construction, the BARA team will complete concrete pours on the Acute Care Tower, have the glass installed through level 17 and bathroom pods completely stocked. The team will begin hanging drywall in the podium and by the end of next quarter will be through with level five in the WISH Tower. As construction progresses and more trades begin work on the project, BARA s participation of Minority- and Women-Owned Business Enterprises (M/WBEs) is also on the rise. To date, over 200 contracts have been executed with M/WBE firms and $71 million has been paid to M/WBE firms. M/WBE SUMMARY 200 $180 $71 contracts to M/WBE firms million currently contracted to M/WBE firms million paid to M/WBE firms to date Page 3

4 Optimizing Resources through Lean Construction Behind the scenery of concrete, cranes and carpentry, sticky notes are a hugely important tool for building the new Parkland Hospital. Colored squares of paper won t be seen on-site, but the Balfour Beatty Construction, (BARA) team members schedule the work using sticky notes every day for a method known as lean construction. Lean construction is a way of structuring work throughout a project to maximize value by minimizing waste of resources, including people, materials and time. This method of planning focuses on optimizing the entire system rather than just the individual parts. The BARA joint venture brings the lean construction process to life through pull planning. With the end goal of a completed hospital, the BARA team works backward to define major milestones and everyday work tasks. Sticky notes color-coordinated by trade visually lay out a six-week look-ahead work schedule. This plan encompasses work activities for each day during those six weeks. At any given time, there may be between four and 10 colors representing the scheduled trades and their work. Because of the size of the project, capturing all the work involved on three-inch sticky notes was initially challenging. However, honing in on major milestones helped to overcome hurdles by creating common goals. Because this is such a large project, productivity management can have a significant impact on the success of the project, explained BARA Project Engineer Kate Martin. The key to making lean construction work is in the detailed planning. Each week, the BARA team holds four pull planning meetings. Breaking down the project into multiple meetings allows the team to better manage the job as a whole. A designated facilitator is important to keep sessions running smoothly, and input from all scopes is necessary to create the most efficient schedule. Attentive and collaborative planning during these sessions pays off. Having all trades represented in one room at one time working toward one goal something of a challenge before lean construction methods is one of the biggest impacts on project scheduling. Since we have implemented our scheduling process, it has really solidified the team as a whole, said Martin. It creates interaction between the subcontractors, the field, and the office that wouldn t have necessarily occurred otherwise. While writing on sticky notes may seem low-tech, lean construction is actually a leading trend in the construction industry and one that has greatly impacted the way BARA is building the new Parkland Hospital. Pull planning will push BARA to complete the hospital on schedule, reduce resource waste and improve overall communication. BARA hopes that several of the subcontractors participating can implement elements of lean construction on future projects to achieve the same benefits. LEAN CONSTRUCTION BY THE NUMBERS pull planning meetings per week weeks scheduled at a time colors of sticky notes used average number of sticky notes per pack common goal: build the best Parkland Page 4

5 Becoming a Reality: Touring the New Parkland Hospital With construction at the new Parkland Hospital reaching its halfway point, the Balfour Beatty Construction, Austin Commercial, H.J. Russell & Co. and Azteca Enterprises (BARA) joint venture has begun conducting site tours of the grounds to help give key stakeholders to Parkland Health and Hospital System a look at the progress that has been made thus far. David Graham, project director for BARA, has been conducting regular tours of the grounds since Spring It gives the project team the opportunity to share the project with donors and potential donors. Now that the building is under construction, it is easier for the public to understand and comprehend the size and features of the building, said Graham. Although all tours are unique and are shaped by the interests of the attendees, a typical tour includes going to the upper levels and viewing the surrounding points of interest. From the eighteenth floor (the roof of the new hospital), tour attendees can see Cowboys Stadium, the University of Texas Southwest Medical Center, Las Colinas in Irving, Southern Methodist University, downtown Dallas, Love Field Airport, the Calatrava Bridge, and the North Dallas/Galleria area. They are also able to view the surrounding areas of the new hospital campus, such as the central utility plant, parking garage and general site layout. On other floors, tour attendees are shown the span and cantilever (the spatial gap where the Acute Care Tower and WISH Tower meet), a typical patient floor, the neonatal intensive care units and other public spaces, such as the lobbies and dining areas. Most enjoy getting to see the building under construction so that they can begin to understand what they have seen in the model, video and renderings that have been shared with them, said Graham. It is a real privilege to take people onto the site and show them the great things the new Parkland Hospital has in store for the citizens of Dallas County. For general inquiries, to receive newsletters or for M/WBE assistance: Kelly Daum BARA Project Director David Graham leading a tour for retired Parkland Health & Hospital System employees. CONTACT US For specific project information: Pleas Mitchell Click here to read new Parkland Hospital s feature in ENR: Texas & Louisiana magazine. M/WBE & Communications Manager kdaum@buildingparkland.com Project Controls Director pmitchell@buildingparkland.com Page 5