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Completion 8: St. Luke's Medical Center Patient Tower and Heart Care Center
Cost: $187 million
St. Luke's Medical Center's Patient Tower
and Heart Care Center in Milwaukee straddles a multi-level
parking garage, and the first floor is seven stories up. The
addition connects to the existing hospital.
The parking structure had to remain in place and functional
throughout construction, and the new construction had to be
tailored for future expansion.
The idea arose of building the eight-story, 427,000-sq.-ft.
addition above and beside the garage while remaining structurally
independent of it. A total of 33 caissons support the new
structure, 14 of which pass through the garage without touching.
The parking structure remained three-quarters open during
the caisson work.
Five shear towers above grade give the addition stability.
Four 32-ft.-deep steel trusses span up to 133 ft. over the
parking structure and transfer the load of the addition to
the caissons. The trusses, which were imported from Europe,
are massive: 1,500 to 2,000 lbs. per ft.
The truss connections are equally massive, some as big as
8 ft. by 10 ft., with the largest containing more than 300
1-in.-diameter, extra-high-strength bolts.
Reducing Vibrations
The caissons had to remain independent of the parking structure
for a number of reasons.
Vibrations transmitted from the parking structure to a cardiac
surgery unit above, for example, could be disastrous.
Besides vibrations from cars, there were possible vibration
sources in the ground beneath the structure, from nearby roads
and from the mechanical equipment in the new structure, which
is located on the floor below the surgery unit.
The caissons reach down about 100 ft. to bedrock, eliminating
most ground vibrations. But vibrations generated within the
new structure could still pose a problem.
Because pipes and ducts could not be hung directly under the
beams supporting the operating tables, another structure was
designed that goes up within a few inches of the floor structure
to hold the mechanical equipment.
The building's skin had to withstand moisture. A building
mock-up was constructed to simulate all the material and procedures
used in construction.
Out of these sessions came the comprehensive Enclosure Quality
Management training and monitoring program and strict Internal
Air Quality requirements.
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Key
Players
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Owner:
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Aurora Health Care/St. Luke's Medical Center, Milwaukee
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General Contractor:
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Oscar J. Boldt Construction Co., Appleton, Wis.
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Architect of Record:
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Kahler Slater Architects Inc., Milwaukee, in association
with Brubaker Architects Inc., Chicago
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Structural and Civil Engineer:
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Graef Anhalt Schloemer and Associates Inc., Milwaukee
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HVAC:
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Grunau Co. Inc., Oak Creek, Wis.
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Plumbing and Fire Protection:
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Wenninger Co., Waukesha, Wis.
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Steel Erection:
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Area Erectors Inc., Rockford, Ill.
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Concrete:
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Meyer Material Co., McHenry, Ill.
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