From IW’s The Ironworker magazine –
Note: Most of the new August edition of The Ironworker magazine is devoted to the current boom in steel reinforcing jobs across North America. It is filled with profiles of major projects underway across the continent, where rodbusters are at work, building vast facilities.
Today we post the second installment of several articles from this August 2024 edition of The Ironworker, on the Suncoast Reinforcing LLC blog. The Ironworker is an official publication of the International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental and Reinforcing Iron Workers, AFL-CIO (IW).
We hope you enjoy our continued sharing of this excellent coverage of rodbuster work in the news.
Steel Strong – The Rise of Rebar
ROD BUSTERS WORK TO ERECT NEW TOWER IN ST. LOUIS
PENN SERVICES AND LOCAL 396 IRONWORKERS TOP OUT
Penn Services is topping out a 17-story patient care tower for Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis.
Penn Services installed 5,500 tons of reinforcement on this two-and-a-half-year project, from drilled piers and grade beams to columns, shear walls and decks.
A complex job from logistics to installation, McCarthy Building Companies, the design-build contractor, Penn Services “subcontractor,” and their Local 396 ironworkers were up for the challenge.
Of the 17 floors on the design-build project, only four are identical — ironworkers from Penn Services faced many challenges on constant change. The project had no laydown area “boneyard” and with its tight quarters, all steel had to be strategically delivered and installed precisely.
Drilled piers and columns had to be built at Penn Services’ yard and shipped on-site for installation. Most of the 113 piers’ dimensions were 5-foot diameter and 50-foot length.
Columns had several different design changes throughout the tower — moment frame columns mainly consisting of 20 #11 bars with a dog-leg bend.
Floors 0 to 15 were placed in three to four pours. The day after each pour, Penn Services had its columns on-site first thing.
The Local 396 ironworkers would go straight into setting with the tower crane. The ironworkers would set columns, and the McCarthy Concrete team would pour all of them the following morning.
A fast-paced job with zero downtime between transitions on all floors, zero recordable injuries and zero lost time was achieved — a high accomplishment in a job of this caliber.
Penn Services has been installing reinforcement since 2019 on many large-scale projects out of Local 396. Throughout the duration of the patient care tower project at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, the average number of ironworkers ranged from 16 to 20.
The 660,000-square-foot tower will include 224 private inpatient rooms (32 rooms on seven floors) and 56 private intensive care unit (ICU) rooms (28 rooms on two floors), many with expansive views of Forest Park.
Two floors of state-of-the-art radiology and two floors of surgical prep and recovery are also part of the new tower.
Two rooftop gardens will provide patients, families and staff access to fresh air and respite, and a spacious family lounge will bring new amenities to the south end of the academic hospital campus, including a business center, kitchenette, quiet rooms and laundry facilities.
Barnes-Jewish Hospital is part of BJC HealthCare, which serves the East Region of BJC Health System, one of the largest nonprofit healthcare organizations in the United States.
BJC facilities deliver extraordinary care to urban, suburban and rural communities in greater St. Louis, southern Illinois and southeast Missouri, as well as to people from across the country and around the world at its academic hospitals Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children’s Hospitals.
BJC’s nationally recognized academic hospitals are affiliated with the Washington University School of Medicine.
BUILDING THE FUTURE IN ANN ARBOR
THE VANGUARD PROJECT: FOUNDATION STEEL at the UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
Amidst the bustling cityscape and vibrant college campus of the University of Michigan, a towering marvel is taking shape: The Vanguard. The mixed-use high-rise project, a testament to innovation and collaboration, is poised to redefine luxury living and hospitality in the heart of the city.
Construction of The Vanguard has been a feat of engineering and logistical prowess. Foundation Steel, in partnership with union ironworkers, has orchestrated the installation of over 1,300 tons of reinforcing steel, 5,566 pieces of shear rails and 198,000 pounds of post tensioning, laying the groundwork for a structure that stands as a beacon of modernity.
Foundation Steel has been a union contractor since 2010, employing 81 ironworkers on the project with 24,030 safe work hours on time and on budget.
The project’s challenges were as towering as the building itself. A tight postage stamp site, flanked by the city’s dynamic energy and the bustling campus life, posed logistical and scheduling hurdles at every turn. Yet, the project has emerged as a resounding success through meticulous planning and unwavering determination.
One of the defining features of The Vanguard is its 188 Autograph Collection hotel rooms, full-service restaurant and bar, 3,000 square feet of retail space on the first floor, as well as 15,000 square feet of banquet and meeting space.
Addressing the area’s parking needs with foresight and ingenuity, The Vanguard boasts four levels of below-grade parking, ensuring seamless accessibility for residents, guests and shoppers.
Situated mere blocks away from the University of Michigan Main Campus and directly across from the U of M Medical Center, The Vanguard is not just a building — it’s a cornerstone of the community.
Its significance is magnified by being the second hotel developed in the area in over three decades, a testament to its enduring impact on the local landscape.
In addition to its towering presence, Foundation Steel’s contributions extend beyond the building itself.
Their involvement in the Earth retention system, including cap and retaining beam installation, drilling, doweling, and mesh hanging for shotcrete operations, underscores their integral role in bringing The Vanguard to fruition.
As construction presses onward and anticipation mounts, The Vanguard stands as a symbol of progress and possibility.
THE IRONWORKER magazine photos
(Top block): Ironworkers with Penn Services work to build a new 17-story patient care tower for the Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis.
(Lower block): Ironworkers with Foundation Steel work to construct The Vanguard on the campus of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. A mixed-use, high-rise, The Vanguard will include 188 hotel rooms, full-service restaurant and bar, 3,000 square feet of retail space on the first floor, and 15,000 square feet of banquet and meeting space.
Look for our final installment of sharing current reinforcing project coverage and photos from The Ironworker Aug. 16, in Suncoast Reinforcing’s Industry News Blog.
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