Integrated Concrete Mix Marks Rancho Springs Medical Center Expansion

Sept. 28, 2010

Structural steel and concrete columns have been erected for the 72,000-square-foot expansion of the Women's Center emergency room at Rancho Springs Medical Center, located at 25500 Medical Center Drive in Murrieta, Calif. McCarthy Building Companies is providing general contracting services for the project.

Structural steel and concrete columns have been erected for the 72,000-square-foot expansion of the Women's Center emergency room at Rancho Springs Medical Center, located at 25500 Medical Center Drive in Murrieta, Calif. McCarthy Building Companies is providing general contracting services for the project.

The scope of work for McCarthy includes construction of one two-story, cast-in-place concrete building with stud framing, plaster exteriors, and punched windows. The firm also is performing site improvements for 5.5 acres at the property, including construction of a 252-space parking lot with associated site improvements. Construction is scheduled for completion in early 2008.

According to McCarthy Project Manager John Metoyer, the emergency room project is especially unique, as it integrates a 9,000-psi high strength concrete mix for the structural columns into the 5,000-psi structural deck concrete with no cold joints.

Placing the 9,000-psi concrete posed a significant challenge to the McCarthy team because it cures much faster than the 5,000-psi mix being used for the decks. To bring together the different concrete mix designs, the concrete crew had to carefully coordinate and time the delivery of the 9000-psi mix design so that the two mixes could be blended where the concrete deck and columns join.

McCarthy constructed mock-ups of the column-to-deck connections to determine the best sequence and method of placement. Other challenges for the McCarthy team included securing tie-in corridors to avoid disruption of the campus and maintaining infection control protocol.

HKS Architects of Dallas is serving as the project architect and structural engineer. Hunter Associates Texas LTD, a TRC Company based in Dallas, is the civil engineer, and CCRD Partners of Dallas is the electrical and mechanical engineer. San Diego-based KTU+A Landscape Architecture & Planning is the landscape architect.