How engineering experience and creative thinking helped flush out innovative solutions for Women and Children’s Health Center

Client

University Health System (UHS)

Location

San Antonio, TX

Challenge

University Health Services selected Terracon based on our qualifications to provide special inspections and materials testing services for the new construction of a 302-bed, 12-story 600,000-square-foot tower hospital building. It includes two emergency rooms, a neonatal intensive care unit with a six-story, 900-space parking garage, and an additional shell space for future growth. The tower also includes a dedicated OB/GYN emergency department, private delivery suites, a Level 4 maternity care center, and a Level 4 neonatal intensive care unit.

As the project started, the contractor encountered some earthwork challenges during the parking garage foundation installations.

During the drill pier installation for the tower side of the building, voids were encountered on the walls of the pier excavation which led to water logging in the pier excavation. In addition, the voids had to be evaluated for karst features.

Solution

In collaboration with the design team and contractor, Terracon was able to provide engineering recommendations. While we were not the geotechnical engineer of record for this project, one of our department managers was on the job site, evaluated the earthwork issues, and gave the construction team recommendations and direction for earthwork issues.

For the drilled pier concerns, our team provided an innovative idea to be able to repurpose a borehole camera for data collection purposes at the bottom of the drilled shaft walls.

Once the camera was lowered down into the pier, the side walls could be evaluated in their current condition, identify the scope of the void, and evaluate the sloughing.

The building structure consists of slab on grade, with column loads supported by drilled piers, and post-tensioned elevated decks with concrete shear walls. Site work included utility trench backfill, miscellaneous flatwork, sidewalks, and testing and observations for a soldier pile retaining wall system with soil nails.

Results

Materials testing services provided consisted of the following:

• Earthwork Observation/Testing 
• Reinforcing Steel Observation 
• Post-Tensioning Observation 
• On-Site Concrete Observation/Testing 
• Drilled Piers Observation 
• Floor Flatness/Levelness 
• Spray Applied Fireproofing (SFRM) Observation/Testing 
• Through Penetration Fire Stopping Observation 
• Structural Masonry Observation/Testing 
• Structural Steel Observation/Testing

Terracon also performed vibration and noise monitoring of the existing adjacent hospital which remained in operation during the construction.  

Working closely with UHS and the program manager, The Broaddus Companies, Terracon was able to implement the following cost-saving methods:

• Maturity meters – expedited services to the contractor to help accelerate the schedule.  
• Rounding out the staffing resource pool with employees trained in multiple tasks to minimize the number of people needed to complete the work. Versatile staffing helps keep the work moving in the face of any worker shortages.  
• Familiarity with special inspection requirements to avoid lengthy delays during closeout.
• Navigating a high-profile project with many people scrutinizing whenever testing issues arose. The City of San Antonio had an onsite office for constant check-ins to ensure project inspection conformance. Terracon delivered on all safety and schedule expectations while maintaining high quality standards during construction.

With these methods, we came in $600,000 under the projected budget.

The collaboration with the management firm went so well, they have referred us to multiple other health care projects.

“They were really happy to have worked with us,” said project manager Eliud Gutierrez. “They were more than willing to come back and work with us again.”