Your company has been awarded a contract for 5-story addition on top of an existing 10-story...

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Mechanical Engineering

Your company has been awarded a contract for 5-story addition ontop of an existing 10-story hospital tower at a Cancer Centerlocated in one of the most populated areas of Dallas, Texas. Theexisting hospital building is beyond 100% occupancy. The companywas hired under a design-build contract to complete the $220million project. Wind-load testing will be conducted. Thewind-resisting system will be modified to redistribute loads on themat foundation. High-strength concrete will be utilized for theaddition's floors and columns (to reduce the load). The newmechanical level will be relocated from an upper floor to the floorjust above the hospital's existing roof level. Glass fiberreinforced concrete cladding matching the original building'sprecast concrete faÃ§ade (but at about one-quarter the weight) isspecified in the design. The duration of the project isthree-year.
Can you guys help me find the mechanical and electrical systemhazards in this problem?!
And what would be the control strategies for them.

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3.9 Ratings (620 Votes)

LESSONS FROM THE BUILDING TEAM1 Get the heck out of the wayPlan outexactly when and where youre going to be performing work and makesure the hospital knows all those details says SSOEsSeibenaller The team planned the fourphase program with precisionso as to minimize disruptions to hospital functions Its like agame of checkers adds Eric Murrell CCS CSA senior associatewith SSOE Group The strategy has the Building Team in and out ofthe hospital and staff always knows their next 10 moves2 Assume there will be emergencies and plan forthemEstablish protocols and points of contact upfront sohospital staff know whom they can call says Murrell Witheverything working as it should stoppage should be withinminutes On this project demolition and construction work nearthe hospitals MRI interfered with its use so the team had tointerrupt its work a few times as a result of emergencies3 Be prepared for the unknown inside thebuilding As is often the case in older buildings theBuilding Team is finding that the existing hospitals mechanicalsand utilities simply are not located where theyre supposed to beWere playing cat and mouse with the utilities says MurrellPipes and wires were reworked during previous additions andrenovations Not everything is the way we expected it to be butthats to be expected he says4 Use BIM but dont assume its a cureallRevit was critical to the success of this project and allowed usto compress the schedule says Siebenaller But BIM is not apanacea Siebenaller says Revits MEP tools were not up to thelevel of its architectural tools at the time Moreover heacknowledges that not enough people on the team were trained in theMEP tools The Building Team restricted the use of BIM to theadditions not to any work on the existing hospital whoseconstruction predated BIMUNIVERSITY OF TEXAS MD ANDERSON CANCER CENTER HOUSTONThe MD Anderson Cancer Center is one of the nationshighestrated hospitals for cancer care which is the main reasonwhy this worldclass facility was in desperate need of more patientbeds Were beyond 100 occupancy says Susan Lipka thehospitals associate VP for capital planning and managementservicesFortunately the existing 12story Alkek Hospital Towercompleted in 1998 had been designed by Dallas AE firm HKS toaccommodate a 10story vertical expansion In 2007 the hospitalopted to put a See Answer

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