|
|
New Children's Memorial Hospital is no "kids' stuff" to piping contractor
By Don Doherty
2 Cranes Needed
On this sunny and cool Saturday in March, a crew of 8 pipe fitters is on hand to set boilers in the northwest section of the upper mechanical room. If the weather permitted, they hoped at least to install two of the four 50,000-pound Cleaver Brooks boilers. By noon they had already gotten three of the boilers into the building, helped by clear, bright skies and virtually no breeze (an unusual combination, in any season, near the "Windy City's" shoreline with Lake Michigan).
Both tower cranes were needed to get the boilers into position, since the flatbed trucks could only unload on the building's south side. This afternoon's fourth and final lift followed the same routine. Upon clearing the roofline, the south tower crane operator set the boiler down on a spot near the roof 's center that was able to handle its weight. There the 3-person crew switched the rigging to the north crane. Handling things on the roof were pipe fitter foreman Dave Fox and Kristen Culen, a 3rd-year apprentice, both members of Chicago Pipe Fitters Local 597, UA. Accompanying them with the critical lift was Mike Kerr, an ironworker with Chicago's Local 1.
When airborne again, the north crane lowered the boiler over the temporary roof opening, where the ground crew guided it through the narrow hole. Below them another crew used air skates and tank rollers to slide the 25-ton mammoth onto its concrete pad. Since the last boiler's pad was close to the opening, they leave half the rigging in place so the tower crane, operator could help nudge it forward onto the pad.
With all the boilers inside the mechanical room, Winter said they can now turn their attention to lifting the building's 6 chillers through the same opening. It is scheduled for the following Wednesday; however, the forecast is for rain.
Once the upper mechanical room has all its large components in place, the two 5,000-pound steel doors will be rolled into place and welded over the roof opening. The tower cranes, no longer needed, will be disassembled and removed. |
Boiler number 4 clears the 24-storey roofline. From here it is set temporarily and switched to another crane, which will lower it through an opening in the roof.
|
The Best Becomes Better
The current Children's Memorial Hospital, located on Chicago's north side, has earned a reputation as a top provider of pediatric care throughout the region. It ranks number one in Illinois for a variety of children's care specialties. It is a recent recipient of the prestigious national Magnet Award for nursing excellence, earned by only 6 percent of the nation's hospitals. In 2009, its 1,100 pediatric specialists treated more than 140,000 children, who arrived from every state in the U.S. and 36 foreign countries.
Children's Memorial hopes to raise the bar with the opening of its brand new facility, which will join the cluster of other hospitals already here and affiliated with Loyola and Northwestern Universities. It will be possible thanks, in no small measure, to a generous $100 million pledge by Ann Lurie, one of the city's premier benefactors.
|
|
