CASE STUDY: Silver Cross Hospital Site Electrical Replacement Project
Location
New Lenox, IL
Key Stakeholders
Silver Cross Hospital
Mortenson Construction
Hy-Power Electric
Scope of Work
Intren, working as a subcontractor to Mortenson Construction, was contracted directly to Hy-Power Electric. Included in Intren’s contract:
- Concrete encased primary electric utility ductbank system with manholes and transformer pads
- Temporary primary voltage electric service to the hospital building
- Non-encased telecommunications ductbank and junction boxes
- Decorative roadway lighting
- Future power and irrigation sleeves
- Decorative and non-decorative site lighting
- Decorative pathway/walkway lighting
Unusual Challenges
This project began with schedule constraints. There was only a small window of time to install the primary electric ductbank and manholes in order to meet the completion date as specified in the hospital’s agreement with ComEd.
Portions of the site were very wet because of rain, and the drainage system had not been completed/installed, necessitating undercuts to dry out those areas. The medical office building portion and the Clinton Road portion, involving roadway lighting, were included in some of those areas. The undercuts created schedule delays. After those areas were properly dried, much of the underground and hard surface work needed to be completed all at once so that the contractual completion date could be met.
Very late in the planning stages, the owner chose to install alternate site lighting fixtures. The pole specifications and pole foundation requirements changed with this decision. As a result, the pole foundations could not be installed as scheduled, also delaying the progression of the hard surface work.
Creative Solutions
Intren foreman were proactive, attending daily subcontractor meetings with the Mortenson Construction site superintendents and the other subcontractors to coordinate and facilitate the contracted scope of work as the project progressed through phases of construction. Crew sizes were increased and additional pieces of equipment were brought to the site so that increased daily production goals could be reached while still staying within financial budgets. Pre-cast concrete pole foundations were proposed and installed as a way to meet the installation schedule. These allowed for more foundations to be installed in a much shorter period of time.
Project Start Date
January 2009
Project Completion
Fall 2010
