University of Wisconsin Hospital
and Clinics Ambulatory Services Addition

Cullen tackles UW Hospital's challenges

By Rebecca R. Konya

Crews often received little more than 10 minutes notice of emergency helicopter arrivals during construction of the new ambulatory services addition for the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics in Madison.

With the construction site located adjacent to the hospital's MedFlight landing pad, flight crews had to alert the crane operator to clear the airspace quickly, which meant swinging a 200-foot crane boom in toward the building.

"It got dicey at times, especially when we had a load on the end of the line," said Bob Klaas, the project's manager for J.P. Cullen & Sons Inc. "We had to be ready at a moment's notice."

To keep the boom safely out of the way of helicopter traffic at night, Cullen purchased a luffing jib — essentially a knuckle joint that bends the crane boom over so its tip rests on the ground.

The 90,000-square-foot addition, completed in January 2003, houses the hospital's Comprehensive Cancer Center, Women's Breast Imaging Center and Radiology Department. Comprised of three modules on the hospital's west side, the project also was designed to accommodate future expansion.

Building on to a functioning hospital typically presents several logistical challenges, including the need to constantly monitor and control exhaust emissions to prevent unnecessary fumes from entering the hospital's ventilation system. But the UW Hospital ambulatory services addition also threw Cullen a few curve balls.

Not only was the construction site located near the MedFlight landing pad, but the main access road to the hospital's loading dock ran right through the site as well.

And on top of that, the Wisconsin Department of Corrections transported 30 to 40 prisoners through the site on a daily basis for medical treatment.

"This was a very challenging site," Klaas said.

With 150 to 175 deliveries per day for the hospital and its outpatient clinics, the service road had to remain open at all times. Initially, Cullen built a temporary road for trucks while construction crews relocated utilities. Throughout the remainder of the project, flagmen routed construction traffic and helped keep the service road clear for deliveries.

	Project name: University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics Ambulatory Services Addition Location: Madison Submitting Company: J.P. Cullen & Sons Inc., Janesville General Contractor/Construction Manager: J.P. Cullen & Sons Inc. Architect: HLM, Iowa City, Iowa Engineer: HLM for structural, mechanical and electrical engineering Owner: UW Health Project Cost: $23 million Start Date: March 2001 Completion Date: January 2003

The daily passage of prisoners through the construction site required a more sensitive solution. For security reasons, crews took daily inventory to account for every tool, nail and screw — anything that could be used as a weapon.

"The concern was that if a tool was lost, does that mean a prisoner has it?" Klaas said. "We had to make sure that at the end of every day, nothing was left out that a prisoner could get his hands on."

But before any site work could begin, crews had to clear underground utilities from the footprints of the new addition. At the same time, all utility service to the hospital had to continue uninterrupted throughout construction. Even steam lines had to remain live.

Despite a long list of challenges, the completed addition has enabled the hospital to continue its commitment to delivering state-of-the-art patient care.