By Roz Kohls
Staff Writer
Meeker County Memorial Hospital expansion project had a 1,000-yard concrete pour last Monday on the third deck of the addition at 612 S. Sibley Ave., Litchfield.
Approximately 100 trucks from Hutchinson, Willmar and New London delivered concrete during the day to the 75,000 square-foot addition. The concrete was pumped up to the third deck, where the patients’ new rooms will be in the $26.5 million project.
The existing hospital’s structural system has shallow floor-to-floor heights, not leaving much space for the mechanical, electrical and technology infrastructure, according to Ron Powell of BWBR Architects.
Also, hospital officials wanted all levels of the hospital addition to line up with the existing hospital for a seamless transition between the two parts, he said.
The 12-inch thick concrete flat slab structural system was selected to give the hospital maximum usable space above the ceiling system. The thick concrete also provides a deadening effect for sound penetrating the floor system. Good sound isolation is important for privacy concerns. Thick concrete helps with stress reduction, high building strength, and fire prevention, Powell added.
One yard of concrete weighs 2,800 pounds. So, the 1,000 yards poured last Monday weighed 1,400 tons, according to construction superintendent Brad Hackenmueller, contractor, JE Dunn Construction.
The project will include new areas for admission, gift shop, emergency room, radiology, surgery, outpatient services, inpatient rooms, patient care area, and a new weather-friendly main entrance to facilitate patient drop-offs.