UCSD Medical Center Hillcrest Sewer Upgrade, SAN DIEGO, CA

Mechanical Construction & Plumbing System Installation

VALUE DELIVERED

Improved and expanded healthcare services for Southern California.

MECHANICAL SCOPE OF WORK

This was a three-phased effort to update the medical center's aging sewage system. UMEC replaced an existing 10-inch line with two 8-inch lines totaling more than 1,000 linear feet. In addition, UMEC installed new flooring inside the hospital kitchen, dishwashing and nuclear medicine areas. The company also installed a 10,000-gallon underground grease interceptor.

FACILITY BACKGROUND

The University of California, San Diego School of Medicine is staffed by some of the nation's finest physicians, more than 100 of whom were honored by their peers as "The Best Doctors in America." These medical professionals practice at the San Diego region's only academic medical center, UCSD Medical Center – Hillcrest. The recently renovated 440-bed hospital is the primary site for such regional services as a comprehensive organ transplant program, the Regional Burn Center, and the county's only Level 1 Trauma Center.

MECHANICAL SERVICES OBJECTIVES

To provide plumbing system installation and other contracting services necessary to update a major hospital facility.

MECHANICAL CONSTRUCTION SOLUTIONS

This mechanical construction project presented a number of challenges. First, UMEC needed to trench under an existing concrete canopy, topped by a hospital laboratory and supported by columns. To do this, UMEC engineered a phased trenching plan. Since the company couldn't undermine the canopy's support or fit large excavating equipment into the tight space, the company dug a shallow hole under the canopy with small equipment and then, from within that hole, dug two 28-foot deep trenches.

Working inside the hospital presented a further challenge. The company had to cut cement and excavate trenches in the basement without disturbing patients. This meant working only from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. and making noise only during the first three hours of the shift. Finally, this work had to be completed while controlling dust, mold, and other sources of infection. To achieve this, the crew erected and worked in tent-like poly containment areas with huge flaps. A hepa-filter system created negative pressure inside the containment areas, drawing air and any possible contaminants outside of the hospital.