Putting the project in perspective
1/30/2009
While construction on the new campus began in spring 2008, it was in November when the new Elmhurst Memorial Hospital started to become more real. That's when the structural steel began forming the 866,000-square-foot building.
For an idea of the magnitude of this project, consider a few of these facts:
- When complete, the new Hospital will have about 15,000,000 pounds (or 7,500 tons) of steel. That's comparable to the weight of more than 4,200 full-size automobiles.
- To get to this point, we first had to dig a deep foundation system, which required drilling a series of auger cast piles into bedrock from the foot of the building. The total amount of drilling for these piles was 69,200 feet, which equates to drilling the height of the Sears Tower — 40 times.
- We expect the steel work to continue into spring 2009, at which time the exterior enclosure work will begin. The Prairie-style architecture of the building will incorporate approximately 1,180,000 bricks. If we placed all of the bricks end-to-end, they would cover 150 miles.
- The welcoming environment will also include extensive use of natural light, as evidenced by the more than 60,000 square feet of windows that will be placed in the building.
- There will be a total of about 1.7 million man hours put into this project from start of construction to the grand opening.
About the Author
- Kyle Bauer
Public Relations Coordinator
630-993-5702