Contractormag 1981 Hospital
Contractormag 1981 Hospital
Contractormag 1981 Hospital
Contractormag 1981 Hospital
Contractormag 1981 Hospital

Copper installation the right choice at Children’s Hospital

Sept. 5, 2014
On the recommendation of CDA, the hospital opted to go with a copper piping system.  Copper tube, of various sizes, is now being installed for domestic water service, HVAC systems, as well as for medical gas distribution.   The plumbing modules for the bathrooms and medical gas system were prefabbed off-site.

WILMINGTON, DEL. — Slated to open next month, the 425,000-sq.ft., five-story, 192-bed Nemours/A.I. duPont Hospital for Children expansion is an impressive example of how design/build team collaboration is key to the success of any installation.

The first floor of the building will contain a new emergency department, atrium and retail and dining facility. The second through fifth floors each contain two wings of 24 inpatient beds. The second floor contains 32 beds of critical care PICU beds and 16 beds of step-down and med-surg beds.

The project design team was able to pre-fabricate the plumbing modules for the bathrooms and medical gas system offsite in a warehouse.

The new building is connected to the existing facility with a three-story connecting link. Plus, the expansion includes a 108,000-sq.ft., 188-car ground-level parking garage below the new addition.

The Skanska USA construction and development team set up a 40,000-sq.ft. pre-fabrication facility a few miles from the jobsite where bathroom pods, patient room headwalls, mechanical racks and nurse workstations were assembled. Another key factor in this project had been building information modeling (BIM) and iPads running BIM 360 Field software.

The project design team was able to pre-fabricate the plumbing modules for the bathrooms and medical gas system offsite in a warehouse just 10 miles away.

This aided in expediting the project. Using a series of rack systems, the piping was transported to the site, once it was ready to be installed.

However, the $215 million expansion project didn’t come with its unique set of challenges along the way. The semi-circular design required a large diameter piping system — which included plumbing, HVAC and gas distribution — that was lightweight, malleable and relatively easy to work with.

Originally spec’d for black steel pipe, the team of Binsky & Snyder Mechanical Contractors, Skanska USA and AEI Engineers consulted with the Copper Development Association (CDA) for a piping alternative.

“We got a call from the engineer on the project asking about bending copper tube in sizes up to 2 ½” and 3” so that they could have it wrap around two football-shaped additions,” said Dale Powell, project manager and piping application specialist for CDA. “Following discussions with the engineer and installing mechanical contractor, it was determined that the amount of bend required would be well within the limits for copper tube and could easily be accomplished by several local pipe bending companies.”

On the recommendation of CDA, the hospital opted to go with a copper piping system. Copper tube, of various sizes, is now being installed for domestic water service, HVAC systems, as well as for medical gas distribution. 

“The advantages of copper were attractive,” said Powell. “It is much easier to bend, much lighter, and all fire codes are met with copper.”

Using modular construction techniques — including mechanically formed extruded outlets which effectively reduce the number of tee fittings and soldered or brazed joints needed — CDA was able to assist the engineering team in creating curved copper tube assemblies to meet the project’s design and ensure its functionality. As a result, the entire large-diameter piping work was done using copper.

By applying this type of joining technique, they were able to work faster and more efficiently, providing a much better installation at a lower system cost, despite material prices being higher, said Michael Duffy, project manager for Binsky & Snyder.

“Given the radius of the building, the bending required and the weight of the piping, it was much easier for us to work with copper,” added Duffy. 

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