Massive concrete pours start at Christchurch Hospital
July 24, 2015

Massive concrete pours start this weekend at the Acute Services building, Christchurch Hospital

Christchurch Hospital’s new Acute Services Building site is being prepped for the first of eight massive concrete foundation pours.

The first pour starts just after 1am tomorrow, Saturday, 25 July, with 1200 m3 of concrete laid to a depth of one metre.

David Meates, Canterbury DHB chief executive says the pour will swallow up 300 truck-loads of concrete over eight hours of continuous delivery and pumping.

“All is tracking well for the first pour on Saturday, which is enough to fill 7500 standard bathtubs – quite remarkable when you think of it that way,” Mr Meates says.

It will then take another day and a half to smooth and level the concrete.

“Each of the eight concrete pours will be done over a weekend to minimise disruption to the hospital,” Mr Meates says.

“One of the later pours will make the record books as the largest continuous concrete pour by a single contractor ever undertaken in the South Island.

“In total, some 15,710 m3 – or just over six Olympic swimming pools worth of concrete, will form the foundations of the new building, together with more than 2,300 tonnes of reinforcing steel.”
Mr Meates says it will be exciting to see the building start taking shape once the foundation works are complete.

Fletchers Construction won the tender for the foundation and workers have been busy on site since June, laying damp-proof geomembranes, tying reinforcing steel and constructing the building’s lift-shaft pits.

Having also worked on the large concrete pours at the Justice Precinct, the Fletchers team has been quick to apply their learnings to this new project.

Acute Services building – Fast Facts
Area of all floors of the new ASB is approx. 62,000m2
The ASB footprint is 10,450m2
15,710 m3 of concrete will be laid over eight pours
There will be 2300 tonnes of reinforcing steel in the foundations
When complete, the Acute Services Building will have:
base-isolation seismic protection, built to IL4 standard (Importance Level 4, 180% of the building code).
additional operating theatres,
around 400 beds, including purpose-designed spaces for children,
an expanded intensive care unit,
state-of-the-art radiology department,
an emergency department, and
a rooftop helipad.

ends

© Scoop Media