Fun Fact

Did you know the footprint of the new hospital is more than two football fields long?

The footprint of the new facility is about 121,955 square feet, which can hold about 1,140 mini-vans. If you total all six-floors, the new hospital will be about 730,000 square feet, which can hold about 6,822 mini-vans. 

The Brief

Second Crane
The campus skyline has changed again with the assembly of West Park’s second crane earlier this month. The second crane is the tallest of three cranes that will help build West Park’s new hospital. Situated by the former main entrance, the second crane stands at over 250 feet (about 24 storeys) high with the capacity to lift over 40,000 lbs or about 28 elephants. 

The new hospital can generally be split into two parts — the inpatient and outpatient area. The inpatient area is on the west side of the construction zone, or the area closest to the Ruddy Building. The inpatient area can be split further into north (location of the first crane in front of the Ruddy) and south (location of the second crane by the Main Building). The third crane will be located in the outpatient area, which is surrounded by the Gage Building, two-storey EllisDon trailer and Buttonwood Ave.  The third and final crane will arrive in the coming weeks.

Shoring and Excavation in the Outpatient Area
Shoring walls continue to be built to enable excavation in the outpatient area. Those with a keen eye will notice excavation is deeper in the outpatient area than the inpatient areas. That’s because three levels of underground parking will be located beneath the outpatient area. The new hospital will offer patients, staff and visitors a combination of surface and underground parking. After the new hospital opens in 2023, the Gage Building will be demolished and become the location of the main surface parking lot. 

Footings, Columns and Walls
In front of the Ruddy and Long-Term Care Centre, EllisDon continue to pour concrete footings for the north inpatient area. The footings support the foundation of the new building and prevent it from “settling” (sinking into the ground). This month, construction workers began pouring concrete walls and columns that will rise from the footings and make its way up to the top of the new six-storey hospital. 

Stairwell No. 9
Almost at the centre of the construction zone is a rectangular structure rising above the columns around it. This is stairwell number nine, located in the inpatient area but is an excellent marker that can divide the building between inpatient and outpatient areas.

To help observers orient themselves to the construction site, the brown rectangular structure in the photo (which has since turned grey/white) is Stairwell No. 9, which can act as a general divider between the inpatient and outpatient areas.

Path to Underground Tunnel
Construction crews began pouring concrete floor slabs and walls to create a path from the new hospital to the underground tunnel that will lead to the Long-Term Care Centre.

Copper Wires and Underground Services
Construction workers have begun laying down drainage pipes and other underground services for the new hospital. They have even begun laying down copper cables that will eventually connect to lightning rods on the roof, allowing lightning strikes to travel safely to the ground without damaging the structure of the building.

See the Action

Photo Gallery
Video: Workers secure the crane’s slewing ring (22 sec)
Video: Mobile crane lifts the tower top (1 min 22)
Video: Excavation in the Outpatient Area (25 sec)
Video: Crane pours concrete into a column (17 sec)