Advanced technologies being applied to construction of the new Mills-Peninsula hospital in Burlingame are expected to make the building process more efficient and cost-effective and make the new hospital safe in an earthquake up to a magnitude of at least 8.0.

Installation of a relatively new earthquake safety technology called base isolation -- which works by separating the movement of the structure from the movement of the ground -- began at the new hospital construction site Aug. 8, 2007. Additionally, for the first time construction supervisors publicly demonstrated the project's I-room, which contains a wall-size "smart screen" computer display for viewing and modifying 3D construction plans.

Members of the press were invited to observe the base isolation installation and learn about cutting edge Building Information Modeling (BIM) technologies being used on a new California hospital for the first time.

"Earthquakes generate strong forces that show up as strong lateral acceleration of the building," said Oren Reinbolt, project manager for the new hospital. "Building codes require California hospitals to be exceptionally strong, and most of the resultant structures are usually quite stiff. Unfortunately, strong lateral acceleration at the ground can magnify the problem at the roof, sometimes generating twice the acceleration at the upper levels of the building."

The key components of the selected base isolation system, called friction pendulum bearings, are manufactured by Earthquake Protection Systems Inc. at Mare Island in Vallejo. These bearings are positioned between the foundation and the columns in the building. When an earthquake hits, the building slides on the bearings in a gentle pendulum motion. The ground beneath may move violently, but it is independent of the building.

"We are the first hospital in California to use friction pendulum bearings," Reinbolt said. He notes that the technology has been used on other strategic Bay Area structures such as the International Terminal at the San Francisco International Airport and the new Benicia-Martinez Bridge.

Mills-Peninsula's new hospital also is breaking new ground in the construction technology used to build the facility.

Construction professionals from mechanical to electrical contractors have been using 3D programs for some time to model their individual trade's plans. The BIM for the new Mills-Peninsula hospital is the first to merge the plans of designers and every contracting profession to generate a 3D image of the entire project.

The benefits of using BIM in this way, include:

• Helps avoid clashes between the trades. For example, if air vents and fire sprinklers collide in the plans, the error will be caught in the design stage on the computer well before installation in the field.
  
  
• Saves labor in the field, because plans can be viewed online. Tradesmen's inspections and measurements can be made in the office and pieces manufactured more efficiently at the contractor's work place, instead of at the construction site.
  
  
• Assists in visualizing future scenarios, such as the amount of space base isolators may move in an earthquake.
  
  
• Achieves significant time and cost savings.

Located less than two miles from the San Andreas fault, Mills-Peninsula's new hospital will not only survive an earthquake, it will remain operational with minimal or no damage and disruption thanks to 176 isolators installed at the base of the building.

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