Cindy RileyCEG CORRESPONDENT

Phase two of a $74 million small ani-mal teaching hospital project is underway in Auburn, Ala. The 266,052 sq. ft.(24,717 sq m) addition will include a208,000 sq. ft. (19,323.8 sq m) replace-ment hospital, a 34,079 sq. ft. (3,166 sqm) classroom addition, a 5,810 sq. ft.(539.8 sq m) research lab and an 18,163sq. ft. (1,687.4 sq m) renovation to theexisting classroom facility. The goal wasto build a hospital that would accommo-date growth for the next three to fourdecades. “The new hospital will include an

enclosed dog park and designated unitsfor each type of hospital service,” saidJosh Kirkland, project manager of theBirmingham-based contractor Brasfield& Gorrie. “ Each will include an examroom, a treatment room and a seminar

room for student discussion. Supportservices such as diagnostic imaging, phar-macy, radiology, clinical pathology andcritical care will also be included.Surgeons have designed a second floorwing with a central sterile court for allsurgeries.”The Wilford and Kate Bailey Small

Animal Teaching Hospital was designedto transform the Auburn veterinary cam-pus into a place that combines educationand clinical research with the latest in ani-mal health care delivery. Focused ondiagnostics and procedures only availableat the level of practice associated with auniversity medical center, the college willbe positioned to take full advantage of itsposition of leadership within the profes-sion and the state.The structure is adjacent to the existing

hospital on the college’s campus. Thenew facility will have clinical, examina-

Phase Two of $72M Animal Hospital Project Proceeding Well

Predicting Hurricane Intensity Remains Challenge

ALABAMA STATE EDITION A Supplement to:

Your Alabama Connection • Rich Olivier, Atlanta, GA • 1-800-409-1479

“The Nation’s Best Read Construction Newspaper… Founded in 1957.”

see HOSPITAL page 2Crews waterproof steel beams prior to precast installation.

July 242013

Vol. XXV • No. 15Mobile

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SelmaMontgomery

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By Michael Finch IIAL.COM

We’re due for a big one, some say.Every year now since 2004 and 2005 — the years of

Hurricanes Ivan, Dennis and Katrina — the Gulf Coast hasbeen “due” for a storm season worse than the year before.Now, one month into the official hurricane season, fore-

casters expect a double-digit number of storms to develop.As many as 13 to 20 named systems — storms with 39

mph winds or higher — are estimated for the coast by theNational Oceanic Atmospheric Administration this year.Three to six of those may be major hurricanes, categories

three or higher.If those numbers sound familiar, that’s because weather

experts have been predicting more active weather patternssince the mid-1990s, said Bill Williams, director of theCoastal Research Center of the University of SouthAlabama.Yet, forecasting storm intensity remains a more elusive

challenge.

That’s why you see so much leeway in the number ofmajor storms predicted, Williams said.“It’s a real problem.”The factors that determine how strong a storm will be and

where it will make landfall rests on shaky science. And theyears between major storms offers a premature glimpse intostorm outlook for the season.“Historically, every 10 years or so we’ve had a major

storm,” said Jeff Garmon, meteorologist of the NationalWeather Service in Mobile. “Unfortunately, nature is not aspredictable as that.”Weather experts look to a number of ingredients that com-

bine to make an intense tropical storm.Wind shear and surface water temperatures are among the

top factors, If not the most important indicators used,Garmon said.The rapid change in wind speed and direction that can

shear off the intensity of a hurricane and warm waters canalso increase it.Sometimes el nino occurs, when the Pacific Ocean warms

up and wind blows from west to east, weakening hurricanes

for a short period.Not this year, which helps explain the double-digit

amount of storms expected.Among the lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina is the

importance of preparation. With winds as high as 125 mph,Katrina made landfall, leaving behind a wrecked Gulf Coast.And the storm seasons since 2004 and 2005 have not yield-ed a major storm of its size or intensity.“Just because you have a minimal year,” Williams said,

cautioning residents, “it doesn’t mean you are safe from abig storm.”Last year, only one major hurricane made landfall —

Superstorm Sandy.Forecasters say the number of tropical cyclones predicted

this year does not mean each of them will reach land.From the time storm systems form over the Atlantic, the

Caribbean and the southern Gulf of Mexico there are a myr-iad of factors that influence where they go, Garmon said.“Whether we [the Gulf Coast] get a system,” he said, “is

just the luck of the draw.”(This story also can be found on Construction Equipment

Guide’s Web site at www.constructionequipmentguide.com.)

Page 2 • July 24, 2013 • www.constructionequipmentguide.com • Alabama State Supplement • Construction Equipment Guide

Brasfield & Gorrie Leads Auburn University Projecttion and client-use space. Phase One of the project began inDecember 2010 and was completed in winter 2012, withboth classroom and research facility additions. Specifically,the Phase One wing includes 34,000 sq. ft. (3,158.7 sq m) foreducational use and three new classrooms. Class size willincrease from the current 95 students to 120. Phase two began in the spring of 2012 and includes the

main hospital construction. This phase will take about twoand a half years to complete. Kirkland said the ongoing proj-ect has had its share of challenges.“The access to the existing hospital runs along the east

side of the project and has to be open 24/7, 365 days a year.This allowed only a 30-foot working area along the east ele-vation. Existing campus buildings adjacent to the project siterestricts the north side of the project. The west side of the siteis adjacent to the large animal hospital facilities, only allow-ing approximately 30 foot of working area. The south sideis restricted by Wire Road and the requirement to keep opena bike path.”According to Brasfield & Gorrie operations manager

Steve Haney, two Terex tower cranes were erected back inMay 2012, because of the tight site restrictions. “They were used for constructing the structure of the

building and will be removed by the end of May 2013,” saidHaney. “Scissor lifts are being used by virtually all trades tohandle ceiling rough-ins. Boom lifts are being utilized toinstall various components of the exterior skin, includingmetal stud framing, waterproofing and metal panels.”As the construction manager of the project, Brasfield &

Gorrie maintains eight management and supervision person-nel. Maintaining the safety of the COVM employees, stu-dents and clients as they travel between the large animal andsmall animal existing facilities has been a priority, along withassigning job responsibilities. “At the start of the project, the team ran through a two-day

LEAN course with all primes to do pull-planning. Eachprime contractor played a significant role with scheduling toget everyone to establish a plan to take ownership andaccountability. The schedule includes the entire team sittingdown for 15 minutes each day to ensure everyone remains onthe same page and on schedule. It has worked great in thissituation.”Auburn University is one of only 37 schools of veterinary

medicine in North America. This facility will have a signifi-cant impact not only in Alabama, but around the NorthernHemisphere according to Haney.Designed by Foil Wyatt Architects & Planners LLC and

Jova/Daniels/Busby Architects, the new facility will be pro-vide the latest in veterinary care and is a referral hospital tocommunities throughout Alabama and surrounding states. “Veterinary medicine continues to grow in scope based on

new research and specialties,” said Dr. Douglas Allen, thedirector of the small animal hospital. “The facilities current-ly at Auburn University’s College of Veterinary Medicine,which were built in the 1960s and 1970s, are today dated intheir function and size. The new facility will bring a newenvironment to the college. Pet owners will know their ani-mal is receiving 21st century, state-of-the-art care, and stu-dents who choose Auburn will know their education is beingprovided in first-rate facilities.”“As the practice of veterinary medicine has changed, so

has the need for new veterinarians and specialists. Auburn

HOSPITAL from page 1

Two Terex towercranes were erected

back in May 2012because of tight site

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see HOSPITAL page 6

Construction Equipment Guide • Alabama State Supplement • www.constructionequipmentguide.com • July 24, 2013 • Page 3

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Page 6 • July 24, 2013 • www.constructionequipmentguide.com • Alabama State Supplement • Construction Equipment Guide

Auburn University Project to Significantly Impact StateUniversity strives to keep pace with the needs for clinical,classroom, and research facilities that are at the core of itsteaching mission,” said Dr. William Brawner, Jr., who chairsthe Small Animal Clinic Building Committee.The new facility will allow every facet of the teaching

hospital to expand, according to Brawner. The new facilitywill be about four times larger than the current hospital.There are five surgery rooms, and there will be 10 in the newfacility. As medicine continues to become more specified,facilities need to adjust. Auburn University has more than 20specialty areas for animal treatment — from internal medi-cine, cardiology, neurology, anesthesiology, radiology andclinical pharmacology to oncology. Faculty space is neededto keep up with the technological and educational advances.The brick pre-cast with glass and metal roof structure was

designed to qualify for silver LEED status through the U.S.Green Building Council. Once the hospital is complete,Hoerlein Small Animal Clinic will be renovated into radiol-ogy and administrative offices, and construction can getunderway on the dog bone park, named because of its shape.Tuition revenue and individual and corporate donors areamong the sources of funding for the projects. Private con-tributions include a $10 million pledge from Auburn alumniJohn and Rosemary Brown. The hospital operates 24/7 and includes a community

practice, a critical care unit and a referral center. All the facil-ities remained open and accessible to the public and students.With construction beginning in January 2012 and scheduledfor completion by February 2014, maintaining a regularschedule has been something of a challenge, according to Dr.Brawner.“We had to maintain full operation and access of the hos-

pital for our clients, as well as for the educational mission ofthe college,” said Brawner. “The construction site is in themiddle of the campus, and both the architects and our con-struction partners have worked really diligently to ensure thehospital was open for patients and that our students’ educa-tion was not compromised.“Both the college and the contractors have worked dili-

gently to keep disruption to a minimum, both for clients andtheir owners and students, faculty and staff. Parking hasbeen redirected for patients entering the small animal clinic,which has proven to be a minor adjustment so far.“Brasfield & Gorrie has done a great job in accommodat-

ing our needs”, said Dr. Brawner. “They used larger cranes,when smaller ones would have been acceptable, because thesmaller ones are louder and would have scared horses andother large animals near the construction site. They havedone a lot to accommodate us and our mission.”Rabren General Contractors, headquartered in Auburn, is

one of four prime contractors on the project. “We have the general works and the concrete packages,”

said Rabren project manager Drew Brown. “The generalworks includes all interior and exterior finishes, which alsoincluded the structural steel furnish and erection. The con-crete package was the complete structural package for thefoundations up, including the slabs on metal decking. Thetotal amount of concrete is in the range of 10,000 cubicyards, with around 700 tons of reinforcing steel. The entireproject consist of a finished building of around 207,000square feet of end-user space.”The new building is scheduled for completion around

mid-January. Once the vet school occupies the new building,then the second phase will be to demolish some of the exist-ing structure, renovate, and add a pedestrian bridge from thenew building to Horlein Hall. This phase is scheduled to becomplete in August 2014.Subcontractors included in the construction are D & J

Enterprises, Bradley Plumbing and Heating, C & CMasonry of Carrollton, Ga. and Auburn ElectricalConstruction Co., Inc., (AECCI) .“Our contract time is 800 days, which means we have to

be complete by mid-July 2014; however, the main buildingis supposed to be complete in time for class to start inJanuary, said Amy Baker, project coordinator of AECCI.“There’s some other work that will follow on other parts ofthe vet school campus.”AECCI is responsible for the complete electrical scope of

work including underground distribution, power distributionequipment such as switchboards, panel boards, transformers,architectural light fixtures, surgical light fixtures, exam lightfixtures, a 600 kW emergency generator, an automatic trans-fer switch, lighting control systems, a cable tray, conduitrough-in for telecommunications, a complete fire alarm sys-tem, a complete lightning protection system and a completeCCTV system.Large equipment includes man-lifts, such as scissor and

boom for lifting men to install work, according to Baker. Alull for off-loading material and equipment from trucks, dig-ging equipment such as a backhoe and tamps, large conduitbenders for feeder pipes were used on the job. Materialsinclude all sizes of electrical conduit from ¾ in. to 4 in., bothPVC, EMT and rigid, and boxes and fittings, all sizes of wirefrom #12 for branch circuit wiring up to 500MCM for the

feeder circuits, switches, including occupancy sensors andphotocells, receptacles, equipment disconnects and floorboxes. Coordination between trades has been extremely time-

consuming, said Baker. “Hundreds of man hours are spent ensuring that your

equipment, along with piping and wiring for that equipment,won’t conflict with that of another trade. This includes coor-dination drawings which were done in 3D on this project.Another big issue is scheduling. The schedule is alwaysbeing re-evaluated and updated based on field conditions.”AECCI Project Manager Barry Preattle added, “The area

surrounding the project has full-time veterinary services, aswell as the teaching aspect. This brings clients, faculty, andstudents in close proximity to the construction area. The con-struction team is constantly aware of the need to protect thesepersons from the dangers of the construction site, as well aslimit the impact the construction has on the day-to-day activ-ities of the school.”As the oldest veterinary school in the South — and the

nation’s seventh oldest veterinarian program —AuburnUniversity College of Veterinary Medicine is considered oneof the country’s preeminent institutions for research, teach-ing, diagnostics and comprehensive medical care for bothlarge and small animals. The mission of the college is to pre-pare individuals for careers of in veterinary medicine, includ-ing private and public practice, industrial medicine, academ-ics and research. The college has 125 faculty members andcurrent enrollment of 487 DVM and graduate students.

(This story also can be found on ConstructionEquipment Guide’s Web site at www.constructionequip-mentguide.com.) CEG

Phase two of a $74 million small animal teaching hospital project is under way in Auburn, Ala.

HOSPITAL from page 2

Construction Equipment Guide • Alabama State Supplement • www.constructionequipmentguide.com • July 24, 2013 • Page 7

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