New addition at Chester County Hospital calls for Superior scaffolding

Chester County Hospital in West Chester, PA is embarking on a $45.2 million building project to increase inpatient bed capacity with 72 new private rooms and to install a new, state-of-the-art linear accelerator for the treatment of cancer.

     

As part of the plan, the Chester County Hospital and Health System called in Superior Scaffold to help work on the 93,000 sq. ft. Tower Project at 701 East Marshall Street.

The scaffolding, constructed on top of the first floor’s roof, allows crews to get to the floors above it to remove the skin (facade) and expose the steel to tie into.  The new addition will be 5 stories tall and as wide as the old section beneath it.

   

Those black squares you see on the lower roof are temporary coverings for the new steel columns that are underneath them.   “Once the facade is removed, horizontal steel will come out of building and connect to columns coming up and out of those holes,” said Superior estimator, Pat McAndrew.  Superior also provided a 70′ trash chute with a hopper on every level.

The Chester County Hospital is the only non-profit, independent community hospital in Chester County, and it has been serving the county and its surrounding communities for 120 years.

How to adapt existing system scaffold (Thomas Jefferson University Hospital)

Even the best laid plans get interrupted from time to time.  So was the case at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, PA.

The Alumni Hall building on the Jefferson University Hospital campus in Center City has been undergoing some changes to the HVAC system.

Superior Scaffold was called out to install scaffolding on the 6^th floor rooftop spanning the entire 42 foot long section of roof all the way up the the 9^th floor so workers could get up to make piping tie-ins and add insulation.

The scaffolding was in place and functioning well when one of the contractors determined that he needed to get directly beneath one of the supporting legs of the scaffolding to install a new rooftop HVAC unit.  Normally, not a problem but this was directly in the middle of the already assembled and functioning scaffold – and to make matters worse – it was beneath one of the supporting legs.

So the call went out to Superior’s 24 hour emergency services line and within hours they came up with a solution.  See the reconfigured scaffolding below.

You can see how the weight was redistributed to free up the room for the new unit to be installed beneath the scaffold while still allowing work to continue safely overhead.

Who says you can’t adapt an already built system scaffold?

Superior Scaffold at (215) 743-2200 is the best at what they do.

Superior Scaffold helps install innovative solar array over Camden County Wastewater Treatment Plant.

In a first of a kind move, the Camden County Municipal Utilities Authority (CCMUA) of New Jersey embraced the growing need for renewable energy by installing a giant array of solar panels over the Camden, NJ water treatment plant.  The panels will provide enough power to run the day-to-day operations of the plant (producing more than 2.2 million kilowatt hours each year in energy offsetting production costs.)

  

These arrays will enable the company to become more cost efficient and reduce the carbon footprint needed to treat wastewater.

   

The Challenge

Superior scaffold’s challenge was to devise a way for the crews to install the 7,000 solar panels over the large aeration and sediment tanks WHILE the plant remained operational.  Superior’s crew (headed by Kenny Foreman) and groSolar decided to incorporate a series of aluminum beams and plywood decking that would provide platforms over each series of tanks to erect their solar arrays.

         

“Once the panels and their supports are permanently installed, the decking system can be easily moved over the next tank in a leapfrog type endeavor,” said Superior’s estimator, Anthony Pini.

Here is what the final product looks like.

   

Many wastewater treatment plants are in a unique position to be able to take advantage of solar power because of their large physical size that often includes many unused acres.  Superior is thrilled to help the Camden County MUA realize this potential.  The County Regional Wastewater Treatment System treats the sewage discharged every day from properties in Camden County. The Camden County MUA treats 58 million gallons (220 million liters) of sewage per day at their two plants.

Camden County is located in the southwestern portion of New Jersey, across the Delaware River from Philadelphia. Burlington, Atlantic, and Gloucester Counties border Camden County on the north, east, and south. The County is 226 square miles in area, with a population of about 500,000. There are thirty-seven municipalities in Camden County.

Superior Scaffold’s canopy withstands the harshest of tests.

In an instant, lives can change.  One second you are walking down the street and the next a car is careening out of control in your direction.  To complicate things, you are beneath a canopy outside a hospital waiting for your scheduled appointment.   That canopy supports a ton of weight in steel, aluminum and wood that could come crashing down around you.

But luckily, Superior Scaffold installed the canopy.  As one of the best in the industry Superior builds them to withstand most anything that can be thrown at it – including being run into by a car.

Nobody wants their scaffolding or canopy to have to withstand that type of impact but it refreshing to know that even after being hit by an out of control automobile the canopy only sustained minor damage and didn’t collapse.  The reason you hire a company that knows how to build a proper sidewalk shed or canopy is just for this reason.  Don’t skimp on bargain basement products when doing a facade replacement or inspection – lives can be at stake.

Accidents do happen – and when they do – Superior’s 24 hour emergency services team is on the job.  Just like the incident here at Jefferson Hospital at 9^th and Sansom.  Crews were on the scene in a few hours to replace the bent and broken parts bringing the canopy back to it’s full working capacity.

And if you think this is an isolated incident, think again.  This is the second canopy to be hit by a car or truck in just a few months span.  So if the good people at Jefferson Hospital trust the safety of their patrons to Superior Scaffold – Shouldn’t you?

Superior starts work at Bryn Mawr Hospital, Bryn Mawr, PA

Superior Scaffold has assisted with this type of surgical maneuver in and around elevator shafts many times.  This time, it just so happens to be at the Bryn Mawr Hospital  where iron workers need to install and weld new structural steel as part of the new addition to the hospital.

Some of these pics show what’s going on in the 4th floor elevator shafts where crews cut holes into the shaft walls to install aluminum joists that would span the opening.  Then they had to deck in over the joists to make safe platforms so crews could complete their work.

It’s the little things that make the big companies run.  No job is too big or small for the guys at Superior Scaffold.