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Progress Continues at NIH Construction Sites

The first of four construction tower cranes is erected by another mobile crane (l) at the site of the new Mark O. Hatfield Clinical Research Center. In the background, Bldg. 31A is at left while the Naval Medical Center tower is on the right.

While a bulldozer works at right, a mechanical arm rips from below at what remains of the old porte cochere that covered the north entryway to the Clinical Center. At this juncture, more than half the overhang had been demolished. The arm bashed carefully at what remained while water doused the commotion to keep the dust down.

Progress in the Bldg. 11 Expansion Project continues as a mobile crane moves materials on the site at the heart of campus, just across the street from Bldg. 34. The four-phase project, which will increase the existing chilled water plant capacity by 20,000 tons, began in mid-August 1997 and is scheduled for completion in fall 2000. The project is part of ORS' Infrastructure Modernization Program. Bldg. 11 will host new centrifugal water chillers, cooling towers and pumping systems. ORS' goal is to "reconfigure Bldg. 11 such that it does not look like a chilled water and steam generating facility." Acoustical louvers on the south facade of the building are expected to reduce cooling tower noise in the Bldg. 14 complex and neighboring communities. Follow progress on the project via the Web site at http://des.od.nih/building_11/.