Scripps Prebys Cardiovascular Institute Begins Next Phase of Construction

LA JOLLA, Calif. — An enormous crane weighing nearly 320 tons with a boom able to reach farther than a football field has arrived for duty on the campus of Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla. The crane signifies the next phase in construction of the Scripps Prebys Cardiovascular Institute as crews begin placing the 5,900 tons of steel that will be used to form the structure of the 168-bed hospital tower.

A Liebherr model LJ1300 crawler crane, which was delivered to the building site on Jan. 17 on 17 trailer trucks, was immediately assembled and began placing the first steel beams on Jan. 20. The crane, which will be used to erect seven stories of structural steel, will remain on the site for the next four months.

The crane features a multi-sectioned, rigging boom that can extend up to 322 feet and is capable of lifting up to 300 tons. The largest steel component to be lifted by the crane is a single steel column that is two-and-a-half stories tall, weighing 61,000 pounds.

The $456 million Scripps Prebys Cardiovascular Institute is scheduled to open for patient care in 2015. The 383,000-square-foot building will feature 108 inpatient beds in private rooms, 60 intensive care beds, six state-of-the-art operating rooms, and as many as six cardiac catheterization labs with the most advanced medical technology.

Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. is serving as the construction management firm on behalf of Scripps Health. McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. has been retained as the design-assist general contractor and HOK Architects is the project architect.

Founded in 1924 by philanthropist Ellen Browning Scripps, Scripps Health is a $2.45 billion nonprofit integrated health system based in San Diego, Calif. Scripps treats a half-million patients annually through the dedication of 2,600 affiliated physicians and 13,000 employees among its five acute-care hospital campuses, home health care services, and an ambulatory care network of physician offices and 23 outpatient centers and clinics. More information can be found at www.scripps.org.

Image: Chris Van Gorder, president and CEO, Scripps Health, stands before the crane that will be used to erect seven stories of structural steel for the new Scripps Prebys Cardiovascular Institute.