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Children’s Research Institute construction updates available by Dick Peterson Public Relations For anyone who just can’t stand the suspense, those responsible for construction of the Children’s Research Institute are doing everything they can think of to keep us all updated on the building’s progress. And they’re doing whatever it takes to make sure normal activities continue undisturbed in the adjacent Basic Science Building. Everything—like hosting a Web site with a 24-hour Web  cam, holding weekly briefings, giving scheduled tours of the construction site during cemetery excavation, vibration and acoustic monitoring of pile driving, and filtering exhaust fumes from the pile driver at the Basic Science Building air handling intakes.  And they’re ceremonially laying to rest the disinterred caskets from within the new building’s footprint. “We’re especially concerned for the safety of people who have been dropping by to see what’s going on,” said John Raymond, M.D., associate provost for research.  His concern stems from the unstable soil at the construction site, to the activity of heavy equipment and the ever-present dangers of being in a hard-hat area. So, log-on and go to <http://cri.musc.edu/>.  There you’ll find a bird’s-eye view of construction site activity via Web cam, a schedule of project update meetings, work schedules, building plans, views and renderings of the finished building. And the big concern on everyone’s mind through spring—pile driving. Patients don’t like it when construction is adjacent to the hospital, and researchers and the cells they work with don’t like it either—not when vibration affects cell attachment and sensitive equipment loses calibration. A construction worker cuts the top off a test “H” pile to make room  for the installation of a system of calibrated jacks between it and the huge stack of concrete blocks above it. The concrete blocks will provide resistance for the jacks. The effect is to push the pile into the ground to simulate the load of the structure.  If the piling meets  the criteria successfully it will rebound its original position once the pressure is released. “Test piles have been driven,” said research facilities administrator Leslie Kendall, “and the complaints have been minimal.” She said that low vibration numbers should allay the concerns of researchers in the Basic Science Building.  Pile driving vibration was monitored in 10 locations throughout the Basic Science Building, and near Waring Library, the Hazardous Waste Building, and in the surrounding neighborhood along Ashley Avenue. The vibration was found to be minimal due to the use of non-displacement “H” piles, which offer plenty of surface area for “skin friction” while displacing less soil than other shaped piles. Two hundred fifty-nine piles will be driven to accommodate the building. A huge shovel barely brushes the next layer of soil to uncover still more graves at the Children’s Research Institute construction site. “We found that once we were inside the building, it was hard to detect that anything was going on,” said Hal Currey, MUSC associate dean for operations in the College of Medicine. He said that when people could hear the pile driving, they were more likely to believe that they feel vibrations. But only minimal indications of any vibration was ever registered on monitors and vibrations went undetected when they were out of earshot. Other building monitoring includes the detection of diesel fumes from the pile driver that could possibly be sucked into the Basic Science Building through fresh air intakes on the north side of the building. Carbon filters have been installed on the air handling units to eliminate fumes, Kendall said.  It was no surprise to find caskets on the site. Brockington and Associates conducted an archeological survey of the area and confirmed the location of a potter’s field burial site dating from 1802 to 1824 in the area occupied by the existing building. The graves in the Children’s Research Institute footprint will be relocated to an area adjacent to St. Luke’s Chapel. An archaeologist with Brockington and Associates stabilizes a tiny casket excavated from the Children’s Research Institute site. Brockington archaeologist Ralph Bailey said that the casket, made of black cypress, will undergo preservation processes and probably abe displayed in the completed research institute building as a reminder of high infant mortality rates in the 1800s. The remains unearthed on the site are to be re-interred at a location near St. Luke’s Chapel. The Children’s Research Institute, which is expected to be completed in the spring of 2004, will be dedicated to multi-discipline biomedical research related to the illnesses of children, Raymond said.   Children’s Research Institute Building Facts Total Project Cost—Phase I to include the building, the animal facility, and second-floor labs: $28,240,000 to be financed with bonds and philanthropy Construction Duration: 30 months Number of Stories: 7 Steel Piling: 30,371 linear feet or 5 3/4 miles Structural Steel: 1,850 tons or the equivalent of 1,600 compact cars Building Area: 121,777 square feet Research Space: 101,100 square feet Assignable Space: 74,316 square feet Building Efficiency Rating: 73.5 percent Phase II will fit out the remaining labs: $8,000,000 to be financed with philanthropy Phase III will retrofit part of the adjacent and connecting seventh floor of the Basic Science Building to support the new animal facility in the Children’s Research Institute: $2,000,000 to be financed from a pending federal grant.