Mount Nittany Medical Center
State College, PA
In 2010, Mount Nittany Medical Center began constructing multiple additions and renovations to the hospital. A two-story Cancer Center addition, consisting of a steel frame structure, extensive renovations and additions to the Emergency Department, as well as a seven-story Operating Room addition to the east side of the hospital were constructed. CMT drilled approximately 28 test borings and excavated multiple test pits in order to evaluate the subsurface conditions and make recommendations regarding foundation designs.
CMT provided Special Inspections services during construction, which included concrete, reinforcing steel, subgrade evaluation, compaction, masonry, structural steel, asphalt, fire resisting materials (SFRM), floor flatness and relevant field and laboratory testing.
The O.R. addition presented issues due to the karst bedrock encountered, which was highly pinnacled. Given the anticipated 900 kip loads for the O.R. addition, micropiles were recommended in order to prevent excess and differential settlement. CMT provided inspection services during installation of the micropiles.
During the construction of the Emergency Department renovations, a portion of the existing E.R. experienced significant settlement over a short time period. CMT was brought in to investigate the cause of the excessive settlement and drilled five test borings within the area of concern. The borings encountered a layer of highly saturated and very weak silt present beneath the structure. CMT recommended Limited Mobility Displacement Grouting (LMDG), which consists of drilling holes and pumping grout at a specified pressure into the holes to compact and strengthen the weak soil layers. A total of sixteen (16) primary holes, nine (9) secondary holes, seven (7) tertiary holes and twenty-eight (28) quaternary holes were grouted. The decision to add secondary, tertiary and quaternary holes was made by CMT and the project team after review of the grout-take information obtained from previous grouting phases.
