February 28, 2018 E.S. Boulos Completes Medical Center Modernization
BIM MODELING AIDS ESB SUCCESS IN MAJOR EXPANSION OF EASTERN MAINE MEDICAL CENTER
Building on its success in New England and within Maine’s healthcare sector, the E.S. Boulos Company (ESB), a subsidiary of MYR Group, successfully completed electrical construction and telecommunications work for the expansion and modernization of Eastern Maine Medical Center (EMMC).
Located in Bangor, the $305 million project is the largest construction project in the city’s history. ESB electricians began laying underground conduit in 2013, with all work to be completed in 2018. EMMC’s original five-bed hospital began accepting patients back in 1892.
The signature component of the expansion, the Penobscot Pavilion, is an eight-story, 361,000-square-foot structure, which contains the new main entrance, lobby, cafeteria, heart center, surgical suite, expanded neonatal care unit, plus additional patient, conference, meeting rooms and nursing stations.
ESB teamed with general contractors Cianbro Corporation and Brasfield & Gorrie, engineering firm BVH Integrated Services, and E4H Environments for Health Architecture to turn EMMC’s plan into reality.
The hospital serves more than 40 percent of the state’s population throughout central, eastern and northern Maine. Keeping critical areas and systems of the facility fully functional at all times was an absolute necessity.
“This is a large working hospital so there were a lot of logistical challenges to performing work without impacting daily operations,” said ESB’s Commercial Division Director Scott Marquis. “Fortunately, our seasoned project supervisors have quite a bit of experience in this regard.”
Germs weren’t the only living organisms placed under a microscope during the course of the project. Hospital management installed a ‘viewing’ window on one floor that allowed patients, nurses, doctors and visitors to watch the construction action taking place on the other side of the glass.
“Having onlookers each day didn’t bother us, but this wasn’t something you normally see on a commercial job,” Marquis said.
An ESB Building Information Modeler (BIM) worked full time on site to provide all parties with a three-dimensional view of the electrical hardware being installed. Potential clashes between the building components — heat, plumbing, power, sprinkler, alarm systems — were spotted early and corrected.
“The information that our BIM specialist ties to the program is just unreal. Every panel schedule, every circuit, every field change that we make gets brought into that model and updated constantly,” said ESB Project Manager Jason Queen. “It’s quite a powerful construction tool and we take full advantage of it.”
“This is a large working hospital so there were a lot of logistical challenges to performing work without impacting daily operations. Fortunately, our seasoned project supervisors have quite a bit of experience in this regard.”
– Scott Marquis, E.S. Boulos Commercial Division Director
Project Details: Outpatient Specialty and Surgery Center
