McCarthy Building Companies Tops Out Structural Steel for CHOC Children's Hospital Patient Care Tower II in Orange, CA

ORANGE, CA  (June 2, 2010) – McCarthy Building Companies, Inc., (www.mccarthy.com), one of Southern California’s preeminent healthcare builders, recently topped off the structural steel on CHOC Children’s new patient care tower.

 Currently on schedule for construction completion in December 2012, the $563 million expansion is located on the south side of the existing CHOC Children’s hospital site.

Over the last six months, construction workers used a 196-foot tall Liebherr tower crane with a reach of 276 feet to install 5,805 pieces of structural steel creating the frame for the new tower.

The project team celebrated the placement of the last structural steel beam with a barbecue lunch for the project’s construction workers.

During the luncheon, project team members signed the I-beam which was adorned with an American flag and an evergreen tree before construction workers from Schuff Steel lifted it 160 feet and attached it to the top of the structure.

The tradition of attaching a tree and flag to the final structural beam has been practiced by construction workers for over 1000 years.

The tree represents growth, life and good luck for the construction workers and the building’s future occupants. The flag is displayed as a patriotic symbol that signifies the united effort by the project team to achieve a common goal.

Serving as the general contractor for the project, McCarthy’s contract entails construction of a new 425,524-square-foot patient tower with one basement level and seven upper levels as well as a penthouse chiller room and helistop.

McCarthy will also conduct a 50,000-square-foot renovation of the existing facility and supporting central plant components in the basement of the existing CHOC North Tower.

. Prior to construction, an office building and two-level parking structure were removed to make way for the new tower.

Contact:

Laura Mickelson (LM Communications), (949) 453-0851
Susan Garritano (McCarthy Building Companies, Inc.), (314) 968-3300