Steak, anyone?

Taking a break from the Saint Mary’s project…for some reason, I was reminded of the small project we did at Harrah’s Steak House. The Steak House was one of Reno’s premier restaurants and located in the basement of the old Virginia Street casino. We got a call one morning telling us that a crew was needed, immediately, at the restaurant. It turned out that a grease fire had burned out the old ductwork above the ceiling. A sheet metal contractor had been working 24 hours a day to rebuild the grease duct that ran from the basement kitchens to the first floor and exiting high above the alleyway. It was going to be our job to enclose the new duct with metal framing and a thick layer of gypsum plaster over lath. And maintain a 2” air clearance around the ductwork at all times. None of our framing could touch it. To top it off, all of the work was to be done above the existing ceiling and it had to be done in a hurry. All casino work is done in a hurry.

So up we went. Two of us above the ceiling, lying on pipes and framing, while a third was cutting the material that we called for. And since we had to weld a lot of the framing in place, we had to keep a fire extinguisher with us which just added to the crowding we were experiencing. All of this was done while were wearing ‘leathers’ to try and keep the burns to a minimum. It would sometimes take us almost 30 minutes to crawl from our entry point to where we were working. Once in awhile, we would try a shortcut, only to find the way blocked by equipment or piping and then we would have to retrace our steps (crawling) to start all over again. After about a week, we had progressed about 30 feet and we could see our destination off in the gloom; a vertical shaft that rose about 20 feet into total darkness on the first floor.

Saint Mary's Redux

The pace was glacial, but we were building a hospital and it was to be expected. When you walk down the corridor of a hospital, you can’t see the enormous amount of work that is concealed by the ceilings and walls. Piping and ductwork so thick that it’s a wonder it could ever be built. But, slowly, it always is.

And at the same time we were building the hospital interior, we had other crews building the exterior walls at our panel factory up on the hill above the Washoe County fairgrounds. Once these wall sections were completed, they would be transported to the jobsite and lifted into place by our good friends at A&KW Crane Service. We would align these panels and then weld them to the steel framework of the building.

We decided to work a long weekend when it came time to set the panels and we were hoping to complete the two elevations that made up the sides of the patient room addition. The mechanical areas were more complicated and would be done at a later date.

We barricaded the street and set the crane where it could reach the building easily and then we brought the panels down to the jobsite. One after the other, the trailer loads of panels arrived and were quickly emptied. We were setting an average of one panel every 10 minutes; we were flying! And since the crane operator could see the work area, signaling was kept to a minimum. The ground crew would set the chokers and the tag lines and as soon as Lonnie saw he was clear, he would hoist and swing the panel up against the building, usually within a foot or so of where it belonged. Someone would use a pry bar to force the panel into place. A dozen Vise Grips would clamp the panel to the building. A welding hood was snapped down and the sparks would fly. Then, a hand signal to let Lonnie know to drop the ‘headache ball’ down a few inches. The chokers and tag lines were released and the crane swung away to get the next panel. I remember being up on the roof and marveling at how we were working together, as a team. Very few words were ever spoken; everyone knew what to do without being told. It was a long weekend, but oh, so satisfying!

Flight Plans

The Saint Mary’s hospital project was pretty much typical for hospital construction; all steel and all very heavy gauges. We had to weld everything together. Once the fireproofing was complete, the mechanical trades moved in with their large and heavy ductwork and piping. And once they had filled the overhead spaces, it was our turn to construct the walls. Easier said then done, as we could barely see the deck above, let alone put our framing in place. It was slow going and every day we cursed the planners that had scheduled our framing as one of the last activities on the flow charts.

There were days when a crew of 3 might be able to build 10 feet of wall in 8 hours. We frequently had to abandon our scaffolds and climb up onto the ductwork itself to do our work. And we had to wear welding ‘leathers’ to avoid being burned by all of the hot sparks that would shower us in those confined spaces. There was nothing quite like being far above the ground, up in the attic space, in the basement, wearing a leather jacket during a hot Reno summer. It was quite easy to keep the weight off!

But, rank has some privileges and once in awhile, someone from another trade would have a question and I would climb down and we would go out to the trailer to review the plans. And invariably, as soon as I spread the plans out on the table, the emergency helicopter would come in for a landing or power up for a takeoff. The only space available for locating our construction trailer was right next to the helipad and that meant that I had to quickly run around the trailer and shut all of the windows before all of my plans and notes took flight as well. What fun!

Hospital Time

As Saint Mary's continued to grow, the projects became larger and more technical. But always interesting and the best part was the fact that it wasn't downtown among the gamblers! After doing a couple of years of casino work, it was great to be away from that atmosphere.

Finally it was decided that Saint Mary's needed a whole new addition; one that would easily double the size of the current hospital. And we had plenty to do in the old hospital while they dug the dug the basement level and then poured the walls. Shortly after that they began putting steel in place and that was when we began to set up for the fireproofing. But first we had to drop all of the hanger wires through the steel deck. These would be needed for the future ceilings. This wasn't my favorite job; using a 4' long and very heavy steel deck punch, you would punch holes in the deck in a 3'x4' grid pattern. And it had to be a grid that reflected the architects plans for the floor below you. Bam! Bam! Bam! All day long, or until your arms tired, Then it was time to thread the long hanger wires through the holes you had made & tie them to a piece of rebar.

With all of the hangers in place and concrete poured onto the deck, the fireproofers began to spray the beams and columns. A wet and dirty job. It wasn't going to be very tall, just 5 floors and a helipad on the roof. Fireproofing would be done in a month.

And it was decided by those in charge, that I should have a trailer/office to run my portion of the work from. Good! Except they found a cheap substitute for a real construction trailer, one that been knocking around jobs for the past 20 or 30 years and it showed. Well, I fixed it up the best I could and settled in for the long haul. About a year. No, make that 2.