Why it matters: The UCSF New Hospital at Parnassus Heights (NHPH) team installed oxygen tanks without disrupting the flow of oxygen to the existing hospital. When activated, the tanks will supply oxygen to both the existing and new hospitals.

• It took a year and a half of preparation work, beginning in December 2022, to install the tanks.

The big picture: The installation site on Mt. Sutro required significant preparation. Superintendent Saleh Fadhel said the team had to shave part of the hill and build a massive shoring and retaining wall.

• "We installed 380 soil nails, spanning from 40 to 85 feet long, to stabilize the hillside," he explained. This was followed by creating a shotcrete wall, foundation piles, a mat foundation, and a slab on top of the mat foundation before erecting the steel structure that encloses the tank yard.

Given the complexity and size of the tanks � one 9,000-gallon tank and two 11,000-gallon tanks, each nine feet in diameter and 35 feet tall � logistics played a crucial role.

• The tanks were transported from the Midwest, and meticulous planning was required to move and install them. "We coordinated with Bigge to set up cranes within the project fence and in the oxygen tank yard," Saleh noted. "The installation involved six pieces of equipment, and we had to work on a Saturday to avoid the busy weekday traffic."

The tanks were installed on piles with anchor bolts about 12 feet long, embedded in 40-foot-deep piles. "Each tank has three legs, and each leg sits on a pile with four anchors," Saleh described. Despite facing challenges with alignment, the team successfully installed the tanks by the end of the day.

Go deeper: The installation was a collaborative effort involving multiple parties, including the contractor's team, owners' representatives, subcontractors, and specialists.

The team worked together to make on-site modifications, ensuring the tanks were installed correctly. "It was mind-boggling and awesome at the same time to see everyone come together to meet the deadline," Saleh remarked.

Next Steps: With the tanks in place, the project is moving into the testing and commissioning phase. The oxygen tanks, complete with vaporizers that convert liquid oxygen to gas, will soon be operational, ensuring a reliable oxygen supply to the existing and new hospitals.

by Nick Borov, Project Engineer

The Contra Costa County (CCC)Admin Building and Jail Demo & Redevelopment (ADR) has all but wrapped up the interior side and is now resolving all outstanding punch list items in the race to final completion. Soon, we'll begin handing over the keys to selected rooms--an exciting sign of final turnover--before the County starts delivering their permanent office furniture.

The car stacker system is now fully operational within the garage space. Moving outside, we're proud to say that the unforeseen underground storage tank has safely and successfully been removed. We've been working diligently to make up for the time lost to this delay. The last of the utility work was completed in February, and the remaining concrete pavement and pavers have all been installed, resulting in a substantially complete Pine Street walk/roadway.

Serving as the centerpieces of our courtyard, five 40-year-old olive trees have been successfully delivered and planted. Site furnishings have all been installed as well, including light poles, benches, bike racks, and gameboard tables. Punch for the site is scheduled within the next week.

Also worth a shout-out: As part of our team's sustainability and gritty frugality efforts, we've successfully transferred our site fence over to the UCSF NHPH job! After standing in Martinez for more than two years, these plywood walls will continue to be used in San Francisco for years to come.

This year's Virtual Design and Construction competition in Reno, Nevada, saw the biggest turnout yet, with 14 teams of six students each. "Last year, we had nine teams," says VDC Director Jocelyn Mezofenyi, who served as one of Webcor's judges.

Problems posed to the students included a value engineering exercise, tower crane and structural concrete logistics, underground utility coordination, and multi-site utility and logistics coordination.

The Associated Schools of Construction (ASC) event draws nearly 1,700 students and 1,300 industry professionals who come together to tackle problem statements, listen to student presentations, attend the presentation of awards to competition winners, and attend a career fair and recruiting event.

Seventeen contractors participated in the competition, including 11 problem sponsors. For the teams that opted to tackle the VDC challenge, Webcor based its problems on the Mission Rock F and horizontal projects. "We talked to the project team to understand real-world challenges the Mission Rock team had and how they overcame them," explains Project Director Blair Hinojosa, who has been involved with the ASC competition for 11 years. "We then simplified those problems to something the students can solve during the 15-hour problem statement window."

The hands-on portion of the competition, introduced in recent years, was an event highlight. "The students take the VDC information they would typically crunch in the computer and think through how to use that info 'in the field' in real-world applications," says Blair. Students used total stations for layout and created shop drawings and QC mock-ups.

"This year, we also did something unique," Jocelyn adds. "Because the competition's theme was collaboration, we had the students come into our conference room and act as if they were participating in an actual trade coordination meeting to resolve model clashes."

Students from all the schools that competed in the VDC category participated in these meetings. "We got amazing feedback from the faculty and other GCs who listened to the student presentations," Jocelyn says. They thought adding those meetings added real-life experience to the competition."

The meetings exposed the students to the real world of participating in a large group where they needed to have their voices heard. "That takes some confidence, and that's what we're trying to give the students a bit of exposure to," Jocelyn explains.

"While they were tentative at first, the students embraced the hands-on collaboration between the different teams," says Project Manager Rachel Johnson, another Webcor judge. The feedback we got was that they really enjoyed getting to know other people from other schools and seeing how different schools use VDC tools to tackle these problems."Cal Poly won first and second place in the competition; Boise State took third.

Webcor's investment in the competition is paying off in recruiting. Blair shares, "This year, we found a lot of really great candidates. Just from the problem statement we facilitate, we identified 8-10 candidates we are working to bring in for interviews for either internships or full-time positions."

The competition wouldn't be possible without the efforts of many Webcor employees who served as judges and recruiters. Human Resources Specialist Dante Robinson, whom Blair described as "the MVP from the HR/Recruiting side," was instrumental in facilitating the career fair and keeping students engaged.

With nearly two decades of sponsorship under its belt, Webcor's ongoing involvement in the ASC Student Competition continues to drive innovation and attract top talent to the company.