What's the Dirt: Our Spine of Steel

In the world of construction, steel is often the unsung hero. Its incredible strength is often hidden behind the scenes, yet it plays a pivotal role in shaping building structures.

At the end of October, Shady Grove Medical Center welcomed and began installing the steel columns that frame our new patient tower. These towering giants, which each stand 50 feet, or four stories, high are the building's spine of steel.  

Eight truckloads of steel arrived on Oct. 31, marking a milestone in construction of the tower. Over the next week, construction teams began maneuvering these colossal columns into place. The silhouette of our tower began to take shape at the northwest corner of the construction site, adjacent to the hospital’s Labor & Delivery Unit. The columns for the patient tower will stretch from there to the Garden Tower, home to surgical services, The Birth Center and four medical/surgical units.

Other work on the project is moving along, too, including roughing-in of electrical and plumbing lines, waterproofing and backfilling around the foundation on the north area of the tower site.

As we witness the building taking tangible form, the anticipation grows even more for the new era of Next Level Care that the tower will bring.  Grab a front-row seat and watch us reach for the sky on the Next Level Care Construction Camera.