McCarthy Building Cos. Inc. of Newport Beach 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 in Orange.
Over the last six months, construction workers used a 196-ft-tall Liebherr tower crane with a reach of 276 ft 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 ft 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.