Project Case Study
“On behalf of the University of Kansas Health System, I wanted to acknowledge the efforts of the McCownGordon / Linbeck Proton Therapy Project Team. Despite facing an aggressive schedule and managing the project during a pandemic, the project was completed on time and budget with a high level of communication and anticipation. This was an extraordinary and challenging project. Many thanks to the entire McCownGordon and Linbeck Teams for a job well done.”
John L. McDonough, P.E., Vice President, Facilities Services & Real Estate Development, The University of Kansas Health System
While there are 38 proton therapy centers in the United States, there is no proton therapy center in Kansas or the surrounding states of Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado and Arkansas. This highly specialized form of radiation treatment will allow adults and children who have cancer to receive lifesaving proton therapy care closer to home and family.
McCownGordon partnered with tech-driven construction firm Linbeck to form a joint venture for this highly technical project. The project will encompass 43,000 SF addition plus a 5,000 SF renovation. Additional surrounding spaces will include exam rooms and physicians offices, recovery rooms, treatment planning rooms, conference rooms and other ancillary spaces to connect the new addition.
During preconstruction, our team provided guidance for the structure material around the concrete proton therapy vault. The team compared steel and concrete to provide pros and cons regarding costs, material procurement lead times, quality control, schedule impacts and other potential factors.
From the comparison, it was evident that a steel structure provides advantages for this project and site constraints. The team determined steel would decrease the schedule by two weeks and allow the concrete vault to be constructed independently of the surrounding structure.
This solution will improve schedule, constructability, and quality control of the concrete vault. Along with these savings, there will be a savings in the number of columns due to being able to span longer distances. By selecting steel, the project cost was reduced by $132,739.
