Shorter construction schedule puts the squeeze on Bomel to complete clinic parking structure on time

Dec. 1, 2017 –– The start of construction this year of a new outpatient clinic and multi-level parking structure in Torrance had been eight years in the making.  Located on the property formerly occupied by the Daily Breeze newspaper building, the project was on life support for several years, a victim of the Great Recession.

Even though Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Center Torrance bought the 6.7-acre site in 2009, home to the Breeze for 44 years, it did not demolish the building until 2015.

Following delays to the scheduled start of construction earlier in the year, Bomel Construction received a notice to proceed on the five-level parking structure in August. Bomel is the concrete, rebar and masonry subcontractor for Snyder Langston, the general contractor for the 106,000-square-foot clinic and 461-stall garage.

Chad Divine, Snyder Langston’s project manager, said the three-story medical building and parking structure will be substantially completed by the end of May. The clinic is being erected just south of the 104,000-square-foot garage.

“Bomel has been outstanding since day one of this project,” Divine said.

Providence Health & Services covers a lot of ground in Southern California. Overall, it employs more than 111,000 people who serve in 50 hospitals, 829 clinics and hundreds of programs and services in Alaska, California, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas and Washington.

The $80-million clinic in Torrance will consist of 46 exam rooms, five surgical suites, advanced diagnostic and treatment modalities and a comprehensive cancer treatment center located on the ground level. Cunningham Group Architecture is the architect.

Frank Bruce, Bomel Construction’s project manager, said crews at the Torrance Boulevard site are busy making up for lost time.

“The slab-on-grade’s first pour was finished the first week of November and forms for the lowest deck have been completed,” Bruce explained. “The garage will have two pours per deck and be finished by the end of March.”

In addition to Bruce, Bomel project team members include Bill Godwin, project executive; Garret Hoffman, project engineer; Joe Crook, superintendent; Mike Alexander, formwork superintendent; Kirk Huffman, general superintendent and Michele Huff, project assistant.

Choate Parking Consultants is the architect. Ficcadenti Waggoner and Castle is the structural engineer.

Unlike many ground-up projects, where Bomel wraps up its work before construction of an adjacent building gets underway, construction on the clinic began before Bomel’s work started, creating a congested construction zone. Multifamily complexes on three sides border the parking structure’s 4-acre footprint.

Bruce said specific strategies are being used to combat the tight site and short schedule.

“We left out a wall in the basement for access and we built a ramp that goes down into the hole outside of the structure,” Bruce explained. “Once we get the slab poured, then we’ll pour that last little section of wall and backfill the ramp and go vertical from that point. They want to start underground utility work for the whole site, so we will utilize 61-meter pumps for all of our pours going forward.”

The parking structure’s slab is slightly below grade, a strategy used to lower the garage’s overall profile due to its location in a residential neighborhood. The first level of the garage will have 71 spaces. The entrance and exit to the garage will be on its south side. A driveway will separate the clinic from the garage. A surface parking lot will also be on the campus.

Divine, who has been with Snyder Langston for four years, is upbeat about the progress being made on the parking structure

“Frank and the team have been great to work with on the office side. And Joe and his crew are rock stars in the field,” he said. “The team has been proactive in resolving issues, whether it be schedule or design. Quality and professionalism are top notch all around––a true trade partner.”

Bomel Construction feels right at home in Torrance, having completed a 1,950-stall garage at the Del Amo Fashion Center two years ago, a key component of a $200-million expansion undertaken by Simon, Bomel’s customer and the mall’s developer. Bomel’s architectural and site concrete division also had an extensive role in the modernization project. In 2006, Bomel completed a 1,750-stall garage at Del Amo for Simon. At 2.6 million square feet, Del Amo Fashion Center is the fifth largest mall in the United States, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers.

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