Bomel’s Architectural and Site Concrete Division Faces Fast-paced Finish for ‘Very Decorative’ and Huge Ventura County Medical Center Expansion

November 3, 2016––The multibillion-dollar healthcare industry in Southern California offers a wide range of construction opportunities, and Bomel’s hard-working Architectural and Site Concrete Division is feeling pretty good about that.

One of the division’s largest current projects serves the $216-million expansion of Ventura County Medical Center, a Level 2 trauma center and a regional medical system that serves as the hub of a countywide healthcare network. Additionally, the medical center is a teaching hospital with programs for family practice medicine, nurses and other healthcare professionals.

The hospital’s new wing, a 220,000-square-foot, acute-care facility, will meet California’s requirements for seismic safety. The three-story addition will support numerous medical services, including diagnostics and imaging; operating rooms; emergency department; obstetrics, neonatal and pediatric intensive-care units; and central supply. The general contractor for the design-build project is Clark Construction.

Bomel’s Architectural and Site Concrete Division began working on the site in February but experienced delays beyond its control that slowed the original schedule down. Now, with less than two months to go before the December deadline, Bomel crews are ready for a hectic pace.

“We will be condensing a couple of million dollars of work into the next couple of months. It will be tough, but we’ll get it done,” said Bomel Estimator and Project Manager Bill Rigo, who has 16 years of experience in the site concrete construction industry.

Bomel’s wide spectrum of work in its $2.4-million contract includes a total of 2,400 cubic yards of concrete being placed. It will be performed in seven areas of the expansion project, including a healing garden––a meandering walkway with exposed finishes.

“Exposed is where the concrete is etched to reveal the natural fines––sands and aggregates––of the concrete mixture,” Rigo explained. “Concrete may be etched to various depths depending on how much of the fines are desired. This can be done by various methods, ranging from top surface retardants to sandblasting.”

Bomel has constructed a huge ADA ramp, part of the east plaza, with 14-foot-high concrete walls and a grand set of stairs. Another area, called the Promenade, has wood-stamped concrete that overlooks the east plaza. Here, Bomel is placing three different colors of architectural concrete: a custom royal-blue color called Rigo Blue, Westwood Brown and Natural Gray.

But the icing on the cake just might be the west main entry. Due to be completed this month, the vehicular access area will boast highly decorative concrete with five different finishes and cast-in-pace bollards bordering the semi-circular driveway.

“It’s going to be a very decorative project. We have concrete up on podium decks and bridges with different colors and finishes,” Rigo explained. “There will be concrete that looks like wood and concrete that looks like blue water.”

An elevated, 20-foot-wide walkway overlooking the new plaza will feature extensive board-formed and Westwood brown, stamped concrete. The 140-foot-long path will be bisected every 15 feet by a total of five blue bands. “There are accents everywhere. It looks really nice,” Rigo said.

There is also activity everywhere as Bomel is working while the hospital is fully operational, creating such challenges as safe accessibility, quiet zones and dust-free zones. Moreover, since the Ventura County Medical Center is a California facility, construction work is subjected to a litany of regulations imposed by the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development. Every piece of material delivered to the site and all concrete requires an inspection request through an online service. The inspection routine is a daily occurrence and needs to be scheduled 24 to 48 hours in advance.

“For example, take our reinforcing steel supplied by subcontractor Harris Rebar. Before any rebar is brought to the site, the inspector has to drive out to Harris’ shop for an inspection,” Rigo explained. “They look at the bar, take samples and tag the bar. Any material on the job that does not have an inspector’s tag will be taken off the job.”

The same procedure applies to concrete. For every pour, an inspector visits the concrete plant to watch the batching process. Meanwhile, another inspector is at the job site watching it get placed, creating a challenge for daily production. “Any little hiccup can throw a wrench into everything,” Rigo said.

Additional components in Bomel’s contract include numerous seat walls, a 300-cubic-yard loading dock and site retaining walls with footings as wide as 15 feet. Bomel has a team of 16 cement masons and laborers on the site, working four 10-hour days since February, and will be adding a fifth day during the final couple of months of the job. The crew overnights in the local area and has a three-day weekend to recuperate.

Despite the dizzying pace, Rigo appreciates the opportunity to work on a large, high-profile project. And he’s looking forward to the end of the year for a number of reasons.

“It will photograph well from the air,” he said, referring to the finished project. “All of the concrete will be ours. It’s going to be a nice showcase project.”

About Bomel Construction Co.: Established in 1970, Anaheim Hills, Calif.-based Bomel Construction is widely regarded as the dean of parking structure construction in the West. The family-owned business generated $135 million in total revenue in 2014. Its other current high-profile projects include Del Amo Fashion Center (1,950 stalls), Cal Poly Pomona (1,800) and Plaza San Clemente (1,167), with several additional parking structures set to begin construction this year. Bomel Construction, a design-build concrete contractor, has completed major parking structures for developers and owners of many of the largest shopping malls, casinos, stadiums, high-rise office buildings, colleges and universities throughout the West. Bomel has regional offices in Carlsbad, Calif., and Las Vegas.

For more information, please contact Paul Napolitano at 626-852-9959 or paul@napolitanocommunications.com.

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