Environmental Monitoring Solutions Installed at Hinchingbrooke Hospital During the Construction of a New Theatre Block

Project Overview

Hinchingbrooke Hospital has been providing health care for the people of Huntingdonshire and surrounding areas since 1983. The hospital has specialist wards, an emergency department, maternity unit and children’s ward. Graham Construction were appointed to construct a new Theatre Block extension at the hospital, and they needed to ensure that the impact created by hazards such as dust, noise and vibration were closely controlled.

Challenge

The project involved demolition works ahead of the build which was situated close to occupied areas of the hospital. Nearby buildings had been constructed with the RAAC plank roof system – a build process used from the mid-1960’s until the mid-1990’s. As this form of construction is weaker than traditional concrete, any type of construction activity nearby could have been problematic.

Dust was also a concern due to the demolition works and the proximity of the air handling unit for the hospital. Any airborne dust could have been drawn into the system and contaminate the specialist filters. Also close by to the construction work is a children’s ward where even minimal noise levels could have caused a disruption.

Solution

RVT installed vibration monitoring at strategic points on the existing building to ensure that any vibration was maintained to a level whereby damage would not be caused to the existing building.

Dust monitoring was installed to provide real time monitoring of conditions so sufficient mitigation could be maintained. Again, these were set up at strategic locations close to the existing build and air intakes.

To ensure noise levels were kept to a minimum, noise monitors were installed inside the children’s ward to provide the contractor with accurate real time information on noise levels within this environment.