CONSTRUCTION PROJECT TO EXTEND THE ORIHUELA LOW VALLEY HOSPITAL 

 Location: ORIHUELA
 Contracting Party: REGIONAL MINISTRY OF HEALTH
 Budget: 62.479.852,31 (WITH VAT INCLUDED)
 Completion Timeline: 36 Months

CONSTRUCTION PROJECT:
The objective of this construction Project is to maintain and improve upon the three main “backbones” of the existing building (corridors), while two new buildings are built to extend consulting rooms, operating rooms and new rooms, in addition to converting part of the uncovered parking area into a covered area. The North building, with a ground floor and two additional floors will include outpatient consultations, day hospital, mental health and the centralization of the electricity systems and cooling and heating. Meanwhile, the South building, with a ground floor and one additional floor will be home to a specific program for more technical fields of medicine: major surgery, digestive endoscopies and dialysis. This extension gives continuity to the existing infrastructure in terms of urban development, architecture and healthcare.

To carry out this construction project, the improvement of the terrain was crucial, taking into account that it’s very clayey, with the water table less than 2.0m from the surface and at all times avoiding noise, vibrations and the possible movement or settling of the hospital in which was up and running. Faced with this complex situation, the technique of improving the terrain with controlled modulus columns (CMC) was employed, a solution which reinforces the ground with the inclusion of mortar or pumpable concrete, which acts like a composite material that is not very compressible. 4,300 units of CMC were employed.

CMC boring is done driving a hollow drill into the ground which displaces the terrain horizontally, without vibrations or the production of waste. The injection of the concrete takes place through the interior of the drill, with moderate pressure while guaranteeing continuous concreting. The strength of the concrete or mortar is at least 20MPa and the deformation modulus of the mortar is between 5 and 30 times less than that of the concrete. The drill is screwed into the ground to the specified depth and then is raised without extracting the material.

The hospital is an extremely important part of medical and social organization, providing the population of the Low Valley (in Spanish Vega Baja) region full medical and health care, both curative and preventative. The completion of the construction will be carried out in phases to interfere with the normal operation of the hospital as little as possible, both in terms providing care as well as supplies. After the extension project this hospital will have 372 beds at its disposal with an increase in area of 14,696 square meters, going from the current 36,300 to over 50,000.