PROPRESS INSTRUMENTAL IN HOSPITAL CONSTRUCTION TIMETABLE With an aggressive construction schedule – just 23 months to build a 485,000-square foot, five-story hospital – contractors knew that speedy installation was a must. They turned to Viega for help. The facility is the North Alabama Medical Center, located in Florence, Alabama. Operated by RCCH HealthCare Partners, the hospital is being built to replace an old facility in Florence. General contractor Layton Construction and mechanical contractor MMC Contractors are both proponents of Viega. John Thomas, Senior Project Manager for Layton, said his company and MMC both had previous success with Viega ProPress and were interested in incorporating it into the North Alabama Medical Center. “There are savings with Viega and really from an overall speed of installation standpoint,” Thomas said. “It was almost inconceivable that we could accomplish this schedule without the advantages of ProPress to speed it up overall.” However, initially the design engineers on the project weren’t so sure about press technology, and had some misconceptions. Together, representatives from Viega, Layton and MMC gave a presentation about the technology in hopes of getting Viega approved for the project. “It came down to quality control and how we would mark and identify joints as they had been pressed,” Thomas said. “We walked them through how the fittings are built and how we’d know (thanks to Smart Connect technology) if there was a leak. We won them over. I think coupled with the portfolio of projects that MMC and Layton were able to show where we’ve installed ProPress, it proved it’s a tested technology.” With that settled, the companies got to work on the new facility, breaking ground in December of 2016. Scheduled patient move-in is December 6, 2018, with final inspections of the facility set to wrap-up in October. It’s been a flurry of construction.
12 | Viega Voice | July 2018
