Santa Cruz Sentinel article — July 10, 2010

SANTA CRUZ — A 250-ton crane towered over Chanticleer Avenue on Friday morning, gently lowering a concrete wall weighing 45 tons into place for a $9 million medical office building across from Sutter Maternity & Surgery Center.

On the ground, men in hard hats guided the 30-by 20-foot wall into position between two others.

“Two inches,” yelled one.

“Coming to you,” another yelled back.

“Perfect,” shouted another once the wall, 8 inches thick, was flush with the one next to it.

“It’s amazing,” said Dave Hunter, a surveyor watching the two-story building go up. “This is called a tilt-up. It’s like a bunch of Lincoln Logs put together.”

Tilt-up construction is more common in San Jose than in Santa Cruz County, according to Brian Atchley, vice president of field operations for Santa Cruz-based Bogard Construction, overseeing 15 workers at the site Friday.

Tilt-up proponents say it can cut costs because it requires smaller work crews and allows tradespeople to begin work earlier than traditional construction.

“All of a sudden you have a building,” said Atchley, noting 10 of the 13 concrete walls were up by 11:30 a.m. “Everything welds together.”

It took two weeks for the concrete, poured June 25, to reach the proper strength, he said. Workers will use a concrete saw to cut out a large square on one side to produce a cantilever design.

He expects the 20,000-square-foot building to be ready in the spring, complementing offices at 2911 and 2915 Chanticleer Ave., housing specialists with the Palo Alto Medical Foundation.
The medical group obtained county permission for the project in spring 2008, aiming to consolidate orthopedic and podiatric surgery offices in two locations, at 1662 Dominican Way and across the street at Sutter Maternity & Surgery.

Later that year, the project was put on hold due to the downturn.

“It’s nice to have it cut loose in this economy,” said Jared Bogaard of Bogard Construction, estimating there will be 200 to 300 workers on site at the peak of the project.

Bill Duemler, waiting for a friend outside the surgery center, said he appreciates medical expertise being close to home.

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