Overview: Healthcare Campus Initiates Improvement Project
Children’s Wisconsin, one of the nation’s top pediatric facilities, initiated a multi-year Milwaukee Campus Improvement Project (MCIP) in 2018 to enhance clinical collaboration and efficiencies, improve the child and family experience and support the use of innovative technologies.
FTI was chosen by Children’s Wisconsin and general contractor, The Boldt Company, to replace four emergency power generation units: two 1.5 meg units in the hospital’s Center Tower and two 1.0 meg units in the East Tower. Using our design-assist expertise and knowledge of the Children’s Wisconsin campus based on years of partnerships, FTI assisted in design and installed improved power generation at a new, centralized generator plant.
Challenges: Size, Space, Distance
Precise planning was required for an electrical project of this size. FTI’s project management team created a Sequence of Operations document detailing each of nearly 60 required power outages to transfer power from the old generators to the new units. User-group meetings took place for review, confirmation and approval of schedule and mitigation plans. FTI’s electrical engineering expertise, healthcare experience and knowledge of Children’s facilities resulted in each required outage completed precisely and safely without compromising patient care.
Relocating the hospital’s power generator plant required bringing power from the new site to the hospital campus, approximately two blocks away. Modeling was used to determine the elevations and required gear connections, analyzing conduit runs to determine the best path. A route was developed that ran through existing utility lines under a campus road, with individual excavations completed quickly to limit traffic disruption.
The project’s duct bank was prefabricated at Excellerate, FTI’s manufacturing facility. This decreased on-site labor needs, leading to a safer build in a controlled environment. Excellerate built and shipped the duct bank in six weeks, which was dropped into place and connected on site.
Children’s new generator facility was designed with three 15KV Caterpillar generators to replace four smaller units, generating 2.5 megawatts (MW) of power. Special challenges included design of exceptionally large conduits with limited bending capacity. Excavation for the duct banks was completed in small sections done quickly, with less environmental impact.
Solution: Communications Are Key
FTI worked closely with the hospital’s facilities team on their day-to-day needs and how they responded to power emergencies. Centralizing all their power generation in one location provides seamless operations for them, with the ability to attend to all generators in one place. The new generators provide safe power backup for all of their buildings in one place that can be easily maintained.
