Banner – University Medical Center Tucson hosted a “topping off” ceremony for the new hospital patient tower being built adjacent to the current Diamond Children’s tower on a parking lot where the old UA polo fields were previously located.
A red carpet was rolled out Wednesday, Jan. 18, for the event, with quite the crowd—as well as media—showing up to witness the construction milestone. 
Click here [PDF] or on the image at left for a photo gallery of more photos from the days festivities.
The nine-story tower is now at its full height of 160 feet and its steel frame is basically complete. At the topping off ceremony, the last three structural beams were hoisted into place, but not before the last of a few hundred physicians, faculty, staff, patients and guests took turns signing them with markers. One even included names of folks from Banner – UMC South, as a beam was there earlier at the staff entrance next to the MRI trailer for them to sign, too.
UA College of Medicine – Tucson Dean Chuck Cairns, MD, BUMCT Hospital CEO Tom Dickson, and others gave brief remarks before the beams were hoisted into place.
Among some of the fun facts mentioned:
- The building is over 670,000 square feet.
- There is over 5400 tons of steel, close to 6000 pieces. If you laid the steel members end to end, they would stretch over 35 miles — enough to go from this site to the top of Mt. Lemmon.
- It required two 300 ton cranes, each weighing over 700,000 lbs. each.
- The steel was rolled in Georgia, Indiana and Texas and, then, shipped to Eloy where it was fabricated into column and beam members.
- There will be over 17,000 cubic yards of concrete in the building — enough to pave a 3-foot-wide sidewalk from here to Phoenix.
- There is over 860 tons of reinforcied steel in the concrete.
- There will be over 40,000 square feet of masonry block.
- There will be over 1,700 plumbing fixtures—whereas, the average home may have only seven.
- Over 1 million pounds of ductwork will be installed.
- Over 19,000 light fixtures will be installed and 208 miles of electrical conduit run in the building.
- The number of workers is averaging about 200 on site and at the peak reach approximately 350.
The $400 million tower is on schedule to open in April 2019.
Click below for media coverage:
“Ironworkers top off new Banner tower in Tucson” - Arizona Daily Star
“Banner-UMC celebrates tower construction milestone” – KOLD-TV 13/Fox 11 Tucson
To see how other projects on the UA Health Sciences campus are proceeding, including the BioSciences Research Laboratory (BSRL) and Health Sciences Innovation Building — click here.
IN OTHER NEWS:
Banner’s North Campus Health Center project to build a 200,000-square-foot outpatient health center hit its own major milestone in late November. The last section of precast concrete was lifted into place, thereby topping off the parking garage portion of the project. This panel was the 504th to be lifted into place for the garage, which took just 24.5 days to achieve.
The actual health center building is also built of concrete, but mostly poured-in-place concrete that takes longer to build the forms, install the reinforcing, pour the concrete, allow for curing time and, then, finish the concrete.
The outpatient center is being built adjacent to the UA Cancer Center’s Peter and Paula Fasseas Cancer Clinic, 3838 N. Campbell Ave.—between it and the Ronald McDonald House on Allen Road.