Grande Ronde Hospital Expansion Progresses to Steel Beam Fitting
By Garrett Christensen on Friday, March 17th, 2023 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
LA GRANDE – (Release from Grande Ronde Hospital and Clinics) Grande Ronde Hospital and Clinics (GRH) is pleased to announce that work on the new 96,000 square-foot addition is entering the next phase, which will be erecting the new structure’s steel framework.
Over the next week or so, approximately 25 truckloads of steel beams will be coming into La Grande to frame the structure. The process to frame the structure may be compared to a giant erector set. The Tower Crane will be putting hundreds of steel beams into place one at a time and in designated order. That process will take place over a surprisingly short span of approximately two weeks.
Once the Tower Crane has put every other beam into place, one special final beam will be placed into the top Northeast corner of the structure’s roof as a ceremonial “Topping Out” to mark this construction milestone. Topping Out ceremonies are rooted in ancient Scandinavian building rites, and still observed today – particularly by iron workers like those who have built the steel beams for this structure.
The timeline for the Topping Out beam placement is somewhat fluid – due to the nature of construction. We are targeting late afternoon April 6th for anyone who wants to observe this milestone. It will be best viewed from the school field below the Hospital. For members of the community intrigued by this process, we will be posting more information on our website and social media channels.
