WOUNDED WARRIOR TRANSIENT LODGE
Walter Reed Medical Center, Montgomery County, MD
This $62 million, 4.6 acre Federal project encompasses two separate buildings, The Transient Wounded Warrior Lodge, an adjacent parking garage and various site improvements.
The Transient Wounded Warrior Lodge is a 135,416 square-foot, multistory facility that contains 200 sleeping rooms and multiple common use areas. The building also houses full-size kitchens for family gatherings, a waiting area for visitors, two banks of elevators, mailbox area for each resident, lobby, vestibule, reception area as well as offices and administrative areas.
The adjacent parking garage is a 161,016 square-foot, five-level structure with space for 470 vehicles with a photovoltaic system to offset energy use. The entire project is designed to achieve the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold rating.
Site improvements include storm drainage, grading, walkways and sidewalks, controlled vehicular and bus route access, utility corridors, fire protection access, bicycle racks, site lighting, outdoor recreation, and provisions to house landscape maintenance equipment.
As part of the Design-Build team, The Robert B. Balter Company is providing construction materials testing and inspection for this $62 million project. Special Inspections for this project include:
Structural Concrete Inspection, including reinforcing steel inspection, concrete inspection and testing (slump, air, molding specimens, compressive strength), and form inspection.
Soils Inspection and testing: Structural Backfill compaction and non-structural backfill compaction.
Base & Subbase Inspection and Testing: Various stone inspections and testing, including #57 stone, GAB, and RC-6.
Documented Inspection work, laboratory reports for concrete and soils and tracking of non-compliant issues.
This Transient Wounded Warrior Project involved multiple classes of concrete combined with an intricate reinforcing steel design that mandated strict adherence and familiarity with each project segment. Further, as a very fast tracked project, design modifications were being conducted while construction was underway, raising the critical importance of communication and coordination of work to confirm the incorporation of these adjustments.