Loma Linda University Makes Advances on Capital Improvement Plan

LOMA LINDA, Calif. — A new seven-level parking structure on the Loma Linda University Medical Center campus was completed more than a year ahead of schedule. The $20.3 million garage project contains nearly 1,200 parking stalls, and is a key component in the school’s 10-year, $800 million capital improvement plan.

The 460,000-square-foot structure was built just seven feet from an existing parking garage, and the 290-foot shared border proved to be a challenge. This required crews from Anaheim-based Bomel Construction Co. to work with surgical precision. Despite the spatial constraints, the project wrapped up 13 months and 30 days ahead of schedule, making it the first major project in the school’s capital improvement plan to reach completion.

Bomel credits favorable weather for the quick construction process. “It’s hard to believe when it’s been sunny and 80 degrees a lot this winter, but last year when we started construction it was raining, and it made things difficult and messy,” said Kasey Shay, project manager at Bomel. “We were dealing with tricky foundation issues, especially since we were working in close proximity…to an existing parking structure.” According to Shay, crews had to slot patch next to the existing structure to prevent surging or undermining while foundation work on the new garage was taking place.

The new garage will double the parking capacity of the two existing structures, built in the 1980s and 1990s, to keep pace with the growing campus community. An innovative helix design also improves on these existing resources by allowing drivers to ascend the structure via a ramp on the outside edge of the garage. This design also allows them to avoid driving on each individual floor.

“We have three main shift changes every day, so people are able to get in and out of the garage in a timely fashion,” said Robert Cole, the university’s project manager. “And most people are creatures of habit; they like to park on the same floor. The helix ramp allows them to go directly to their desired floor without having to trudge through each level. They get to their parking stall faster and in an environmentally-sensitive way since less fuel is burned when vehicles arrive at their destination in less time.”

Construction also required the demolition of five university-owned homes and the re-routing of utility and storm drains. Crews removed one existing road and created a new 600-foot replacement to serve as the structure’s entrance. The final phase of the project will include a 300-foot elevated walkway connecting the garage to the campus, which will likely be completed by August 2014.