The Qikiqtani General Hospital, A Case Study in Northern Construction

摘要

The Qikiqtani General Hospital is a 2-storey addition with a one-storey fan room located in Iqaluit, Nunavut. With an opening scheduled for the summer of 2007, the project challenged the structural consultant for the project with obstacles that were largely defined by the realities of northern construction, specifically those of Baffin Island. The key challenges were scheduling due to the short sea shipping season for Iqaluit, local site conditions compounded by time constraints which influenced the design of the foundations, and the design and the installation of the rock socketted piles. Due to the complexity of the geometry and site conditions not anticipated in the design phase some of the piles required remedial action. The lessons learned from this project included the need to use with caution southern construction assumptions, the need for design agility to maximize the use of on-site materials when developing remedial details and the effect the accelerated scheduling of the project has on design manpower resources and costs in general.