As part of Parkland Health & Hospital System’s $1.2B new campus, the Central Utility Plant (CUP) comprises 81,146 square feet of cooling towers, a generator building, domestic water storage tank, chillers, boilers and a heat pump chiller. It is designed to send free heat to the hospital while generating chilled water, resulting in significant energy and water savings. Since it is the first building visitors see when they arrive via Dallas’ Dart Light rail station, the hospital wanted to ensure it was a signature building.
Enter the headache construction teams want to avoid: after the concrete slabs on both levels of the building cured, the post shoring was removed revealing rust stains beneath the metal base plates. Despite efforts to remove the stains with expensive chemical cleaners and grinding, which actually made the problem worse, it was clear the stains would cause the specified floor sealing product to lose its shine. The cleaned areas ended up cleaner than the surrounding concrete and the grinding created noticeable abrasions. All 66,815 square feet of concrete needed to be covered. The situation threatened to put a damper on what was destined to be the lifeblood of the health care campus.
The prescribed remedy? Dur-A-Flex’s Dur-A-Gard epoxy-based seamless flooring system finished with a topcoat of Armor Top® satin finish. The Parkland team visited a Texas manufacturer to see their Dur-A-Flex floor. Impressed and relieved to find a cure, the team approved a change order for the Dur-A-Flex flooring system. Although this large area had more than 300 stains marring it, Dur-A-Gard was the solution to turn Parkland’s CUP into a showpiece.
With a tight deadline, the installation crew set to work on what looked to be a 60-day install. Calcium chloride tests revealed excessive moisture at four slab in-fill locations. Dur-A-Flex’s MVP (moisture vapor primer) easily took care of that symptom and the crew forged ahead with prepping and priming the slabs. Once installation was complete, the floors showed no signs of rust stains and presented a clean, attractive finish that is UV-stable and slip, chemical and abrasion resistant.
Completed in 30 days – half the time scheduled – the floors have gleaned many accolades. “The Dur-A-Flex floor was an excellent way to finish our new CUP. It is durable, non-slip and provides a nice finish for a very functional building,” said Lou Saksen, Parkland’s senior vice president, New Hospital Construction. Though it will take over a year to receive it, Saksen believes the project will exceed its goal of LEED silver and achieve a gold certification.