U.S. Navy photo by Jesse A. Lora, NAVFAC (SW)

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. - The Replacement Naval Hospital Project officially began on December 2, 2010 with a groundbreaking ceremony held aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton. The Navy's largest American Recovery and Reinvestment Act project of 2009 was awarded to Clark-McCarthy A Joint Venture, to replace the current 39-year-old Naval hospital located 12 miles inside the base. In the past two years, the project team has designed and completed 75 percent of the hospital construction, while exceeding all schedule, budget, quality, and safety expectations along the way.

“I think the general public will be very pleased with the accomplishments of this team,” said Cmdr. Whit Robinson, Resident Officer In Charge of Construction for the project. “The beauty and magnitude of the design make it a welcome sight for motorists and even air traffic travelling down the I-5 corridor. The accessibility and functionality of the new facility will enable a faster throughput for hospital visitors, including the active duty service members, wounded warriors, families and the retired military community in the local area. The joint venture of Clark-McCarthy has done a superb job as our partners of raising the bar for the construction industry, as well as for the Navy, in planning and constructing this world class hospital with safety and quality in record time.”

The Replacement Naval Hospital construction is currently 75 percent complete, with construction currently valued at $300 million. Safety is paramount on the site, and is fully integrated into the overall project program. The blended Navy/Contractor hospital project team boasts a record of more than 1.6 million man-hours of work completed with zero lost-time safety incidents, one of the highest construction safety records in the nation.

“It seems only yesterday we were celebrating the official groundbreaking on the Hospital,” said Carlos Gonzalez, P.E., Project Director Clark/McCarthy, A Joint Venture. “In the last 24 months our specialty contractor partners have helped us put in place more than $300 million of work in place, having spent more than 1.6 million hours on the project. We still have a long way to go, but we are very proud of our team's accomplishments thus far. We are also most appreciative for the trust and support we have received from NAVFAC, Navy Medicine West and BUMED; there is no great project without a great client, and we have the best!! We are excited to work with this group and deliver the project for our war heroes and their families in 2013.”

Visible from the I-5 freeway, the 500,000 SF Replacement Naval Hospital is rapidly becoming iconic to motorists with each passing day. At a fraction over 1,000,000 square feet, the site contains a parking structure, substantial photovoltaic and solar water heating systems, two healing gardens, a 1.2 mile exercise track and reflective memorials dedicated to the U.S. Navy Corpsmen and Medal of Honor recipients. Passers by will notice that the superstructure is complete, with exterior walls of stone, glass, aluminum and terra cotta closing up rapidly around the five story building. The materials were designed to substantially reduce maintenance costs while withstanding the corrosive effects of a coastal environment, with an aesthetic that will withstand the test of time and not appear “dated” in the years to come. The hospital is designed to allow the maximum amount of natural light possible in order to promote health and wellbeing, and high-traffic locations such as pediatrics and the pharmacy have been located to minimize travel from the parking garage thus eliminating wait times and congestion. Native landscaping is starting to outline the hospital grounds with a wide variety of plants and trees. Engineers have begun electrical testing, overhead ceiling close-up inspections, and the energizing of service entrance substations. By the time of publication, the front entrance drive will be paved and ready to receive vehicle traffic for construction crews from Vandegrift Blvd.

“This day marks the 2nd anniversary for the groundbreaking of the Replacement Naval Hospital Project,” said Alan J. Petrasek, Senior Vice President Clark Construction Group, California. “The Clark/McCarthy joint venture and all of the project's subcontractors are proud to mark this milestone constructing a world class facility to provide exceptional healthcare to the men and women serving in the Navy and Marine Corps and their families. We wish our partners at NAVFAC Southwest all-the-best in celebrating this momentous achievement.”