Southern Alberta Eye Center, Calgary
Location: Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Property Management: Courtenay Group
Owner/Operator: Southern Alberta Eye Center
Interior Design: KLR Interior Design
Contractor: Cormode and Dickson
The Southern Alberta Eye Center is an innovative multi-disciplinary facility dedicated to the pursuit of excellent clinical care in ophthalmology. The Center is home to eye specialists, nurses and technicians equipped with the latest knowledge and technology. It offers its clients diagnostic services, eye care, consultation, treatments, surgeries and follow-up visits all under one roof.
Area of Concern:
The facility is located next to a busy commuter rail line and a main concern was the impact of vibration from commuter train pass-bys. HGC Engineering was consulted to investigate the impact of vibration on the four operating rooms proposed to be located on the 3rd floor of this large healthcare facility. Of specific concern was the impact of vibration on the sensitive surgical microscopes that were to be installed in each operating room. Vibration sources included rail traffic from adjacent rail lines, mechanical equipment in a mechanical penthouse, and foot traffic in adjacent spaces.
Recommendations:
Our vibration assessment and resulting recommendations included “stiffening” the structural bays supporting the operating rooms which included upgrading the steel support joists and beams.
Furthermore, proper vibration isolation of all mechanical equipment in the mechanical penthouse was recommended to mitigate the risk of vibration transfer from rotating equipment to the microscopes below. Large inertia bases for the microscope mounting locations were recommended to provide additional stiffness and floor mounted surgical microscopes were recommended to be located near columns or over stiffened support beams.
Vibration Consulting Engineer Services Included:
- Vibration Isolation of Sensitive Equipment
- Building Services Noise and Vibration control (HVAC Systems, Pumps, Compactors, Generators, etc)
- Structural Vibration Assessment
- Shop Drawing Review
