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The construction portion of an expansion and renovation of Columbia Memorial Hospital’s campus in Astoria is halfway complete, according to Todd Duwe, vice president and senior project manager with In Line Commercial Construction Inc.

The scope of the project includes the upgrade of surgery suites and construction of a new outpatient endoscopy center for an existing hospital building,and construction of a free-standing, three-story professional office building.

Anderson Dabrowski Architects handled design aspects of the project. In Line, an Aloha-based firm, partnered with Astoria contractor Rickenbach Construction to tackle the construction portion of the project, Duwe said.

The hospital’s existing surgery suite has been in use during the renovation, so crews have had to be careful about controlling noise, dust and vibrations that occur during the work, according to Duwe.

“You can’t have vibrations from equipment next to someone who is operating,” he said. “This hospital hasn’t had a renovation in many years, and the goal is to bring in new equipment for the surgery suites and upgrade any existing facilities there.”

The 13,545-square-foot office project is expected to be finished in December while work on the suites is scheduled to wrap up in early 2011, Duwe said.