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A project site in Newberg is serving as a testing ground for a new kind of structural steel system.

General contractor Fortis Construction is building for Providence Health & Services a new three-story, 60,000-square-foot medical office building at the existing Providence Newberg Medical Center. Designed by JRJ Architects, the building will house noncritical services that currently occupy space in the hospital.

鈥淚t will free up a lot of space in the hospital,鈥� Providence communications manager Mike Antrim said.

Notably, instead of a welded moment frame system, Catena Consulting Engineers chose to employ a bolted moment frame system created by California firm SidePlate. Its use is expected to slash the time needed to erect structural steel, eliminate the need for brace frames or shear walls, and cut the amount of necessary welding to a minimum.

鈥淭hat was one of the things that SidePlate set out to do with this system,鈥� Catena principal Jared Lewis said. 鈥淚s there a frame connection we can utilize that’s a simpler replacement?鈥�

Bolted systems aren’t new, but SidePlate’s is unique because of the way joints are formed.

鈥淭hat connection is really meant to be very rigid and maintain its connection point and force the beam itself to go through the inelastic displacements and energy dissipation,鈥� Lewis said. 鈥淪o that if the beam gets damaged you can replace the beam and the connection should remain intact.鈥�

Use of a bolted system also can save time. Ironworkers needed just nine days to erect structural steel and bolt together the support columns, beams and other elements for the new Providence building. Fortis superintendent John Lawrence estimated the work would have required around 15 days using welded connections.

SidePlate 鈥渄id all the welding of the plates,鈥� Lawrence said. 鈥淭hey’re prefabricated and welded in their shop, so it’s just a matter of an interlocking system and the installation of an exorbitant amount of bolts at the moment frames.鈥�

The system provided multiple bonuses, JRJ Architects principal Tom Wesel said. One is that there is no need to worry about scheduling full-penetration welds, which require time-consuming preheating of steel in cold weather. Also, without brace frames or other vertical obstacles, the building could be opened up to natural light. Plus, future renovations will be easier as a result.

鈥淲e have more usable square footage out of this system,鈥� Wesel said. 鈥淥ften the bracing systems end up on the perimeter, so we’re working around them where windows could be, and we basically had a free reign around the perimeter to get that light access.鈥�

Ground was broken on the project in August 2018. Currently, ironworkers with By Design Steel Services of Colton are installing steel decking while Whitaker Ellis carpenters build formwork and otherwise prepare for concrete deck pours on levels two and three. Site work is mostly complete, but underground utility work also is continuing.

Once concrete is poured, crews will begin work on the exterior skin and a temporary roof. That will allow interior framing and mechanical, electrical and plumbing work to commence.

The building is scheduled for substantial completion by mid-November, with opening set for December, Antrim said.

Providence Newberg Medical Center expansion

Owner: Providence Health & Services

General contractor: Fortis Construction

Architect: JRJ Architects

Structural engineer: Catena Consulting Engineers