This new parking garage at Valley Medical Center adds 1,200 parking spaces in a 7-level garage on the existing campus. The 3-bay donut parking garage is constructed of one-way post tensioned slab on 60-ft post tensioned beams. The lateral system utilizes special concrete moment frames. The project also included 20-foot+ retaining walls on three sides, as the garage was built into the hillside alongside the existing garage. Ramp access points on three sides of the garage offer multiple entries for easy visitor access.

PCS modeled not just the lateral concrete moment frame elements, but all gravity elements (beams, columns, slabs - including the ramp slab) in a modal response analysis (via ETABS) in order to determine actual second order forces to gravity elements. Due to the donut-shaped garage and the ramp down the center, column height varied - so PCS ensured that short (stiff) columns were not taking more seismic force than intended.

Other project challenges included design of the steel-framed west ramp, which connects the top of the adjacent, existing garage to the 8th floor of the new garage. The existing garage needed to be analyzed for the added load of the large ramp. Due to limited staging space on the occupied hospital campus, PCS worked closely with the contractor to find creative solutions for staging materials and machinery throughout the construction process.