Work on Ohio State University’s $1.9 billion hospital tower halted last week when an inspection uncovered cracking on a concrete column. The site closed Wednesday and remained closed through the rest of the holiday week as the column was repaired.
Construction resumed Monday on the Wexner Medical Center inpatient hospital project, Dan Hedman, communications director for the university's administration office, told Construction Dive. Hedman said the university doesn’t anticipate the pause will drastically alter the timeline.
Localized repairs to the crack — which was between levels 1 and 2 — will continue and will include installation of a steel jacket to reinforce the column. Hedman said the team anticipates the repair to be complete this week.
There are 150 other concrete or steel columns on the same level as the cracked column. The area impacted by the column remained a controlled-access zone when other work continued Monday.
A Walsh-Turner joint venture has led construction on the Wexner Medical Center tower, which started in 2018 and is slated to wrap in 2026. Architect HDR provided the design, and structural engineers Thornton-Tomasetti and Magnusson Klemencic Associates round out the rest of the project team.
The project will have 820 beds for patients and a parking structure with nearly 2,000 spaces on Ohio State University’s medical campus in Columbus, Ohio.
After the crack was identified, a third-party, independent engineer was brought on to assess the situation. A final structural inspection after the current repairs will likely return the site to normal construction activities, Hedman said.
