NEW YORK, Aug. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Turner Construction Company, the nation's largest builder of healthcare facilities, reported that the use of an innovative combination of Building Information Modeling (BIM) and Lean construction practices on the 555,000 sq. ft. Middle Tennessee Medical Center (MTMC) in Murfreesboro, Tenn. resulted in the delivery of $3 million in budgeted costs savings below the Owner's initial target at the beginning of the project and an additional projection of nearly $1 million in savings from BIM-enabled prefabrication alone by the end of the project. Construction of the medical center is also on track to be completed two months early. The 286-bed regional hospital, which will feature 10 operating rooms, 27 post-partum rooms and 40 emergency department rooms, will be substantially completed in May 2010 largely due to Turner's implementation of a Lean construction approach enhanced by the use of Building Information Modeling as a visual and data-rich work planning tool. "Not only can the new Medical Center open its doors earlier than originally anticipated, we are also going to benefit from a cost savings that is thanks in part to the early involvement of Turner and its use of BIM in conjunction with Lean construction practices," said Jennifer Garland, MTMC Project Director. In the early planning stages of the project, the team decided to pursue a Lean approach to minimize waste and increase efficiencies throughout the life of the project. Applying the slogan of "build digitally first," Turner is achieving large percentages of pre-fabrication on major components of the building systems through a comprehensive digital coordination process. Subcontractors are using their trade BIM's to visually "prototype" all aspects of their work in detail long before fabrication or construction even starts. "BIM combined with a Lean culture enabled us to achieve levels of prefabrication we have not seen on previous projects," said Andy Davis, Turner Universal Senior Project Manager. "For example, most of the building's ductwork is being prefabricated off-site and then assembled at the project. In some cases, up to 16 feet of ductwork is being delivered to the site to be installed in single piece."
